Wanted - design/consultation for talking toy project
project34
electronics that would fit into the base of a novelty item and play sounds
when a button is pressed.
Please email proj...@attbi.com if you are interested in providing this
type of work.
Richard Crowley
> I'm looking to contract with someone knows how to design and build
> electronics that would fit into the base of a novelty item and play sounds
> when a button is pressed.
There are likely several (many?) raw devices and subassemblies available to
do this function.
You could try buying one of those "talking picture frames" from Radio Shack
and dissect it to discover the source of the components and/or subassembly.
mark hahn
available from Radio Shack. There is one based on one of the ISD chips
(now WindBond I think) for about $9.95 (US Dollars).
How many of these are you planning to make? In small quanities (under
100) it will be very hard to beat $9.95.
In large quanities (100,000 or more) you could look at the sound chips
used in kid's toys. These are pretty inexpensive, probably under $1,
but will cost a bit ($20,000?) to program. Embedded Systems
Programming magazine had a couple of articles on sound chip
programming in 2000 or 2001.
What size does the device need to be? What power source do you want to
use? Do you need any intelligence in the product, or do you really
just want a button?
Mark
project34 <fa...@address.com> wrote in message news:<pY3T9.614988$%m4.1...@rwcrnsc52.ops.asp.att.net>...
Lewin A.R.W. Edwards
> used in kid's toys. These are pretty inexpensive, probably under $1,
> but will cost a bit ($20,000?) to program. Embedded Systems
> Programming magazine had a couple of articles on sound chip
> programming in 2000 or 2001.
I wrote the "Give the dog a chip" article you reference.
These parts are available in quantities as small as 2.5k pieces (5k is
a more usual number though), with prices starting at around a dime.
But although you can place /one/ order that small, you need to have a
relationship with an agent and a chip vendor that extends beyond a
mere $500 one-time purchase.
For anything short of major commercial production, ISD is a good
choice. If this is unattractive for some reason, you can consider
taking a cheap 8-pin microcontroller (PIC12Cxxx, Atmel Tiny8, etc etc)
and marrying it to a speaker and a serial EEPROM. Implement your own
ADPCM algorithm and you've got a lower-cost sound chip (probably $8
for a couple of minutes, vs. $10-$15 for the comparable ISD part).
I found the ISD parts generally quite difficult to work with, as they
are application-specific; intended for answering machines and
cellphone handsfree kits.
mark hahn
you, i couldn't find the issue.
I've looked at the pic and serial eeprom design. It looked like it'd
get pretty expensive ($ and size) if you wanted more than a few
seconds of sound. Unless ADPCM is a lot more efficient at compressing
sounds than i thought.
I haven't seen too many serial eeproms larger than 64k bytes. How
would you do a couple of minutes of sound without multiple eeproms?
Mark
la...@larwe.com (Lewin A.R.W. Edwards) wrote in message news:<608b6569.03011...@posting.google.com>...
Lewin A.R.W. Edwards
> I enjoyed your "give the dog a chip" article, sorry i didn't credit
> you, i couldn't find the issue.
Oh, that's no problem, I was just identifying myself.
> seconds of sound. Unless ADPCM is a lot more efficient at compressing
> sounds than i thought.
You'd use 6-8kHz, 4 or 5 bit ADPCM.
> I haven't seen too many serial eeproms larger than 64k bytes. How
> would you do a couple of minutes of sound without multiple eeproms?
Well, firstly: those parts are available up to at least 2MBits.
Secondly, they can be cascaded. A "start address" is programmed into
the part. You can cascade by wiring in parallel.
Jeff Verive
A/D, D/A or other really exotic stuff is required. It is very simple to
design an electronic music box, with a 4-bit microcontroller and a few extra
components (for timing and for driving a piezo speaker).
"Lewin A.R.W. Edwards" <la...@larwe.com> wrote in message
news:608b6569.03011...@posting.google.com...
Harry Conover
As usual with this type of inquiry, the requester provides no order of
magnitude information on his estimate of the dollar scope of the work
required to do the job. Most professionals justifiably ignore such
inquiries since they have learned from experience that their cost of
responding to and addressing the detailed issues of these requests
often cost more than the original requester's estimate of the total
project budget.
It would be interesting to see how far a similar appoach with a
practicing attorney would get them.
Harry C.