wireless switching

chrisreid186 · Jun 2, 2014

Hello i have a son who has special needs and needs help playing with his toys, To enable him to use his toys i have rewired the toys switch to a big button type switch which he can press more easily (see attached pic)

Now what I would like to do is make the switch wireless so there's no longer a trailing cable from the switch to the toy.
probably going to need a very small relay mounted on the toy

any ideas what kind of wireless switch would be best RF, wireless etc...
also would like the switch to turn on multiple toys (they can be on the same channel as i could just turn toys off that are not in use)

any advice on how to do this and what to use would be great

cheers chris

[ElectriciansForums.net] wireless switching

Richard Burns · Jun 2, 2014

Slightly out of range for this forum, I think!
I have not done this so this is only ideas, the unit you would need would need a power supply compatible with the toy's power supply, which could make it difficult to source identical units if the toys have different voltages, the other alternative would be to have an independent battery for the receiver, but this would take up a lot of space. The unit would also need to be small enough to fit inside the toy. You would also want to check the range of operation, as some are quite short.

There are ready made remote controls available out there but whether they would be suitable for your application would be for you to assess as you know the toys characteristics.

Effectively you would want to have a radio frequency receiver with a latching relay output if you had an on off witch or a toggled output if you have only one button.
It might be worth trying somewhere like Maplin to see if they have a remote control switch kit, or if you are more electronically minded, see if you can source parts from RS or Farnell.

Spoon · Jun 2, 2014

Tried looking on Google for this. Looks like there is some stuff out there but EBay and a few other sites are blocked by our works computers.
As RB has mentioned above, you might have some difficulty fitting the receiver into the toy.
You would also have to modify the transmitter. They usually have small buttons which you would have to replace with a big one. No big problem.
Hope you find something. Keep us informed mate.

tazz · Jun 2, 2014

You can buy ready made or kit modules from Maplin, CPC or rapid online, basically used for security industry, available in 1,2,4 channel units Remote Control Systems | Rapid Online

DPG · Jun 2, 2014

There are some cheap single-channel (which is all you need for simple on/off switching for a toy) radio frequency switch transmitter/receivers on ebay. Quality won't be the best, but good enough for this type of use. Daz