microcontrollers

[spacebug]

There's a little interactive art project I want to make- I want to take an existing phone, and have each of the number keys trigger a sample (or mp3, or whatever, quality isn't super important) through the receiver's speaker. If possible, I think it'd also be fun to put a proximity sensor on the ringer so that it rings when someone approaches it. I know this should be do-able with a microcontroller, but I have no experience with them and very little programming experience (though I'm working my way through MAX/MSP, which, while not a true programming language, can communicate with ardunios.)

Any advice or online resources from you Makers?

Comments

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

The phone I want to use is a specific phone- it's not a rotary phone but the style is the same (squat, with the buttons on the front and a large handset over the top), so I'm guessing there would be a decent amount of space to stow the hardware required once it's mostly-gutted- it's not anything like a cell phone! If I made the ringer work, I wanted to use the actual analog ringer on it- I don't know how difficult this would be, but a sample just wouldn't be the same. I'd really really prefer to have it be a self-contained device.

[bitwise.livejournal.com]

Oops, I assumed you meant a cell phone. With an old-fashioned phone you'd be able to do a lot. You should have no problem being able to work the ringer-- just use a relay to turn it on.

[bitwise.livejournal.com]

Actually, now that I think about it, using a big power mosfet to turn on the ringer would be much cooler, since you wouldn't be able to hear the relay clicking...

[buckminster.livejournal.com]

Old phone ringers take fairly high current- 70-120VDC, total around 300mah.
http://www.communitytheater.org/how_to/phone.htm
I found some circuit diagrams for building your own ring generator, but I'd try and buy one.
http://www.qsl.net/yo5ofh/hobby%20circuits/telephone_circuits.htm
http://www.tkk.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/telephone_ringer.html