Reverse gear horn in toy car

Thread Starter

@trigger

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2
Hi All

I have got a toy car for my kid. He is very enthusiastic and roam all around the corners in home. He tries to mimic the reverse gear sound while riding the car. I thought of putting a sound kit or something, connected with the back wheel. To start with, I just googled various queries, however didn't get any relevant result. I am complete noob in this area, so just wondering if it's possible or not.

 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
It appears that there is nothing electrical on this car. That will add a bit of a challenge, because such an alarm is electrical. So the very first challenge will be a device to sense when the car is moving backwards.
 

Thread Starter

@trigger

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2
Yes, there is no electrical/electronic components except small LED, sound system and battery which are embedded in the steering. Is there not a mechanical gear/device/component which can sense the back wheel movement, and then trigger a sound?

Just a weird thought...
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
OK, all of the electronics are embedded in the steering wheel. That adds a bit of challenge, and making it more interesting the rear wheels don't appear to have a common axle. The logical location for a reverse warning beeper appears to be inside the "front wheel set", probably with a switch of some sort that drags on a wheel and is operated when the toy rolls backward. Add a battery and a sounalert device that sounds like a backup alarm and the parts selection is complete. Installing the parts will be the big challenge since the assembly parts appear to be blow-molded, which makes the entire surface an important structural system. So it may need an add-on housing for the backup alarm system.
BUT you need to stop and think about how long you want to be hearing that warning sound.
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,853
how long you want to be hearing that
Was thinking the same.

My concern would be (in addition to MisterBill2's concerns) would be that when backing up and triggering the alert, stopping the backing up action would not necessarily end the trigger. The alarm may be on until the child moves the car forward. In addition to that, what happens in the night should the toy be put away just at the verge of triggering the alert, and somewhere in the night - be it change in temperature or whatever, the alert starts sounding.

I bought a toy for my son that had doors that when you opened them they sounded an alarm. At 2 AM the child was out of bed and playing with the toy. When he opened the doors my wife and I heard it. Knowing he was out of bed we went to his room to put him back in bed. He had already jumped in bed and was pretending to be asleep. So I motioned to my wife to be quiet and follow my lead. I looked behind the door, in the closet, under the bed and behind the window curtains. I then went to my son and whispered "Jake". To which he whispered back "What?". I said "Are you awake?" and he whispered "No."

Children can be a lot of fun. Not so much when their toys start sounding off in the middle of the night.

If anything - the first thing that came to my mind was something like a computer mouse. With detected movement and some programming you might be able to trigger an Arduino (or some other micro controller) and drive the output of an alert. But perhaps the easiest way to accomplish what you want is a simple battery, button and alert the child can press the button when he wants to make the backup sound. Quick, cheap and easy.

My final thoughts on this: Children lose interest in things fairly quickly. By the time you get this built he may lose interest in making the sound himself, and not much longer beyond that he may lose interest in the ride on toy altogether.
 
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