hello there everyone! I'm new here and i hope to get along with you all^^...anyway, i have this task which is:
Voice notification when a drink is selected at a vending machine.For instance, at a drink vending machine, when i select coke as my option, it's suppose to say "Coke Selected".

i have a few ideas running in my mind:
1) Is there anyway for me to store a prerecorded voice in a PIC and play it out using a speaker without interfacing to the laptop.Just simple PIC-Speaker control...

2) i have an option of interfacing the PIC where the PIC is used to handle external triggers such as the buttons at the vending machine. What i propose to do is when a drink is selected, the external trigger will trigger the PIC to send a message to the laptop to play a prerecorded sound file.

which is the simplest,cheapest and most effective method? or are there simpler alternatives which is not listed...pls do advice!thanx in advance!
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I think a PC would be an expensive solution for a vending machine. You can store a recorded voice in an external EEPROM memory and then read its content with the PIC.

 

you can do audio playback with FPGAs as well - the files are stored in external memory.

altera has good examples on their website.

 

or you can check out the different Chipcorders ISD electronics puts out... http://www.isd.com/hq/enu/ProductAn...nsumerElectronicsIC/ISDVoiceIC/ISDChipCorder/

B. Morse

 

This is not as difficult as you may have imagined. There are ICs that have just about everything you need in 1 IC. Add a mic to record (Or other input type) and a speaker or amp to playback, and the act of recording and storage are done on the chip.

They have a select pin that can playback the recorded sounds, or more advanced units have addressable areas for different samples.

 

http://www.uchobby.com/index.php/2007/11/11/arduino-sound-part-1/
TONS of examples on the internet to have a micro play sound in response to an input