AtomSoftTech's Atomized Annoy-O-Tron Takes the Beeper You Love to Hate to an Ultra-Tiny Form Factor
Built on OSH Park's Flex PCB service, the Atomized Annoy-A-Tron is considerably more compact than ThinkGeek's original prank device.
AtomSoftTech's Jason Lopez is back with a new board design on OSH Park's Flex PCB process, and it's even smaller than the earlier DimeDuino: an ultra-compact "Atomized" Annoy-A-Tron.
Originally developed by retailer ThinkGeek, the Annoy-A-Tron is a small electronic circuit with only one purpose: to annoy someone to previously-impossible levels. The circuit is simple: A randomized timer causes a buzzer to emit an annoying sound at variable intervals, making it unpredictable — while its small size means it's easy to hide.
Lopez, however, found existing Annoy-A-Tron designs too big — even Geppetto Electronics' already-compact Annoy-O-Tron Tiny. "My version is just over 0.25in round... so tiny," Lopez writes. "Even found a tiny piezo to go with it and 3D-printed a holder for two watch batteries and PCB."
Like the DimeDuino, the Atomized Annoy-O-Tron is built on OSH Park's Flex PCB process, normally used for flexible circuit designs but here used to reduce the overall thickness. The circuit itself is considerably smaller than the buzzer to which it connects — and both together smaller than a traditional piezoelectric buzzer.
More information is available on the AtomSoftTech website.