Looking to make "swoosh box" for elevator doors

Thread Starter

mykrowsy

Joined May 30, 2012
2
Hi all. I'm new here, but really liking the forum for all the diy projects and knowledge available. I have some schooling in electronics, but it's been awhile since I've utilized it, working as a line repair tech for at&t hasn't had me using my evaporating electronics knowledge very much in the last 12 years.

I'm looking to build a box for my uncle's rec room. He acquired some elevator doors and is working on the control panel to open them at present. I told him I'd try and figure out a way to build a little box that plays the Star Trek "swoosh" sound when the door opens, or when the open button is pressed. I've been looking into a couple of wireless door chimes that let you program your own audio file in as the chime sound, but they're a little expensive to buy and hack apart to work with the elevator door panel. I am willing to do so, but I'm hoping to find a more economical solution first. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find some sort of kid's toy that plays audio files, or perhaps one that will record and playback short clips of audio at the push of a button.

That device isn't really what concerns me. What I'm writing here about is how to take the input of the door panel button, and use that to trigger the device that plays the audio file. I know I have some investigation to do as to what kind of signal the panel puts out to tell the door to open when the button is pressed, and also on whatever device i find, how to trigger the sound effect.

Ive done some searching around the internet for this topic, and am surprised I haven't found anything like it out there. If anyone knows of any projects like this out there, please point me in the right direction, or if you have some suggestions as to how to link the two devices together in harmony, please speak up!

Thanks,

Mike
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
Here is a super simple solution.. But a recordable birthday card and use its own microswitch to trigger the sound.
 

Thread Starter

mykrowsy

Joined May 30, 2012
2
not a bad idea for a cheap recording device. but how would I power it long term? maybe just make a battery pack out of c cells paired up to provide the correct voltage? also, i've taken those cars apart before, haha, when you take the little speaker or piezo out of the card, it loses it's volume. how would i trigger the playback, and how could i amplify the volume to an audible (possibly adjustable?) volume?
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,495
Does the control panel for the doors include a lit button? The power for that light is probably plenty to power your audio player, and certainly the "on" status can trigger your player. The light that comes on when the car arrives might be better at matching the timing to the door opening. Now that I think of it, there's probably a limit switch indicating that the door is open. Triggering your audio from the "door open" signal might give the best timing.

Anyway, you need to choose one of these and then determine what type of signal is available there. It might be full voltage AC, or it might be lower voltage AC or maybe even a DC signal. Just about any sound player you might use will want DC for power.
 
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