VRbot to Picaxe

[MurrayJ]

I have been looking for a cheap voice recognition board to interface to my Picaxe system for years. I came across the VRbot board recently and have been wondering if it would be difficult to use with the Picaxe system. Best of all it can be had at Sparkfun for less than $60.

Anyone have any insights, help, better systems than this one etc.

http://www.veear.eu/Products/VRbot.aspx

 

[hippy]

I don't know of any other voice recognition systems, certainly none which seem so compatible with PICAXE. It uses serial, 9600 baud ( default, minimum and can be increased ), and even does pacing of output ( default, can be reduced ) so should be suitable for SERRXD and HSERIN. It certainly looks doable but proof is in the doing.

It may be necessary / easier to train the board using a PC ( will likely need MAX232 or similar ) but once trained it looks like it can then be used to tell a PICAXE what someone said. It may well be possible to train using a PICAXE. I'll admit I didn't study the command details and the protocol but it certainly looks reasonably easy and straight forward.

 

[Marcwolf]

Hi there MurrayJ

I have recently found the VRBot and I agree that it looks very interesting. I have one being sent to me now. The chip I am going to be using is a 20x2 so that will beable to handle the increased baud rate. The 20X2 will also be controlling a SD21 (21 servo controller) via I2C

The VRBot can be programmed to send the results at different speeds re characters per millisecond so to not to overload slow systems.

I have also looked at the HM2007, which can be trained (no default words) and one can use it with a 20m to decode the BCD outputs to usable commands.

Be very interested to chat re experiences etc and maybe we can bot benifit from each others experiences.

Take care

Dave a.k.a. Marc

 

[MurrayJ]

Thanks Hippy and Marc for the info. I haven't actually bought one yet, just wondering how hard it is to program, simple serial commands or more advanced stuff over my head.

I would be very interested how you get on Marc, a small piece of sample code would help me decide when you get yours running. If its not too difficult I will buy one in a flash.

I don't know how much help I could be but anything I can do - chat, collaboration on code etc sounds good to me.

 

[Marcwolf]

Well one of the VRBot's claim to fame is that it can be interfaces to any system - so long as it can use 9600 baud minimum.

From what I can see - there is a GUI that you can down load to test the system and to program new words. This can be run independantly of a Picaxe or other microcontroller.
There are several vidoe's on their site demonstrating this.

Once you have set the unit into listening mode it will listen for commands and send the response back to the host (picaxe/ardino/xxxx) using the RS232. If the reponse is more that 1 character then you can set the VRBot to send each character every xxx millisecond so that bit banging systems will also work.

I am sending them soem questions to clarify the programming ans responses but I do not see anything that would be a 'show stopper' so to say. The units is definately geared to hobbiests and low processing powered systems.

Hopes this helps a little.

Dave

 

[Marcwolf]

Hi Murrayj
My VrBot arrives last night so I had a look at uisng it.

I did have some trouble interfacing to it using a AXE027 download cable however I then tried a 4Systems Micro-USB card and it worked.

Using a terminal program (STermPro 1.1.3 , download free with 30 day trial) I hooked it up to a 5V supply

I must day out of the box the unit works perfectly. I was able to follow the sample programs and send and recieve commands to it.

It has a small microphone that comes with the board and I had not trouble either using the GUI or the Terminal program in getting it recognise the Speaker Independant commands.

After I finish a couple of other projects I will get onto looking further at this.

I would like to use a PicAXE 18X for the interface however the VrBot does use 9600 baud.

Hope this helps

Dave

 

[MPep]

@Marcwolf,

You'll be able to use a 18X as long as you speed up the oscillator to 8MHz.
Is the sound module also going to be used in your animatronics projects?

MPep.

 

[Marcwolf]

Hi MPep

Yes it is. I will be wearing a throat mic under the costume. This will enable me to spead very softly so people watching me cannot hear.

Then I issue a valid commanf the cvontroller (18X or 20X2) will interpret the command and will do one or more of the following

1. Activate a solid state relay cuttng power to all servo's, or turning power on

2. Send a signal to one of the other picaxe systems in the suit (Tail, Eye flash module)

3. Using a 4Dsystem uDrive access the SD ram card and read groups of servo position information. This will be done every 250ms so that sequences can be played out. This information is sent to an AXE031 via I2C to control various servos in the suit.

There will also be a lot of background housekeeping like monitoring wearers temperature, battery voltage so that systems can be cut down to preserve power for the cooling fans etc.

It is a project that is really testing my various skill sets and the end result willl be a set of public domain modules that will enable anyone to make up a very advance suit on a budget.. plus control it without a team of people with R/C units watching.


Now an 18X could handle a lot of this however I would like to have the scratchpad to recieve infor coming back from the VrBot

Take Care
Dave


Take Care
Dave

 

[MurrayJ]

Thanks for the info Dave. When you are not so busy, can you upload a simple program, maybe in the completed projects folder? Just a few lines to get me and anyone else interested started with the VRbot, and any important info we might need, like that a serial to USB board is needed etc.

 

[Marcwolf]

No Problems Murrayj
The speech system is about 5 down on my list of projects so it could be a few weeks...

However as mentioned - testing it out of the box proved to be pretty easy.

Take Care

Dave