Audible warning system?
Audible warning system?
(OP)
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.
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.





RE: Audible warning system?
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..
RE: Audible warning system?
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Audible warning system?
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?
RE: Audible warning system?
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.
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RE: Audible warning system?
RE: Audible warning system?
Glenn
RE: Audible warning system?
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).
RE: Audible warning system?
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.
RE: Audible warning system?
RE: Audible warning system?
Would prefer something off the shelf. And it would be a high volume application, I would like to implement it assuming it works well.
RE: Audible warning system?
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Audible warning system?
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?
RE: Audible warning system?
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
RE: Audible warning system?
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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
RE: Audible warning system?
The uC could interface the MP3player pushbuttons, emulating the file browsing/playback button sequences.
RE: Audible warning system?
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?
RE: Audible warning system?
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
RE: Audible warning system?
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.
RE: Audible warning system?
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
RE: Audible warning system?
OK, just in case these cut&paste design 'procedures' are hurting some basic Engineer's principles :) I'd suggest to make an embedded board with some midrange processor/DSP/etc, SD-card or on-board flash, and some integrated audio stage.
Of course you'll have to build the firmware for MP3 decoder, or interface the CPU to some MPEG L3 decoder chip, etc. Also, you have to define how to upload your files: CPU-interface, USB + file system to load files from your computer, etc.
If you're going for the 'hack & paste', check in advance which bitrates your player support. There are plenty of WAV2MP3 conversion s/w on Inet if you're going for a more decent, embedded solution.
Good luck!
RE: Audible warning system?
RE: Audible warning system?
http:/
David Baird
Sr Controls Designer
EET degree.
Journeyman Electrician.
RE: Audible warning system?
Sound was horrible, like robotic, but you could tell the messages.