I am working on an idea but am not sure how to locate the items I need to make this work. I need to find a small circuit thats flat and can beep or makes a sound (similar to what they use in a musical birthday card that small or smaller) if it had an adhesive stick on that would be ideal. i would like to activate the sound by a small remote hand held device maybe the size of a car remote within a 20 or 50 foot range (i've also toyed with the idea of an app that would work it from a phone). I am in the early stages of the project and am trying to determine the feasability and source of materials. Any sage advice, recommendations or comments would be appreciated.

 

If a greeting card gizmo is suitable, I'd just use one of those. It'll save a LOT of work for very little cost.

Then you just need a remote trigger to power it on, just like opening the card. If you need 50ft range, that pretty much rules out an IR remote, like a TV remote, and suggests a garage door remote, or at least an RF system of some kind. Do you have anything yet, or are you starting at zero?

 

This is in the planning stages so I dont have anything yet but I will need a number of these so greeting card units really are not practical. This will be a prototype to developing a bunch of these if it works out. I'm just not sure where to source this type of equipment. Dont know if radio shack has anything like it or if there is another source out there.

 

Welcome to AAC.

Are you 1) attempting to build this from scratch or 2) put something together using existing products for a) the prototype, b) the final product, or c) both?

You initial description implies a greeting card module as wayneh mentioned. When you say you'll need a number of these and greeting modules aren't practical, do you mean it's not cost effective, too big, etc?

You can buy these in bulk and save money. eBay is one route, but this company offers a lot of different options including adhesive-backed modules. You may want to contact them and see if they offer something with a remote option - I've dealt with them in the past and they're got great customer service.

If you're looking for a quick prototype, you can hack a $10 remote car and connect it to a recording module, greeting card or otherwise. Alternately, you may look to see if Sparkfun or Parallax have something that will work. Maybe something like this with a microcontroller?

For a final product at the size you're describing, I'd suggest looking into an RF chip. This company offers several options, but you'll have to design a PCB.

 

This might help, or this. Just search for "recordable sound chip" and you'll get an idea of what's out there. Here's more. And another.
A related DIY project.

 

Ideally I am looking for something about the size of a nickel or quarter that self sticks that when activated with a hand held device will either buzz or make a sound. I plan on using this to attach to a frisbee so I can easily find it when it gets lost in bushes or high grass. In order to not effect the frisbee aerodynamics the device needs to be small and low profile hence the coin sized idea to attach to the fisbees center. Of course the cost of this needs to be relatively cheap. If something pre exists that would work thats preferred or I can attempt it from scratch if feasible. I once saw a small circuit type tag on clothes in a store that rang a buzzer if you tried to leave the store with the item without paying , of course this is kind of reverse of having the frisbee do the buzzing but the circuits small size had me wondering if theres not something small out there that would work. Or perhaps to simplify it just something thats buzzes or beeps when turned on hence eliminating the need for a hand held device to activate. As you can see I am in the brain storming stage of this project.

 

Ah, in that case, consider using or modding a key finder. Remove the housing and stick it dead center under the Frisbee using strong double-sided tape or silicone. Another thought is a key finder that responds to whistling, but that would probably go off every time the Frisbee was thrown.

 

Thanks for all this helpful info. I did try the link for the key finder but its saying invalid URL any other way to get to this link. it sounds promising.

 

I got the link working thank you

 

I plan on using this to attach to a frisbee so I can easily find it when it gets lost in bushes or high grass.

Ha ha, I've thought about this very thing while hacking my way through the underbrush trying to find a lost disc. You wouldn't think it could ever be so hard to find something so large and brightly colored. If you can solve it for a frisbee, the golf ball is next!