Audible warning system?

[nocam1334]

I work for a company that rents and sells pumps and we've been discussing trying to incorporate some sort of audible warning system for when something goes wrong with one of the pumps. We actually have a system in place that alerts us when something goes wrong, but no audible alert.

I know greeting card companies have little players in their cards, I was thinking about incorporating something like that into one of our control panels. I'm thinking this might be a relatively cheap and simple solution.

I'm a mechanical engineer, so I only have a very basic understanding of the electronics and wiring. Can any of you offer any advice on what I might consider using and how difficult this would be to implement? Thanks.

 

[mcgyvr]

There are tons of audible signalling devices driven by all sorts of electrical signals/voltages,etc...

More information on your current "warning system" that you have already for alerts is required to answer this question.
How do you get a warning now..?
Voltage.. contact closure..etc..

 

[MacGyverS2000]

How loud is the pump? If it's fairly quiet, Radio Shack sells "doorbell" type buzzers, all you do is apply power. A relay connected to your current signaling system would apply power to the doorbell when the current system went off. It would cost you about $5 and be super-easy to put together. If you need something louder or long-term buzzing, there are some slightly more complicated methods...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[nocam1334]

mcgyvr,

I don't know. I'll have to research and get back to you on that.

macgyvers2000,

Most of the pumps are pretty loud. What I was thinking was more along the lines of some pre-recorded voice prompts that we could use. Would that be more difficult?

 

[IRstuff]

Radio Shack has several buzzers:

http://www.radioshack.com/search/in...w=buzzer&kwCatId=&pg=1&retainProdsInSession=1

A voice chip, in the presence of pump noise, will require amplification, which increases the complexity. An unfamiliar voice and context is even harder to hear.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[nocam1334]

Actually, I was thinking the voice would only activate to warn of problems. A few voice commands to warn of a few specific problems. This would likely occur when the pump is not running, so noise would not be an issue.

 

[geekEE]

Are you looking for some off-the-shelf box or do you have the budget and time to have someone develop something from chips? Is this something that is high-volume or are we talking about a one-off design?

Glenn

 

[VEBill]

Sonalert (now

http://www.Mallory-sonalert.com)

beepers are quite standard. Many interesting sounds to choose from these days.

You'd probably want a 'silence' toggle swith in series with the beeper, but not the flashing light. A 'test' button is also pretty much standard (best if wired up to the sensor side to test the entire system end-to-end).

 

[mcgyvr]

and make sure this "silence" toggle will automatically be turned back on when there is no more warning signal.

Nothing worse than finding out the pump is bad and you never knew because the last service guy left the silence toggle on so you never heard the audible warnings.

 

[VEBill]

That added feature can be done with a latching relay. The silence switch would be a push button to activate the relay. Once the alarm passes, the relay will fall-back to normal.

 

[nocam1334]

geekEE,

Would prefer something off the shelf. And it would be a high volume application, I would like to implement it assuming it works well.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

This would likely occur when the pump is not running, so noise would not be an issue.

Then there's no reason the simple buzzers wouldn't work. You can buy them in bulk from Digikey/Mouser, add a relay and some wire and you're done with it. You can have different buzzer tones for different warnings. Adding voice means a more complicated circuit.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[nocam1334]

macgyvers2000,

I agree, but I'm still leaning towards a voice system simply for the novelty factor. It would be cool to have a talking pump.

How much more complicated would the circuitry have to be?

 

[itsmoked]

You would need a micro-controller with a voice synthesis chip. Then you look at various inputs to output your various messages.

You, of course, need a circuit board and whatever terminations you desire built on to it. You would need a power supply to run the circuitry.

Per unit price for just a running circuit board would be something like $30~50 per 100 pricing, depending on speakers and other niggling details.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[geekEE]

Well the greeting card voice modules are probably all made in China. Here are some examples:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/207610216/voice_recorder_module_for_greeting_card.html

http://www.tradeeasy.com/manufacturers/electronic-parts/recording-modules.html

http://www.sound-led.com/html/catalog_140.html

The quality is not so good and the volume is low, but if you have large quantities, they're probably inexpensive. I doubt that any of these things are made for industrial environments though!

Glenn

 

[GonzaloEE]

For something really cheap, connect a cheap MP3 player board to a microcontroller and some cheap audio amplifier, like LM386 or something like that.

The uC could interface the MP3player pushbuttons, emulating the file browsing/playback button sequences.

 

[nocam1334]

GonzaloEE,

I like that idea. I checked on MP3 player boards online and the price varies wildly (from $25 to over $200). Any you could recommend in particular?

And what do you think would be the total cost of making something like what you suggested?

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Hacking a micro, buttons, aplifier, etc. to an existing design (MP3 player) just sounds like a bad idea and should rarely be done with any high-volume product. Your player source could quickly dry up, they could change something in the design that might fail (imagine how pissed off a customer's going to be when a pump fails because one of your "voice" warnings never played, or the wrong warning played because it was a different MP3 track), and so on and so on.

Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be just because of the gee-whiz factor. If I was in the field and a pump failed, I don't want Majel Barrett's voice (Star Trek anyone?) telling me I have 10 seconds to leave the area before it explodes, I want a dependable fail-safe system that shuts the pump down and blinks a light on a control panel telling me what happened.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[nocam1334]

macgyvers2000,

I don't disagree. The reason I'm looking into a voice system is because it is a request of my boss. We do have safeties in place. He just wants to add an audible voice, mainly for the novelty factor. I don't necessarily agree that it will be a good idea, but I am looking into it nonetheless.

 

[itsmoked]

Over the years I have seen many fools use an off-the-shelf product inside another product. Most recently an OTS camcorder for a medical arthroscope. In all cases I've seen it was a disaster. I mean a giant pile of steaming cr@p disaster. I have been temped in the past to do the same but luckily always didn't.

Have you bought shoes lately? You can't go out and buy the same pair two months later. That model shoe is gone forever and a new model has replaced it. Now consider an electronic consumer gizmo! They change even faster.

In the previously mentioned arthroscope. They had an order for something like 200. So they bought about 210. They got thru about 160 but had so many issues that they had about 40 rejects. They went to buy replacements and couldn't!!! They no longer existed even though they'd got them from Amazon. Last I heard they were trying to find some on Ebay and the customer was livid.

You should just roll your own.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com