Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
Talking Resistor Calculator — Parallax Forums

Talking Resistor Calculator

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
edited 2012-06-11 13:36 in Robotics
I love doing Propeller projects... Even better when I can create a useful Propeller based tool for my workbench.

One of the things I HATE is squinting at the color bands on resistors. Yeah, I know my meter will tell me the values,
but then there's that fiddling around to make sure the meter is in the correct setting as well..

This project uses an MCP3208 ADC chip and the Phonemic Voice Synthesizer by Phil Pilgrim to speak the values of my resistors.

My Parts List:
  • A Quickstart w/Protoboard
  • An Amplified Speaker
  • An Alligator clip wire
  • A MCP3208 ADC Chip (and possible socket)
  • A 10K resistor
  • A 3,3K resistor
  • A bunch of resistors that you don't want to try to read.

Full Instructable on how to build this project as well as source code can be found here:
http://www.gadgetgangster.com/news/56-jeffs-shop/548-talking-resistor-calculator.html

Comments

  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2012-06-11 05:38
    I couldn't understand any of the utterances! Is it just me?
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-06-11 06:25
    Jeff,

    Neat idea for the bench. My eyes have seen better days also and it seems like I'm getting more and more resistors where the colors aren't as clearly defined - some batches have red/brown/orange issues, another might have brown/black issues - you can't always tell what color is which.

    I haven't played with the speech code but I'm wondering if it might do better speaking "four-seven-zero" instead of "four hundred seventy"

    Or do it like the color bands - digit, digit, # of zeros - "two, two, two" would be a 2.2k, "four, seven, one" would be a 470 ohm.

    Just more things for people to try to see if one works better than the other.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2012-06-11 07:39
    I've toyed with the idea of doing .wav file playback for this with a sultry female voice. :)

    There's a microSD connection on the QuickProto now, so it could certainly become 2.0.

    OBC
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-06-11 07:45
    Oldbitcollector (Jeff) wrote: »
    I've toyed with the idea of doing .wav file playback for this with a sultry female voice. :)

    OBC

    Careful, there, you might cause an epidemic of well sorted resistors!! :lol:
  • Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
    edited 2012-06-11 07:49
    Audio ?!?

    Shouldn't it send you a text message or tweet or post it on Facebook? :smile::smile:
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-06-11 08:00
    A tweeting resistor caluculator - that would be a hillarious misuse of technology! Now, where is that Spinneret I wasn't using???
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2012-06-11 08:10
    I love this idea! Do it!
    mindrobots wrote: »
    A tweeting resistor caluculator - that would be a hillarious misuse of technology! Now, where is that Spinneret I wasn't using???
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2012-06-11 13:36
    That is FANTASTIC. We'll need to do a showdown to see which is more intelligible, the Prop synth or the SP0-512:

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?140506-SPO-512-Text-to-Speech-Chip&p=1103060&viewfull=1#post1103060
Sign In or Register to comment.