Pulling Prank Using Arduino Based Remote Control

If you have siblings then you may know how annoying they can be sometimes. My siblings, really are annoying so I decided to teach them a lesson by pranking them with my DIY Arduino-based Bluetooth-controlled TV Remote. I set a few buttons like to change the channel, control Volume, and turn the TV on/off. The real remote will be in their hands so that they will get shocked when their Tv will start misbehaving. I'll be able to control the Tv and annoy them while they would be fully immersed in watching their favorite TV show.

In this Instructable, I'll teach how you can build a similar remote to pull pranks on your family. So let's get into it.

Alright, We are going to need a few things to make it.

Arduino Board

I'll be using Arduino Nano to control everything. This board will be the brain of my Project.

IR Receiver

An infrared receiver module to decode the target remote control signals. We will use it to decode the signals of our target remote control.

IR Transmitter

Infrared transmitter to send the decoded signals from our Arduino board to the TV. You can find it in any remote control circuit.

TP4056 Module

To charge the battery and protect it from over-charging.

JDY-SPP-31/HC06/HC05 Bluetooth module

Bluetooth module to control the Arduino via our Mobile phone. I used the JDD-SPP-31 module because I had it in my drawer. You can use any you want.

100 ohm Resistor

To prevent our IR transmitter Diode from going to Mars.

3.7V rechargeable Li-ion Cell

To power up our circuit

ON/OFF Switch

To turn the power on and off.

Some Wires

To allow the current to flow through all these components. Seriously.

Breadboard

To make and test our circuit for temporary use.

Disguise Box

To hide the circuit and make look everything normal. In my case, I used the Headset box. It will look like a random junk item lying on a TV table. I'll recommend choosing something that will not catch attention.

Tools and Hardware [Optional]

• Soldering Iron
• Hot Glue Gun
• Wire Cutter

The first step is to get the data or signal of Our target TV Remote so that we can generate them to control our TV via Arduino.

To do so we need to connect our IR receiver module with Arduino.

[Curved side to the front]

The Right leg is for VCC 5V so we will connect it to the 5V pin of our Arduino.

The Middle pin is for the Ground so we will connect it to the GND pin of Arduino.

The Left pin is for the signal so we will connect it to the Digital Pin 8 of the Arduino.

Okay, the first circuit is ready. Now upload the IR decoding Program, link provided, to the Arduino.

Once it is done, Open Serial Monitor and set the Baudrate to 9600. Now press the button on TV Remote while pointing it to the IR Receiver module. You'll receive some data, Well here you need to be careful because the received data can be Junk data. So make sure to get the right data by pressing keys again and again and checking the first few digits of all key codes. If they are matching then that particular set will be your data.

Great, now we have the decoded data from our TV remote. Save this data either by noting down each value or by taking Screenshot. Now we can move on to the next step.

You can find the code in this Repository GITHUB

Now let's connect everything required to make the TV Remote.

First, Place Arduino nano on the breadboard. Now let's connect our Bluetooth module with our Arduino.

At the back of our Bluetooth module the pin names are mentioned so we will connect them accordingly.

VCC to the 5v Pin of Nano

GND to GND of Nano

wait, be cautious here,

Tx pin to the A0 or Rx of Arduino Nano

Rx pin to the D8 or Tx pin of Nano

Now let's connect the IR Transmitter diode with Nano.

Place the Resistor of 100 ohms on the GND pin of Arduino to the GND rail of the breadboard.

Connect the Positive Lead or the bigger leg of the diode to the D3 or digital pin 3 of Arduino Nano.

Connect the Negative or the short side to the GND rail of the breadboard where you connected your resistor.

That's it our Circuit is ready.

Our circuit is ready now to get some Mama's Command. To do so, Connect Arduino with the PC. Open the file name Project Chaos, link provided.

Now step on a break here, We have to do some changes in our code now if you got different values from your remote control, which is obvious if you are using a different brand of Tv Remote.

Nothing difficult, just replace the 40BDXXXX written after 0X with your value. For Example, if you got the value 809B6780 after pressing the ON button of your remote, replace it like so,

Original Code:

case 'a':

     irsend.sendNEC(0x40BD28D7,32); //ON

     btSerial.println("ON");

     break;

After Changes:

case 'a':

     irsend.sendNEC(0x809B6780,32); //ON

     btSerial.println("ON");

     break;

Same case for other values. Now if you are done with making changes, now we can upload it to our board.

1. Go to Tools,
2. Select Arduino Nano in Boards,
3. Select the Processor (Older version of Arduino nano and some clones are still using the old firmware that's why I selected the old Bootloader)
4. Select the COM Port (COM10 in my Case)
5. Click on Upload

Wait for the code to upload once it is done, you can dance now.

I'm using the Serial Bluetooth Terminal app, I'm using it for quite a long time now and it offers us a really great interface with so many Custom buttons. I'll recommend using this app but you can still choose a different app. Okay, let's set the button commands.

1. Long press on the first Button,
2. Change the Button name to "ON",
3. Change the command to "al"
4. Hit Save.

For Second Button, again,

1. Long press on the Second Button,
2. Change the Button name to "Mute",
3. Change the command to "bl"
4. Hit Save.

Great now do the same for other buttons. Change the name and Commands accordingly.

Once you have adjusted all the buttons, then go to Connect button. it's up in the right corner at the third number from last. It is of the shape of two joints. Click on it and you'll get the message,

Connecting to JDY-SPP-31...

Connected.

Great, now press any button that you just made, and in the terminal, you'll get the corresponding message. If it did then great.

Now you can even test the circuit in front of your TV.

Now we can disguise our circuit.

Since our Circuit is working on Breadboard, now we can throw away the breadboard and solder wires and batteries together so that we can put it inside a disguise.

Use your soldering iron and wires to connect them directly to Arduino.

As for the power circuit, follow the circuit diagram.

You can use JST Connectors and even you can modify them. I'll definitely recommend using JST Connectors.

Be careful while wiring the Cell to the Module and with Arduino as it can damage the board.

Now since our circuit is no longer on breadboard but connected with wires and some solder and there are no chances of getting anything apart like wires, so now we can put it inside any box to make it look normal.

I'm using a cover box of the Headset that I recently bought. So even if it will be lying on my table, nobody will notice. It will look like a random piece of junk waiting on the table to get thrown outside.

I'll recommend choosing a disguise that will not catch any attention.

Just throw everything inside the box, glue the button to an accessible place, and the IR transmitter diode to an open place. That's It we are done.

Wait for the right time. Like I first pulled it on my brother when he was busy watching a Tv show. I was pretending like I was scrolling on Instagram. And for the second time, I pulled it on my Sisters when they were busy watching their favorite Drama. I start messing with the volume first, then switched to the most annoying channels, and lastly turned the TV off.

I enjoyed watching them getting angry at nothing and also a little scared. Even though I enjoyed it for a few moments but not too much so I'm planning for something bigger so for that stay tuned. Goodbye!

By the time, I'm publishing this instructable, I switched my phone from Vivo to Redmi, and to my surprise, they do come with an inbuilt IR Blaster. And before this phone, I had no phone at my home with this feature. The phones that I have at my home are Samsung, Vivo[s], Oppo, and Infinix, and now this redmi so I hope this will eliminate the question of not using a mobile phone to control the TV.