beginners question

You could do this with a CD4017 CMOS Johnson counter and a bunch of relays. If I were 20 years older I'd probably know how to do it with just relays, but I'm not...

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Tim Wescott
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Sounds like a worthy project, and I'll be happy to help if I can. Would she be able to operate a small keypad with buttons on it? Something like the 4 arrows for channel and volume on a TV remote comes to mind.

Bob

I should have thought of that. Oh well, I must be senile. Too bad I'm only in my 40's.

If she has real motor control problems it may be better to get something with really huge buttons -- there's a game out that's sort of a "follow the leader" game, called "Simon" I think, that has four really huge buttons. At any rate, a cruise through Toys-R-Us should yield something suitable.

You could come off of each one of those to a separate pair of wires, then use a big ol' DB-9 (serial) connector to plug into them.

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Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
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Wow you guys are really quick. Aleena is two years old, so most of what we are working on is basic cause and effect type stuff. She is only able to operate a single switch with each hand, and it's placed directly under her fingers. It's very sensitive and can trigger from the weight of just a piece of paper. It has a 1/8 in phone plug at one end allowing me to move the switch from toy to toy. Since she can only operate one switch I can only wire her toys to do one thing. My only idea was some way to cycle through the operations of a toy with each click or try to program some kind of pattern in the clicks of her switch so it can do different things.

You don't say anything about age or mental ability. If you think she could handle learning a bit (sic) of binary, a keypad with four press-to-make switches for four fingers and one to hit with the thumb for setting the choice could give her fifteen choices (not using zero) from one hand. It's the sort of thing that might take a day or two to get used to but would then be automatic to her.

Ted

Perhaps a panel mount rotary switch . Then a decent sized knob turning to each position and playing each audible sound. You might even be able to get several different toys on one switch, then paint the different pictures of each toy on the panel around the switch. Do the sounds repeat themselves if you leave the switches closed? because that might not be the best unless you leave one rotary position open for the 'off position.

I'm guessing that each switch has a weak pull-up wire and a common ground wire going to it. So it should be easy wiring.

Good luck. Thomas

On 22/12/2005 the venerable amiller etched in runes:

I would use one large button and an AVR mega8 with a bunch of low current relays on the outputs. The whole thing can run from three AA cells. If you can find someone who can program a chip for you I'll write the code in a couple of hours. (Not just now as it's nearly midnight here).

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John B

yep, a good project. just been surfing, and was looking at non USENETstuff like

That's an "audio " forum.It's a typical but very focused forum There are probably similar focused forums that might be suitable for the OP. But I don't know how I would find them, google is such a pain in the arse these days.

Just searching for a data sheet never takes you to the source of the datasheet on the first page anymore, just internet xerox machines

Oh, for a directory of the internet :-(, without popups. Or just yellow pages, in black and white!

martin

Hello John,

That would be the way to go. Especially since it can be made fancier as Aleena grows and learns.

With a micro controller it is also much easier to include hold-time control some day. For example a short click would trigger one function while holding the same button for a couple of seconds triggers a different funtion. Or where a simultaneous push on both hands triggers yet another.

Regards, Joerg

I would love a programable device, I have a lot of experience with computer programming. Where can I find more information about this mega8 device and what kind of places would I go to look for purchasing these types of things.

If you're not big on electronics you can check out the basic stamp. If you're in the US you can get these at Rat Shack -- they sell a kit for around $90 that (I think) includes the PC host side stuff and everything. You'll have to program in Basic (yuck), but you won't have to learn lots of electronics or design a board or anything.

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Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Some good postings on this already, IMHO they've honed in on the important point, that you should focus on a programmable system, preferably one that you can evolve yourself. Don't be scared of programming, anyone can do it, it's creative and can be fun. It would be useful if you can locate a friendly programmable device that you can get familiar with. For starters, try

Feel free to email me with queries.

snipped-for-privacy@wedstnet.com.au. Remove em and dee to email.

I've just posted this in another group:

There is an organisation called "TASH" (Technical Aids & Systems for the Handicapped"

that deals with this sort of thing. You may find something there to help you.

About 10 years ago I designed a unit for the local Kinsmen Rehab group that could be controlled by one or two switches and scanned through 8 functions. It was an improved version of a TASH product called a "Kincontrol". It had relay outputs, and just provided contact closures, so its outputs could be connected in parallel with the existing switches on your daughter's toys - no need for the device to provide (or care about) the toy's power requirements (as long as they don't exceed the relay contact ratings.

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On 23/12/2005 the venerable amiller etched in runes:

The mega8 is an Atmel part. A member of the AVR family of 8-bit RISC processors. Start at these two sites:

The AVR is designed to be programmed in C, although you can use assembler, but I wouldn't recommend it. There are several cheap or free C compilers, as well as some expensive ones. GNU C is free, but the Imagecraft compiler is very reasonable and is the best value for money that I have found.

Hope this helps.

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John B

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On 23/12/2005 the venerable John B etched in runes:

Sorry, forgot to say that Atmel devices are available from Digi-Key or Farnell (which is Newark in the US).

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John B

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Digikey has Atmel's STK500 for $80.

It comes with some AVR chip other than the Mega8. I forget which one. You can find out by reading the documentation. Anyway, if you really want the Mega8, order a few in DIP package.

Digikey also carries the PICKIT1 from Microchip for $36. You might want to scan the documentation.

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I reckon it would be worthwhile for you to contact some of the organisations set up for people with a disability - eg for those with cerebral palsy. IIRC there are LARGE-key keyboard available - these often only have 4 to 10 or so keys and the idea is you can plae a picture of a concept/item on a key and map that key to perform the appropariate action.

Of course this depends on whether or not your daughter could select one key from (say) four in order to select an action/item etc

Anyway - best of luck and good wishes to your daughter

David

amiller wrote:

Thanks for all the suggestions, you guys have been a huge help. I have a lot to look at.

-Aaron

TW, you have been way too kind, i would have hooked him up to a Xilinx Spartan SDK; huge learning curve, high cost and huge potential.

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JosephKK