I'm a beginner at arduino-ing. Id love your input on a project id like to start. My dog can talk with buttons. I would love to track the buttons that she pushes but i do not want to ruin the buttons that we have. They are pretty expensive.
Is it even possible and how would you add hardware to the button without destroying it?
Some pictures attached.
Edit: Uploading went wrong. Trying to upload a picture of the inside of the buttons but it won't.. I'll try again later.
Ah i get the confusion! I mean that, by adding something im afraid that i would break something. Since they aren't build for it. I want to track each button press but i wouldnt know where to start.
By something i mean the electronics already in the button by adding onto it. Ignore the emotions about being afraid to break something. Thats simply an explanation why im here for help.
I'm wondering how I can track the button presses. Can I simply connect an arduino to the buttons? And how should I do that.
https://fluent.pet/ sells the buttons. I might be able to get in contact with the company and ask some questions if needed. We're part of their research group. But I wouldn't know what information to ask for.
I'm certain it is possible to interface those buttons with Arduino, but it would probably require opening them and making some simple, nondestructive modifications.
The company may not be interested to give you the required information, but you could try telling them that there would be additional buyers if the info were published.
If they aren't forthcoming, it would not be difficult for someone with experience to reverse engineer enough of the circuit to get something working with Arduino.
On the other hand, you can just buy heavy duty buttons of that size, that are just buttons. Attach them to an Arduino and away you go! (An Arduino can be programmed to say words upon button push).
@SteveMann: the 433 MHz buttons you linked look interesting. Can you post a link or info describing how the button transmissions can be individualized? The seller says that the buttons cannot be reprogrammed, but there may be traces on the PCB to cut or join.
I am using a few of these buttons to control a few things around the house.
I have an MQTT RF Bridge that receives the 433 MHz button code and sends it as an MQTT message.
Sounds complicated, but it's pretty easy to integrate all the pieces together. And the buttons only cost about $2 each.
the seem to simply send an ID. when the ID is received, the receiving device does an action.
with the mat in the original device, you could embed the speaker.
and with the MQTT, you have every opportunity to record what was pressed and what was 'said'
seems those buttons are ideal for this application and they are so cheap.
seems the base could also provide power, no need for batteries,.
jremington:
I'm certain it is possible to interface those buttons with Arduino, but it would probably require opening them and making some simple, nondestructive modifications.
The company may not be interested to give you the required information, but you could try telling them that there would be additional buyers if the info were published.
If they aren't forthcoming, it would not be difficult for someone with experience to reverse engineer enough of the circuit to get something working with Arduino.
On the other hand, you can just buy heavy duty buttons of that size, that are just buttons. Attach them to an Arduino and away you go! (An Arduino can be programmed to say words upon button push).
Thank you for the reply! Me and some others are part of a testing group for them. I've talked to the person that developed the buttons and I'm sure he could explain some inner workings if needed. it will ofc remove the guarantee if anything breaks. Obviously.
I'm ok with opening them up and adding nondestructive modifiations. I would like to continue using these buttons because my dog is used to the size/shape/sound/location etc. It's would be a headache to teach her again. We are also part of a research on how to teach dogs. Changing buttons would affect the data a lot.
The recording of the buttons in a log would also be great for research. That's my primary goal. Collect data.
dave-in-nj:
the seem to simply send an ID. when the ID is received, the receiving device does an action.
with the mat in the original device, you could embed the speaker.
and with the MQTT, you have every opportunity to record what was pressed and what was 'said'
seems those buttons are ideal for this application and they are so cheap.
seems the base could also provide power, no need for batteries,.
It would be intresting to create her own sound board. However, my dog is already used to speaking with the buttons she currently has and we are doing research on these buttons. I'd prefer to log every time one of these buttons is pressed and which button it is.
