Post by thread:Loud Noise

At 06:21 PM 9/23/97 -0500, you wrote: >I am working a project that needs to alert the operator of a trash truck if >he does something "silly". Any input on the best (i.e. cheap) way to >generate a loud 'beep' with a PIC would be much appreciated. > >TIA Carter Brock > How about activating the inbuilt "loud beep" ...... the trash truck horn. Regards, Ross McKenzie Melbourne Australia to reply by email remove the "nosp*m." text from my email address

> I am working a project that needs to alert the operator of a trash truck if > he does something "silly". Any input on the best (i.e. cheap) way to > generate a loud 'beep' with a PIC would be much appreciated. There are a few options you could consider: [1] Take a small loudspeaker (8ohm is common, though higher impedance would be better) and a moderate-sized cap (experiment some here); wire one side of the speaker to ground, and wire the other side to a port pin via the cap. Loudness won't be too great, but cheap and easy. [2] Add either a transistor amplifier or else an LM386 to the above circuit. [3] Get a general-purpose piezo speaker; many of these can be driven direct by the PIC, and they can produce any desired pitch. Their frequency response is terrible and their distortion characteristics are even worse, but for this application those shouldn't matter. [4] Get a piezo transducer; these can be driven directly by the PIC, but they usually have only one pitch where they really work well. You can drive them at other pitches, but they won't sound nearly as loud. [5] Get a piezo transducer with a built-in oscillator. These are driven by simply giving them power. Simple to control, and they always run at the optimum resonant frequency. Unfortunately, they are rather limitted as to the sounds they can produce. [6] Use an electro-mechanical buzzer. Some of these are cheap, but you'll need both a cap and a diode to protect the PIC from the electrical noise and spikes they can generate. [7] Use a doorbell, before they go the way of the dodo. >:*3

On Tue, 23 Sep 1997 18:21:45 -0500 Carter Brock <spam_OUTcbrockTakeThisOuTDIALNET.NET> writes: >I am working a project that needs to alert the operator of a trash >truck if >he does something "silly". Any input on the best (i.e. cheap) way to >generate a loud 'beep' with a PIC would be much appreciated. > Ten or 15 years ago, a group of us designing stuff with microprocessors were on break behind the building when we watched a trash truck pick up and dump a dumpster. We theorized that a processor based garbage truck would dump the garbage on the cab during a watchdog timeout. Sorta similar to the processor based flashlight with three buttons: on, off, and reset. Harold

At 06:21 PM 9/23/97 -0500, you wrote: >I am working a project that needs to alert the operator of a trash truck if >he does something "silly". Any input on the best (i.e. cheap) way to >generate a loud 'beep' with a PIC would be much appreciated. Let me know where he livs - I have some vengeance for early morning pickups <G> Andy ================================================================== Andy Kunz - Montana Design - 409 S 6th St - Phillipsburg, NJ 08865 Hardware & Software for Industry & R/C Hobbies "Go fast, turn right, and keep the wet side down!" ==================================================================

Wire the output to turn on a Sonalert available from Radio Shack. Put the somnalert in the cab and the driver will need to be deaf to ignore it. At 06:21 PM 9/23/97 -0500, you wrote: >I am working a project that needs to alert the operator of a trash truck if >he does something "silly". Any input on the best (i.e. cheap) way to >generate a loud 'beep' with a PIC would be much appreciated. > >TIA Carter Brock > > Larry G. Nelson Sr. .....L.NelsonKILLspam@spam@ieee.org http://www.ultranet.com/~nr

> >I am working a project that needs to alert the operator of a trash truck if > >he does something "silly". Any input on the best (i.e. cheap) way to > >generate a loud 'beep' with a PIC would be much appreciated. > > Let me know where he livs - I have some vengeance for early morning pickups > <G> > > Andy Why not just use a buzzer, battery, and switch?? Sorry if that was a newbie comment. I am totally new to PICs. I have never made a project. It would be nice if someone could point me in the right direction for some info on cheaply (ie dirt cheap-cheap enough for a student like me) beginning in PIC programming. I am particularly interested in making a temperature/humidity sensor. Thanks in advance to all... "Eagles may soar in the clouds, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines." -- Jason Hutchison