Lions roar from a PICAXE?

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rolfi@tisco.no

Member
I would like to do a kind of robot-project, i.e. "picaxify" some children's toys .. a teddybear, a fluffy lion and a monkey.. The main idea is to let a ldr and a vibration sensor trigger a few leds and a (small) speaker, producing "animal sounds".
So far so good, but can picaxe chips be persuaded to generate convincing "animal sounds", - like the roar of a lion? Or are there easier and more convenient ways to do that in a toy?
I am considering the AXE117 (14M) card for the job, or even the AXE118 (20M/20X2), assuming that the 5 I/O pins of the 8M are too few.
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
I don't think the PICAXE can do it by itself but one should be able to control a sound module, perhaps something pulled from an 'animal sound' story book.

You could use a VMUSIC2 to play back an MP3 of the sounds.
 
B

BeanieBots

Moderator
The PICAXE itself can only produce monotone sounds (and white noise) so, no complex waveforms I'm affraid.
However, there are plenty of sound generation chips and also devices onto which you can record your own sound. (available from Tech Supplies).

Your 08M could be used to trigger such a device to produce the desired sounds.

Vibration sensor on input 3.
LDR on another input.
That leaves 3 remaining outputs.
One to trigger sound effects.
One to flash the LEDs.
and the remaining one to drive a servo to make the eyes move.

Of course, you could go to a 14M to get extra functionality and have the 'toy' run away as well;)
 
R

rolfi@tisco.no

Member
Thanks a lot for your suggestions guys! I've had a look at the VMUSIC2 module, and find it a bit expensive (£50 at Farnell) and really an overkill. As is the Tech Suppl. SPE020 MP3 player. The PPM155 Sound Recorder, however, is a good candidate, for sure. And I wonder what are the other chips you are referring to, BB, any part names in mind?
 
N

nickpatts

Member
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G

goom

Senior Member
How about the SOMO-14D?
Look in the User Project, Audio Visual for some useful tips and code.
 
R

rolfi@tisco.no

Member
Once again, thanks to all of you! Sound recorders seems to be the thing, and I have found several good candidates.(And why didn't stupid me look to RAPID at once?)
 
B

boriz

Senior Member
Sound recorders tend to have poor sound quality due to low sample rates. Check first. Also, they usually can only record/playback just one sound. Maybe not a problem for your App.

I like that animal keyboard :)
 
slimplynth

slimplynth

Senior Member
(If it was just a one off demonstration model and also dependant on the size of toy) how about hacking an old mp3 player?

Had an old 256mb player that looked possible to hack; using a Picaxe to take control of the buttons and the play back would be as good as the original file/recording. Though one problem I could forsee with that is the battery power needed; unless there's a hackable mp3 player that plays immediately on power up. The mp3 player might then need to be powered constantly.

The one I had (USB devices seem magnetically attracted to the washing machine in this house) took easily 10 seconds starting from Power-On >>> Splash Screen >>> Select Function >>> Select Track >>> Play ... this might not be good enough where an instant reaction (sound) is required.

Looked on ebay and £4 would get you plenty of Roar!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/-BNIB-512MB-IMP-64-MP3-player,-recorder,-FM-radio_W0QQitemZ280470913235QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=5f309d9f1270a0aad34086a0ff9f6d6f

edit:

Some forum links:

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4804
http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11847
http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=93395
 
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W

westaust55

Moderator
goom said:
How about the SOMO-14D?
Look in the User Project, Audio Visual for some useful tips and code.
Click to expand...
I concur with Goom that the 4D systems SOMO-14D audio module is worthy of consideration and easily interfaced to a PICAXE. This can provide/hold up to 512 pre-recorded sounds.
It used a micro SD card of up to 2GB capacity.
As goom says, look at the threads in the finished Projects section as there are some SD cards know to work
and others that are known not to work - which have given some grief in the past.
See: http://www.4dsystems.com.au/prod.php?id=73


Another option could be the SPEAKJET speech synthessis chip.
You would be somewhat on you own to use this to generate other than speech but it would not be impossible to do something.
See: http://www.speakjet.com/

This chip has been mentioned here a few times of recent since the SPE030 speech synthesis module was discontinued.
 
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