Next Gen. Comm badge chirping?
- Thread starter GeneralFROSTY
- Start date
Yep nothing better than KISS, Keep It Simple Silly.
I got in touch with the person who did mine and he is busy doing other things.
I'm hearing something might be in the works for these anyway Licensed.
I got in touch with the person who did mine and he is busy doing other things.
I'm hearing something might be in the works for these anyway Licensed.
Nerdoholic
New Member
CommBadge - 'Star Trek' Style Communicator for iPhone and Android - YouTube
It seems someone has already accomplished this task.
It seems someone has already accomplished this task.
I had this years ago too. If you open it up, (There are no screws, just some plastic pillars to clip both sides of the badges together) inside it is a very simple circuit board that houses two LR44 batteries (I think) and a black blob. Yep, its this black blob which triggers the less than 1mm thick piezo sounder to 'click'. And the effect, although is not the sound of an actual Commbadge but its quite close enough for me.
If everyone were to use this same approach, then there is no problem except that the thickness of the batteries must be considered and again, it would have to be a two-piece badge since the piezo needs to be on a flat surface. But I am very confident no one minds if the thickness extends by another 3mm or so. Plus, you need to 'push in' to the badge to activate a switch.
majenko's board is quite good and his solution is to take an actual sound sample (which you can get from the Generations Soundtrack CD) and play it. Because he is using a dsPIC, I am sure majenko would be able to get some codes for capacitive touch sensing. But the real problem here would be a speaker small enough to go inside the badge and still be able to have the sound heard, say, within 2~3 feet. And batteries, yeah, its taking up so much space, even for a more 'common' cheep and cheerful LR44.
So, here is my idea, which could be possible for both TNG and Voyager Commbadges:
1. Make the Commbadges in hollowed out metal but with tiny rectangular slots around the delta arrow for sound. The interior would also serve as an echo chamber.
2. Attach a wire to the badge from a PIC chip that has capacitive touch sensing capability.
3. Attach a piezo sounder to the chip. (This eliminates the need for an amplifier)
4. Program the chip to 'chirp' the piezo sounder when there is a 100ms tap. Any longer than that, it would not sound (because chances are, you're holding it).
5. If there are no 'taps', go on standby/sleep mode to conserve energy.
Possible problems:
1. For the TNG, this design is effectively the same as the QVC and so, looks quite ok. But for the Voyager, we would need to increase the thickness more due to the electronics and batteries.
2. Both also needs to have a base and so, again, the QVC two-piece design is the blueprint for this.
3. I really, really, do not have the resources to do this since my programming sucks and I only know how to light up LEDs. :lol
4. When its ready, Shut up and take my money:behave
I like the cut of your jib sir, now who is working on this?!!
I'm in for one.
I'm in for one.
I had this years ago too. If you open it up, (There are no screws, just some plastic pillars to clip both sides of the badges together) inside it is a very simple circuit board that houses two LR44 batteries (I think) and a black blob. Yep, its this black blob which triggers the less than 1mm thick piezo sounder to 'click'. And the effect, although is not the sound of an actual Commbadge but its quite close enough for me.
If everyone were to use this same approach, then there is no problem except that the thickness of the batteries must be considered and again, it would have to be a two-piece badge since the piezo needs to be on a flat surface. But I am very confident no one minds if the thickness extends by another 3mm or so. Plus, you need to 'push in' to the badge to activate a switch.
majenko's board is quite good and his solution is to take an actual sound sample (which you can get from the Generations Soundtrack CD) and play it. Because he is using a dsPIC, I am sure majenko would be able to get some codes for capacitive touch sensing. But the real problem here would be a speaker small enough to go inside the badge and still be able to have the sound heard, say, within 2~3 feet. And batteries, yeah, its taking up so much space, even for a more 'common' cheep and cheerful LR44.
So, here is my idea, which could be possible for both TNG and Voyager Commbadges:
1. Make the Commbadges in hollowed out metal but with tiny rectangular slots around the delta arrow for sound. The interior would also serve as an echo chamber.
2. Attach a wire to the badge from a PIC chip that has capacitive touch sensing capability.
3. Attach a piezo sounder to the chip. (This eliminates the need for an amplifier)
4. Program the chip to 'chirp' the piezo sounder when there is a 100ms tap. Any longer than that, it would not sound (because chances are, you're holding it).
5. If there are no 'taps', go on standby/sleep mode to conserve energy.
Possible problems:
1. For the TNG, this design is effectively the same as the QVC and so, looks quite ok. But for the Voyager, we would need to increase the thickness more due to the electronics and batteries.
2. Both also needs to have a base and so, again, the QVC two-piece design is the blueprint for this.
3. I really, really, do not have the resources to do this since my programming sucks and I only know how to light up LEDs. :lol
4. When its ready, Shut up and take my money:behave
majenko
Member
I'm bogged down with other projects at the moment, but once the pulse rifle module is completely put to bed I might have a small slot in my time division multiplexed life to see what I can come up with.
I can shrink that board more - it was just an initial idea thrown together - and it doesn't have to be square
As long as it's bigger than 10mm x 10mm as that's the smallest my PCB suppliers (and most PCB suppliers) can do.
There's no reason why the board can't be made with extra thin (0.4mm) PCB to make it even slimmer - and then have two layers of board with components on all sides, kind of a component sandwich. Of course, the thinner your PCB the more it costs (strange, I know - more money for less board...)
I can shrink that board more - it was just an initial idea thrown together - and it doesn't have to be square
As long as it's bigger than 10mm x 10mm as that's the smallest my PCB suppliers (and most PCB suppliers) can do.There's no reason why the board can't be made with extra thin (0.4mm) PCB to make it even slimmer - and then have two layers of board with components on all sides, kind of a component sandwich. Of course, the thinner your PCB the more it costs (strange, I know - more money for less board...)
Being an EE major, I have a few thoughts on this and I'm certain it can be done well. I'm going to, of course, have to play with it. I have one of those bulky black comm boxes, paired with a DS9 badge. I loved that thing when I was twelve.
Since we're probably using a piezo speaker, why not use the piezo as an input as well? I imagine a solid 'tap' would be significantly louder than most other random jostles, so it could be tuned to ignore most random noises and only respond to a tap.
I would also attempt to make a double tap or something to change it between the standard sound and the 'not working' comm sound. Just for fun.
I had a thought about using a process I saw to put a circuit on glass, which would nicely simulate isolinear tech, but I think it might be too silly.
I know for a fact I can solder the fine SMD components. I would probably try to reroute the board to seat the uC more-or-less INSIDE the circuit board. Sure, not very production friendly, but it allows for the absolute minimum clearance. I've also seen substrate significantly thinner than the usual around-1mm thickness, something like .25 or .5 mm. I have some little RFID tags jangling in a pocket that would be almost perfect.
I'm gonna look at it some more but... hi.
I have one of those bulky black comm boxes, paired with a DS9 badge. I loved that thing when I was twelve.Since we're probably using a piezo speaker, why not use the piezo as an input as well? I imagine a solid 'tap' would be significantly louder than most other random jostles, so it could be tuned to ignore most random noises and only respond to a tap.
I would also attempt to make a double tap or something to change it between the standard sound and the 'not working' comm sound. Just for fun.
I had a thought about using a process I saw to put a circuit on glass, which would nicely simulate isolinear tech, but I think it might be too silly.
I know for a fact I can solder the fine SMD components. I would probably try to reroute the board to seat the uC more-or-less INSIDE the circuit board. Sure, not very production friendly, but it allows for the absolute minimum clearance. I've also seen substrate significantly thinner than the usual around-1mm thickness, something like .25 or .5 mm. I have some little RFID tags jangling in a pocket that would be almost perfect.
I'm gonna look at it some more but... hi.
I did some surfing and found an Atmel dev board that, all told except the battery, is about the size of a US dime. If I can get the piezo to give an acceptable playback with the dev board I have, I'll either buy one of those to play with, or order some chips to the same spec and design a minimalist, purpose built board.
The chip itself should run on 0.7v, so one or two hearing aid batteries should work, will have to play with it and get back.
I'm having visions of hacking up a bluetooth earbud and trying that, depends on the state of my pocket book.
The chip itself should run on 0.7v, so one or two hearing aid batteries should work, will have to play with it and get back.
I'm having visions of hacking up a bluetooth earbud and trying that, depends on the state of my pocket book.
YenChih Lin
Master Member
Being an EE major, I have a few thoughts on this and I'm certain it can be done well. I'm going to, of course, have to play with it.
Since we're probably using a piezo speaker, why not use the piezo as an input as well? I imagine a solid 'tap' would be significantly louder than most other random jostles, so it could be tuned to ignore most random noises and only respond to a tap.
I would also attempt to make a double tap or something to change it between the standard sound and the 'not working' comm sound. Just for fun.
I had a thought about using a process I saw to put a circuit on glass, which would nicely simulate isolinear tech, but I think it might be too silly.
I know for a fact I can solder the fine SMD components. I would probably try to reroute the board to seat the uC more-or-less INSIDE the circuit board. Sure, not very production friendly, but it allows for the absolute minimum clearance. I've also seen substrate significantly thinner than the usual around-1mm thickness, something like .25 or .5 mm. I have some little RFID tags jangling in a pocket that would be almost perfect.
I'm gonna look at it some more but... hi.
That's a neat idea to turn the piezo speaker into a tapper too, didn't thought of this… and if that's possible to change, that'll be great - I have isolated the non-functional sound and the discreet "knocking on" buzz of the commbadge crystal clear without background noise!
Sourcing a piezo, tried a couple of greeting cards but they used 8ohm speakers. Nice quality but too big for a comm. VERY flat but the size of a silver dollar. The electronics are incredibly compact, and would certainly fit inside a badge...
If you wanted a badge that sang like Tinkerbell or farted. (My wife has incredible taste)
If you wanted a badge that sang like Tinkerbell or farted. (My wife has incredible taste
)Got a piezo, and got it playing sound with my MC with no additional parts. Only problem is that the MC might not be powerful enough to play back sampled sounds above 8kHz - meaning the darn thing sounds like it was recorded from a telephone. All the tinny, high pitches are gone. Not acceptable. I might be able to push it to 16kHz, with some software hacking. I need to dig up some components for hooking it up to an SD card for proper storage.
The other good news is that, if I can figure it out, it may be possible to use sounds from a Micro SD card, which means they can be interchanged for different versions, even timed voices.
Finally, it's frivolous but I thought it was funny: could use a reed switch to detect when the badge is snapped on or removed and play the 'tick' sound, along with putting it in sleep mode when not worn.
The other good news is that, if I can figure it out, it may be possible to use sounds from a Micro SD card, which means they can be interchanged for different versions, even timed voices.
Finally, it's frivolous but I thought it was funny: could use a reed switch to detect when the badge is snapped on or removed and play the 'tick' sound, along with putting it in sleep mode when not worn.
TheDarkPope
Well-Known Member
Here's an idea that I used on a different project that with a tiny modification could be used for your badge. Total parts cost about $25 and can be made by anyone with a little soldering experience. I am of course assuming that you have a comm badge doodad that you'll be able to add over the activation button. I'm sure that'll make sense when we get there. There are lots of pictures, so I'll not make this wordy. Away we go...
Radio Shack sound recorder. Records sound up to 20 seconds and plays it back.
Step 1 - Desolder microphone and connect to a headphone jack.
Step 2 - Plug into computer or audio device and record your chirping sound. Press playback button to make sure levels are correct. This may take several attempts.
Step 3 - Remove playback button from board.
Step 4 - Scrape away board cover that follows copper trace lines.
Step 5 - Decide length from board to new power button and cut length of 26 gauge solid wire. Solder wire to trace lines.
Step 6 - Desolder speaker wire from board and speaker. Cut length of wire of 26 gauge wire that will be same length from board to power button. Solder wire to both speaker and board.
Step 6 - Cut notches into speaker housing. This will be explained shortly.
Step 7 - Cut perfboard to size of speaker.
Step 8 - Attach button to perfboard, solder power wires to button.
Step 9 - Use wire to connect speaker to perfboard. Notches cut in step 6 will allow space for wires.
Step 10 - Desolder Record Button and Microphone wire from board
Step 11 - The board as smaller than the 9 volt battery, You'll need to find a tiny enclosure to fit them in.
This offers a small profile and is adjustable to any length. Any doodad can be glued onto the button and with just a push, it plays back your sound.
All that being said and done, I realize this particular design would need some adjustment to work for uniforms, but I think it offers a good starting point that can be worked with that doesn't require circuit board design, and the parts are readily available. Buttons and speakers can be bought of varying sizes to accommodate. The wires are the thickness of a dime and can easily be put behind clothing without them being noticed. The battery and board can easily be put on your pocket and pushing the biutton on your chest will activate the device.
Radio Shack sound recorder. Records sound up to 20 seconds and plays it back.
Step 1 - Desolder microphone and connect to a headphone jack.
Step 2 - Plug into computer or audio device and record your chirping sound. Press playback button to make sure levels are correct. This may take several attempts.
Step 3 - Remove playback button from board.
Step 4 - Scrape away board cover that follows copper trace lines.
Step 5 - Decide length from board to new power button and cut length of 26 gauge solid wire. Solder wire to trace lines.
Step 6 - Desolder speaker wire from board and speaker. Cut length of wire of 26 gauge wire that will be same length from board to power button. Solder wire to both speaker and board.
Step 6 - Cut notches into speaker housing. This will be explained shortly.
Step 7 - Cut perfboard to size of speaker.
Step 8 - Attach button to perfboard, solder power wires to button.
Step 9 - Use wire to connect speaker to perfboard. Notches cut in step 6 will allow space for wires.
Step 10 - Desolder Record Button and Microphone wire from board
Step 11 - The board as smaller than the 9 volt battery, You'll need to find a tiny enclosure to fit them in.
This offers a small profile and is adjustable to any length. Any doodad can be glued onto the button and with just a push, it plays back your sound.
All that being said and done, I realize this particular design would need some adjustment to work for uniforms, but I think it offers a good starting point that can be worked with that doesn't require circuit board design, and the parts are readily available. Buttons and speakers can be bought of varying sizes to accommodate. The wires are the thickness of a dime and can easily be put behind clothing without them being noticed. The battery and board can easily be put on your pocket and pushing the biutton on your chest will activate the device.
STpropguy76
Well-Known Member
Interested as well .......
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