Can Sound Waves Be Used to Turn a Screw Like a Sonic Screwdriver?

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The discussion explores the feasibility of using sound waves to turn screws, akin to a sonic screwdriver. While sonic vibrations can help loosen screws by breaking friction, controlled rotation remains uncertain. Some participants suggest that specific sound wave polarizations might achieve this, but practical applications and costs are questioned. Experimental attempts indicate that vibrations can influence the movement of screws and nuts, with varying results based on the method of application. Overall, while the concept of a sonic screwdriver is intriguing, significant technical challenges and limitations exist.
  • #91
Doc Orion said:
That screwdriver does everyting but make coffee! Mine only turns screws-- and the occasional dinner plates... :-)

'Doc

Do you have a circuit layout or schematic of how everything goes together?
 
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  • #92
acron said:
Do you have a circuit layout or schematic of how everything goes together?


Start with the XR2206 sub-circuit:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...&sa=X&ei=2wwoTqnRAdKDsAKg-a07&ved=0CFYQ9QEwCA

or just Google "XR2206 circuits" to get the thre images for XR2206 circuits. The third circuit is the basic sine wave generator but there's a couple of differences in the screwdriver--
replace that .01uf cap with a 10 uF tantaum cap (even a 1 uF tantalum cap will do) and that 200 ohm resistor will be 150 ohms. Lastly replace that 50K pot on pin 3 with a 15K resistor. As I say, with this circuit, nothing is critical but you want to get a nice sine wave from 0 to 100 Hz. This circuit is actually a lot more simple than it looks; it took me about 20 minutes or less to knock it together.

Keep in mind, all of these sub-circuits will join together on a narrow piece of perf-board about 1/4" wide--- that's standard Radio Shack perf-board, four holes across-- so it takes some creative wiring to make all the parts fit; they will fit though. The three resistors are mounted behind the 2206 while the main cap (19uF tantalum) and th 150 ohm resistors are
mounted directly on top of the XR2206. The pot that controls the frequency is of course connected by wires and go to the back end of the screwdriver so the modulation frequency can be controlled manually. And since there'sonly room for on pot, that's the only one.

I might replace that pot with a rotary switch and fixed values but you may never know
if you might need a particularly frequency you don't have, so that pot provides flexibility ven if it's a bit awkward to tune all the time.

'Doc


Stay tuned for the 4046 VCO sub-circuit, no pun intended heh heh...
 
  • #93
I'm going to give the link to the VCO, then go to bed; it's now 5:00 am so it's past my nappy time.

The VCO circuit can be found here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ST...resnum=10&ved=0CHEQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

The siren ciruit is the one I use in the screwdriver but instead of gating it with a square wave, the circuit is modulated with a sine wave. At pin 9 and the other end to ground I use two large value parts that can be adjusted for personal taste such as 22Meg and 10uF or 15 Meg and 1 uF, etc. These parts determine how fast-- or how slow-- the screwdriver will sweep from one end of the frequency range to another. The frequency cap used is .001 uF so the VCO will work in the near ultrasound. I lost my notes so one will have to pop in resistor values to get it to work no higher than 20 kHz and probably less at 15 kHz upper limit. The screwdriver will however work extremely well at lower audible frequencies producing as much as 143 dB (but we always try for more) of sound, and this will make family & friends hate you as well as upset nearby neighbors so keep the frequencies above 12 kHz-- most humans can't hear that high anyways. But sound of such intensity can cause pain, headaches, and deafness with continued exposure even at ultrasound frequencies.

same as with the first part: the .001 cap on top of the 4046 but the frequncy resistor & cap are mounted in front. The 1K resistor that connects from pin 2 of the XR2206 to pin 9 of the CD4046 is wired below the two ICs on the bottom of the circuit board but make sure the wire is protected with tape or heat shrink tubing so the wires won't short any of the IC pins. That could ruin a lot of nice work very quickly. Still, feel free to experiment with the values; each screwdriver always needs some tweaking for proper operation.


'Doc
 
  • #94
I can't find a schematic for the last sub-circuit but it is one of the easiest push-pull amplifiers:

1. One 2. 2K resistor goes from CD4046 output pin 2 to the base of Q1. The other 2.2K resistor goes from output pins 3 & 4 to the base of Q2.

2. The collector of Q1 is connected to one end of step-up transforner T1 and the collector of Q2 is connected to the other side of T1. The center tap of T1 is connected to the positive (+ 9v) rail.

3. Both emitters go to ground.

Or at least I am reasonably sure how that goes; I don't know where my files and notes
went to. There aren't a whole ot of ways the collectors can be wired or the 'former connected to the power rails so yeah, the primary of T1 shoud likely be center-tapped.

So the basic screwdriver is the sine wave generator-- the VCO-- and the power amplifier. Not a very complicated affair but it all has to fit on a 5 x 1/2 inch perf board (I made a mistake earlier; I meant 1/2 inch).

This doesn't include the power converter which is another beast all-together. That converter boosts a single 1.25 volt nicad battery up to 9 volts. The converter allows the screwdriver to be pocket-sized, running on a single sub-c nicad cell (or two) instead of a standard rectangular 9 volt battery.

'Doc
 
  • #95
Is it possible for you to draw this info up and post it. As I can't see it in my mind even if you draw it on a cocktail napkin as long as we can see it.
 
  • #96
Considring all the mayhem that's going on in my life right now you are really lucky I managed to take the time to lay the screwdriver out in sections like this.
 
  • #97
Thanks for doing this Doc
 
  • #98
hey brennanshaw would it be possible for a diagram and stuff and since I am only a beginner in science would you be able to describe the technical terms you use for me please thank you it would be most appretiated :)
 
  • #99
would it be also possible to make a video of how to make one please id rather it be small and compacted as possible and have loads more uses but like i said I am a beginner as in starting college for it in a year or so I am not very advanced but I am good at tinkering hahaha :) if anyone wants to talk to me email me on [e-mail address removed] please all is appretiated :) love to talk to you all about this stuff and learn much much more than i am going to learn :)
 
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  • #100
@ qbit, I commend, appreciate and applaud that and how you have presented your reports, findings, methods, even the details of the materials used. The fact that you have also added your personal reviews/opinions to them is great especially where you said it would be difficult to use on wood and I would like to point out the many times in Doctor Who, the Doctor has stated and repeated "It doesn't work on wood" and what you have stated could be that very reason. The reason for the nut/washer "jumping" as you said and moving as described would be due to the way and direction the vibrations are acting on the screw/bolt and that it would not work well on wood because would has even been used as a vibration dampener in the past. and it could work on metal frames and such because metal can be used to magnify vibration.

An example of the use of differing vibration used to rotate a screw in opposite directions is the magic toy shown in the attached pic. If you have never used one of these, the way it works is you hold the little wood rod with your thumb and fore-finger pressing perpendicular to the ends and rub it along the grooves with your thumb against the main shaft. Alternating your grip so your finger rubs the shaft makes the fan spin in the opposite direction.
 
  • #101
Found a kick *** pre made body for the sonic screwdriver. Found it in an auto shop here in Australia here's the pic of it in the top black rubber section is the power button (press and hold to operate/ release to stop). it should be easy enough to remove the insides and replace with your circuit board and battery only other thing to remove is the spinning shaft of the driving motor for the screwdriver. i think its a mix of the 11th and classic sonic personally but i might be crazy who knows. (hahaha who knows get it?)
 

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  • #102
what if u made it using heat? the heat from it could widen a lock?
 
  • #103
After being homeless for several long and painful months, I finally have a place and will be settled in sometime by next month. I managed to keep my screwdriver files with me, though not much else, so if anybody still wants to see pictures of the circuitry I'll probably have them posted between now and the end of March. Hopefully they will come out okay. We'll see... :smile:


Doc
 
  • #104
When things settle down a bit I'll post the schematics for the Screwdriver, but there may be a problem: the XR2206 chip has been discontinued! that IC is the sweep modulator and critical to the design. I thought it would be around forever-- but what do I know? :redface:

Doc
 
  • #105
I've read the entirety of this thread at this point. I must say that it is really quite fascinating. I know nothing about Physics (though have been starting to read alot) or anything at all about acoustics. I would be interested in attempting some of the experiments and ideas that have been put forth so far. For me this just puts the cake on something that has been a mild interest for me for awhile now. Keep it up I look forward to the reading to come.
 
  • #106
can anyone get meh blueprints for this device that Doc Orion has described earlier in this thread i can't find anything like it ... (that's saying somthin' the internet is a big place)
 
  • #107
Doc Orion said:
After being homeless for several long and painful months, I finally have a place and will be settled in sometime by next month. I managed to keep my screwdriver files with me, though not much else, so if anybody still wants to see pictures of the circuitry I'll probably have them posted between now and the end of March. Hopefully they will come out okay. We'll see...


Doc
can i has them please :biggrin:
 
  • #108
the master. said:
can anyone get meh blueprints for this device that Doc Orion has described earlier in this thread i can't find anything like it ... (that's saying somthin' the internet is a big place)

That's because I never posted them anywhere else. Mostly nobody believes it works so screw them! Heh, heh... I'll post them here as soon as I can, but that's about it. Even so, I don't have the complete circuit; my files are missing the power converter sub-cuircut that bossts 3 volts up to the needed 9 volts. I'm going to have to do that all over again some time...

'Doc
 
  • #109
thank you vary much
 
  • #110
ok, i don't understand much of what you guys are saying, but i agree with making a sonic screwdriver xD and i know that you need a lot of sonic sound waves to loosen screws or something, sorry I am 14 still getting used to all this stuff haha
 
  • #111
i really admire what Doc is doing and i kinda believe that timelords could exist but can someone give me more reason to believe because i am willing to listen
 
  • #112
hey, i reckon that if every in this post put some money in we could all make a perfect one and then if the doctor exists we will find him xD coz i don't know he'll just get drawn to it maybe hehe
 
  • #113
how hard would it be to make a sonic screwdriver like matt smiths doctor?
 
  • #114
are you going to be making a ss still?
 
  • #115
hey man i know that you're probably long gone from this site but can you tell me more about how to possibly make a ss?
 
  • #116
yep 2 messages haha. but i was thinking about the iPhone 4S right and how much stuff is inside that tiny thing then thought "wow if apple wanted to, they could EASILY make a sonic screwdriver" would i be correct? because like there's so much bits to an iPhone they could make a pretty advanced sonic screwdriver not like matt smiths doctors one with like 16 computers in it but just a really decent easy to use ss :OOOOO haha just sort of blew me away. if i ever get the chance to offer a suggestion to apple I'm going to ask if they could make just 1 or 2 proper sonic screwdrivers haha
 
  • #117
Paradoxhd- Dude get off this forum your making stupid jokes and being an ***. No one is going to reply to moronic ramblings.
 
  • #118
yup paradoxhd should get off this thread, go bother the collapsing gravitational field thread. I'm sure they will throw him in one :biggrin:
 
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  • #119
wtf, I feel really really bad right now because i was being serious? its not my fault that I'm not really smart, thanks for making me een more depressed than i allready am with depression, ffs fine i'll leave just know that i was being totally serious. my god
 
  • #120
ParadoxHD said:
wtf, I feel really really bad right now because i was being serious? its not my fault that I'm not really smart, thanks for making me een more depressed than i allready am with depression, ffs fine i'll leave just know that i was being totally serious. my god
No problem Napoleon Dynamite. Let the door hit you where the good Lord split you. When we are talking about a Sonic Screwdriver we mean a REAL device that removes screws using sound waves. I think most of us on here are Whovian's but are some what realistic in what we want to achieve on here. By the way wishing and hoping Apple will make a Sonic or even an App that can do what OUR real world Sonic can and will do is highly unlikely. I mean there are Scientist's in world right now trying to make one right now and maybe the DOC on here might be able to help us make our own before they can.
 

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