Carer Call Button
The challenge was to think of a way of allowing the client to call his carer at night without the baby alarm constantly transmitting. My initial idea was to use a baby alarm with voice activation so the client would have to call out sufficiently loudly to trigger the baby alarm. The client considered that setting the exact sound level would be tricky and there would be no indication that it had triggered.
I then suggested using a battery powered radio doorbell which generally have many chimes and are quite loud but I was not sure whether the client would be able to find and press the button in the dark. The client thought that in principle this was a good idea but that it would need a bigger button and, ideally, a hanging hook so it could be fixed conveniently next to his bed.
The solution
The solution to the button problem was to repurpose a button from one of the children’s activity toys called “Answer Buzzers” made by Learning Minds. I bought a set of these (4 buttons with different sounds and coloured buttons) and a “TECKNET Wireless Doorbell, Waterproof Doorbell Battery operated Cordless Door Chime Kit at 1000-feet Range with 38 Chimes, 4-Level Volume & Blue Indicator Light”. I dismantled one of the buttons and the doorbell push button and found that I could easily transplant the doorbell push button circuit board into the Answer Buzzer case. I chose the blue Answer Button so that the blue LED on the doorbell circuit board would be visible and show the client that he had triggered the doorbell. The two AA cells in the Answer Button were perfect for powering the doorbell circuit board and would allow these to be replaced easily.
Having reassembled the modified Answer Button, I tested the new system and found it worked perfectly.
Inside the Answer Button showing the The Answer Button case holds 2 AA cells The finished button with the doorbell
doorbell circuit board “transplant”
The benefit
I shipped it off to the client and they found that, having first chosen the most suitable chime, it was very helpful and fulfilled their needs with both the main and alternate carers finding it a great improvement.
There was also the added bonus that the client’s wife did not get disturbed as she had before (without really realising it) by the baby alarm sounding all night.
The client Michael with the button on his tray, his wife and his main carer Martin holding the doorbell.
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