I found myself in possession of 6 universal A/C remotes after an AliExpress order went wrong. Instead of 6 buddha machines, these remotes came instead. Just as I was getting ready to walk away from the package in disappointment - something on the remote caught my eye. 

The LCD screen made me remember a comment I had read on /r/circuitbending some time ago about adding audio jacks to these types of screens and having sound come out. I took the mistake as an opportunity to test this out for myself since it seemed pretty strange and impossible for audio to exist in something like an LCD screen. 

I hooked two probes up to a ¼” jack and plugged it into a small amp. Sure enough, the first spots I touched on the contact pads for the screen I got some glitchy rhythmic sound. I tried different spots for the screen and different sounds would come out. I immediately started to relate it to different sound presets and the design came into my head to make a box with a lot of jacks to be able to sample the audio.

Building this got messy quick as there were a ton of wires to contend with and they all had to go in different directions without rhyme or reason. I made a little extra work for myself by soldering wires to all the possible connection points that I found, then testing for the ones I wanted and eventually snipping away what I didn’t use. It made the board easier to work with as all the wires were secured with hot glue and I wouldn’t have to worry about soldering into tight spots or something falling off and not being able to figure out the combination of wires again. 

In the end it was a giant heap so I found an extra large enclosure to simply dump it into. Making the faceplate I first soldered the component connections before suspending the board above it and finalizing it to the case. One other thing I was happy I thought of was removing one of the LED’s from the board that corresponded with a button on the remote that acted as a small flashlight (the button on the remote was an illuminated bulb). This would work as a good battery indicator since it would light steadily if the battery levels were adequate. I snipped it from it’s original position, extended the wires out to a button and new AAA holder, and incorporated a bezel to the design to place it in. 

Overall I am extremely intrigued by this idea that audio can be generated from non-audio based sources and what kinds of possibilities this might have. I’m not sure if these sounds are particularly good or useful but I do know I have a lot of curiosity to start probing other random electronics now. 

If you wish to download the samples from the KODIAK for free - check the link below :) 

https://movequiet.com/collections/sample-pack/products/kodiak-sample-pack-free