I am trying to put together a Halloween robot that's motion activated. If possible I'd really like to add a voice to it but to be honest I'm still trying to figure out the lighting and motors for it. Has anyone purchased a cheap voice recorder from target and hacked into the "play" button? Seems to be this would be a quick and easy way to get voice and allow me to focus on the rest of the project.
If that sounds dumb please help me on a good way to give my robot a voice that would be relatively simple to setup.
Hacking a cheap digital audio recorder is potentially the least expensive option. However, using something like the Wave shield would be easier to interface and provide better functionality. You can also search for different audio shields at shieldlist.org.
I've used Radio Shack's voice recording module. RadioShack.com Official Site - America's Technology Store. It's easy to interface to, but it's not very loud. I've never dealt with Electronics123 Shop | Electronics123, but they have some inexpensive modules that look interesting and easy to interface to as well.
If you've got the space and need more volume, there are battery-powered speakers for music players that work well, or computer speakers if a wall outlet and power cord are acceptable. Or, of course, you can breadboard a small amplifier circuit.