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Beyond Veho — Parallax Forums

Beyond Veho

ercoerco Posts: 20,259
edited 2012-07-25 10:11 in General Discussion
I just had to have this when I found it today, a speaker bigger than Veho with a built-in MP3 player.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Portable-Micro-SD-TF-Music-Angel-Player-Mini-Speaker-iPod-MP3-4-Laptop-/200771878034?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D794939082261254229%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1017%26rk%3D1%26

Someone must make a stereo version of this or a Veho for better MP3 sound output than a single speaker than deliver. The quest continues!

At a minimum, I could wire up a special adapter with one stereo plug to an MP3 player and two output jacks to channel left & right audio to two different Vehos... not your average "headphone splitter".

Comments

  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2012-07-22 17:24
    The thing about the Veho and it's ilk is that it bellows out to produce a bigger sound. Fold it up and it takes up much less space in your backpack. Something with an MP3 player inside might be useful, I guess (though who doesn't already have an iPod or iPhone or other smart phone with MP3?) but it would be better if the speaker were collapsible. Right?

    -- Gordon
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-07-22 17:53
    C'mon... that bellows is a nifty gimmick, but it hardly changes the sound quality. Not much bass reflex change from "expanding" 3/8"...

    But it REALLY makes it look like a hamburger! :)
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2012-07-23 08:07
    GordonMcComb wrote: »
    ... (though who doesn't already have an iPod or iPhone or other smart phone with MP3?)...

    Me.
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2012-07-23 08:49
    I'm not sure about the Veho as I don't have one of those, but on mine opening the baffle does indeed make the sound a bit richer and louder. This isn't to say it's not also a gimmick, though I find the capsule design better overall size and shape wise for mounting on a robot, so for that reason alone it's what I prefer to use. These bigger enclosures take up too much room.

    OTOH, this player/speaker you posted does have a "clear alt and pure woof," which you don't find on many of the others.

    -- Gordon
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-07-23 09:17
    GordonMcComb wrote: »
    I find the capsule design better overall size and shape wise for mounting on a robot, so for that reason alone it's what I prefer to use. These bigger enclosures take up too much room.

    -- Gordon

    Agreed, although you have to admit, my coffee cup speaker horn looks pretty bitchin' scanning back & forth here. A Veho wouldn't command as much presence.

    No Veho for Gordo? Ken, please right this wrong before I'm forced to send Gordon a pink knock-off!
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2012-07-23 10:52
    Nice demo! Ken L's new chip does a pretty good job.

    Thanks for thinking of me, but I'm not really needing a Veho, as I've got a couple of others here that I use on various projects. My current fav brand is the X-Mini. They're more expensive, but they do belt out some pretty loud sound. I also have some I've picked up surplus for various projects, and if/when they die I steal the LiPo battery out of them. My wife is getting an X-Mini for free with her Think Geek points. What joy!

    BTW, some of your other YT vids showing the PICAXE Big Trak are more than amazing. Considering the issues with that chassis, how did you get the thing to go in a straight line? You, sir, are a steely-eyed robot man!

    -- Gordon
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-07-23 13:10
    GordonMcComb wrote: »
    BTW, some of your other YT vids showing the PICAXE Big Trak are more than amazing. Considering the issues with that chassis, how did you get the thing to go in a straight line? You, sir, are a steely-eyed robot man!

    -- Gordon

    Thank you, Gordon. Seriously, that is quite a compliment coming from my hero. TTYTT, I tossed the hopelessly undergeared 1:48 gearmotors which cause all the control issues and I used CR servos instead, as my ROBOT article describes. I actually have several 1:220 DC gearmotors which could have also solved the problem, but those are nearly impossible to get for John Q Public, so I went with modified $5 servos from Hobby King. And encoders are on the way.

    In a marginally related story, I was actually able to get the stock Magician chassis to go straight. This video is just the motors hooked up to 3V, no uC at all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCKdXTXmcSk
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2012-07-23 13:49
    erco wrote: »
    so I went with modified $5 servos from Hobby King. And encoders are on the way.

    Ah, you resorted to trickery. That's okay. The stock motors they put on these things really stink.

    Speaking of encoders, take a look at these, added over the weekend:

    http://www.budgetrobotics.com/item/EZ-Encoder-Patterns---Make-your-own-high-quality-wheel-encodersfor-under-5-per-wheel-356

    The materials were chosen to provide the highest contrast differences for IR, giving a better result than printed codewheels. I don't have any inserts made to work with the Magician chassis wheels, but I might work up some if the interest is there. I think they'd work better than the half-transparent (to IR) ones they include with the kit! And yes, Dennis Chaney's magnificent $1 sensors are easy to use with these things discs.

    -- Gordon



    -- Gordon
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2012-07-23 14:26
    Looks neat Gordon! Your site keeps getting better and better.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2012-07-23 15:13
    erco,

    Your robot reminds me of either a cartoon robot or toy duck or something that's stuck in my memory just below total recall. I like the styro-mega-phon. I think that's what triggers the memory. His singing is getting better and better. You know if you used that Propeller board you have, you'd lose that awkward stutter step in the tune.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-07-23 16:13
    mindrobots wrote: »
    ... you'd lose that awkward stutter step in the tune.

    GASP! It's not an "awkward stutter step", it's a characteristic "gait"! Do you know how long it took me to program that so precisely???!!!!

    @Gordon: I like the intention of the Magician's codewheels better than the execution. As you say, they are nearly transparent to IR, plus they're too low resolution, at least for the cheap single sensor (non-quadrature) encoders I favor. I'm planning to use my favorite homemade disks (although yours look quite nice too) with my tiny $1 Goldmine sensors http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G18740 . What are these Dennis Chaney sensors that you mention?

    Edit: AHA, Chaney=Elec Goldmine, so you probably meant those same Rodan sensors.
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2012-07-23 16:55
    Thanks, Whit!

    Erco my fine fellow, I was indeed meaning the Rodan sensors...we already did the Godzilla joke, so no sense in going over that one again. Yes Dennis runs Elec Goldmine, and also Chaney Electronics (where he does mostly simple kits). The Rodan sensors are the exact kind of thing he has the knack for finding. I've been getting stuff from him for close to the 40+ years he's been in business. He and Marlin P. Jones are something of my idols.

    I don't know what the Magician chassis developer had in mind with those discs, but I'm pretty sure he never actually used them for their intended purpose. Besides the fact that the red plastic they use doesn't do much to block infrared, the design of the motors lacks axial precision, so the slot has to be really wide or else the disc will chaff up against the sensitive sensor bits. Misalignment is just about guaranteed.

    One day maybe you can try a set of my discs -- which, BTW, will soon get dual and higher res versions...these are just the ones I did first off. They're really meant for the classroom, where they need more reproducible results than what the typical paper codewheels can do. Plus, more and more people only have inkjet printers with dye inks, which are about as opaque as those red discs they include with the Magician chassis!

    PM me your address again, and I'll send along some (indoor, removable) wall vinyl robots for your pair of princesses. They *are* into robots, aren't they?

    -- Gordon
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-07-23 19:16
    GordonMcComb wrote: »
    PM me your address again, and I'll send along some (indoor, removable) wall vinyl robots for your pair of princesses. They *are* into robots, aren't they?

    -- Gordon

    Far out! If we hurry, they'll make it into the next ROBOT magazine! PM'ing now, thanks.
  • BitsBits Posts: 414
    edited 2012-07-23 20:07
    Erco

    That robot has the cone of shame! nice work btw.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-07-23 21:09
    Bits wrote: »
    That robot has the cone of shame! QUOTE]

    :)http://www.ratemyfunnypictures.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/the-cone-of-shame-640x387.jpg :)
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,259
    edited 2012-07-25 10:11
    Here's an Veho-ish "balancing" egg speaker. Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down!

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Mini-USB-Egg-Shape-Black-Portable-Speaker-For-MP3-MP4-/110923685459?pt=Other_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item19d3911e53
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