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A friend gifted us a teddy bear with two embedded buttons at our housewarming, presumably for our toddler. A kind gesture, but as it turns out, once the button for either English or Spanish alphabet is pressed, it sings the entire thing, and the only way to turn it off is to rip open the back of the bear and flip the switch on the little white box they included. My first thought was, "Great! I'll try to circuit bend this!" But after opening up the electronics box, I didn't see any timing circuitry and most of the components were covered in that hardened black goop. So, I decided to make it into a wireless sound and light controller.
Materials:
Smart Pal (or other electronic toy with buttons)
FIO Arduino and Battery
3-Axis Accelerometer
XBee Radio for FIO
XBee Radio with Serial or USB connection for computer *
assorted wires, headers, sockets
lead-free solder
soldering iron
helpful spouse or friend to watch the kids while you're working on this
Computer with Pure Data installed to generate sound
SaikoLED Saiko5 fixture or other LED setup to generate light
I had these parts lying around from other projects, and the bear was a gift. If you bought all the parts for the wireless system new from Spark fun, it would probably cost $150, which is less than some electronic toys but still a lot!
* I am going to be investigating using the Seeedstudios Bluetooth Bee instead of XBee radios which would drop the cost by $50. If anyone knows of a cheaper accelerometer (short of etching your own board) please let me know in the comments.
Materials:
Smart Pal (or other electronic toy with buttons)
FIO Arduino and Battery
3-Axis Accelerometer
XBee Radio for FIO
XBee Radio with Serial or USB connection for computer *
assorted wires, headers, sockets
lead-free solder
soldering iron
helpful spouse or friend to watch the kids while you're working on this
Computer with Pure Data installed to generate sound
SaikoLED Saiko5 fixture or other LED setup to generate light
I had these parts lying around from other projects, and the bear was a gift. If you bought all the parts for the wireless system new from Spark fun, it would probably cost $150, which is less than some electronic toys but still a lot!
* I am going to be investigating using the Seeedstudios Bluetooth Bee instead of XBee radios which would drop the cost by $50. If anyone knows of a cheaper accelerometer (short of etching your own board) please let me know in the comments.
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Signing UpStep 1Remove Annoying Alphabet Box
Open up the velcro on the back of your bear.
Pull out the white box far enough to find all four wires going into the body of the bear.
These go to the bear's foot-buttons.
In my bear, each pair of wires was a different color. That made it easier to tell them apart.
Pull out the white box far enough to find all four wires going into the body of the bear.
These go to the bear's foot-buttons.
In my bear, each pair of wires was a different color. That made it easier to tell them apart.
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That's a recipe for a migraine, or possibly an epileptic episode....
;-)
Embedding speakers may also be a good direction, though it's easier to make non-squeaky sounds with my living room sound system.