Emic 2 help.

babo18 · 2014-02-08 20:26

Hello, I am new to electronics and I am trying to learn on my own. I do fairly well with th basic stamp basics but need some help with Emic 2 board troubleshooting. I cannot get any output from the Emic2 board. I hooked it up as per the instructions (gnd, 5V, sin, sout, and 2 speaker leads) but get no output. The orange led lights during start up and then the green led stays lit. I am using the sample code from the Parallax Emic2 page for the basic stamp. The program executes but I never see the red led light, so I assume there is no communication between the stamp and Emic2. Below is the program I am using.

' {$STAMP BS2}
' {$PBASIC 2.5}

EmicBaud VAR Word
EMIC_TX PIN 0
EMIC_RX PIN 1
Init:
DEBUG CLS, "Emic 2 Text-to-Speech Module Demonstration", CR, CR
EmicBaud = 16468
SEROUT EMIC_TX, EmicBaud, [CR]
SERIN EMIC_RX, EmicBaud, 5000, No_Response, [WAIT(":")]: DEBUG "Ready!", CR '

Main:
DEBUG "Speaking some text..."
SEROUT EMIC_TX, EmicBaud, ["S", "Hello. My name is the Emic 2 Text-to-Speech module. I would like to sing you a song.", CR]
SERIN EMIC_RX, EmicBaud, [WAIT(":")]
PAUSE 500
SEROUT EMIC_TX, EmicBaud, ["D1", CR]
SERIN EMIC_RX, EmicBaud, [WAIT(":")]
DEBUG CR, "Demonstration complete!"
END
'

[ Subroutines ]

No_Response:
DEBUG "Ending demonstration!"
END

I run the program and I get the message:" Emic 2 Text-to-Speech Module Demonstration", followed by a pause(5000), then the message "Ending demonstration!"
I am using p0 and p1 on the basic stamp. I have reversed these just in case I had them in the wrong place, but the result is still the same. I am not sure what I am doing wrong?
Any help would be greatly appriciated.
Thank You.

erco · 2014-02-08 20:33

Welcome to the forums, babo18. Emic2 is a great board. Which Stamp & board (BoE or Homework) are you using? Can you post a photo of your setup?

babo18 · 2014-02-08 20:39

I am using the BS-2 Stamp and the Board of Education.

erco · 2014-02-08 20:45

Thanks for your fast reply!

Just curious, are you sure your Emic board works? Have you ever heard it speak?

babo18 · 2014-02-08 20:47

No, I bought it, took it out of the package and plugged it into the breadboard.

erco · 2014-02-08 21:47

I just hooked mine up with the attached code and it worked fine with a BS2 on a BoE. Try this code, just in case you have a typo in your code. It took a lot of cut & paste editing from the Parallax code listing, which opens as a sad jumble of text. NOTE TO PARALLAX !

Red & green LEDs are both on initially for 2 seconds, then red only while speaking, then green only after speech ends.

' ========================================================================= ' ' File....... Emic2_Demo.bs2 ' Purpose.... Demonstration of the Emic 2 Text-to-Speech Module ' Author..... Joe Grand, Grand Idea Studio, Inc. [www.grandideastudio.com] ' E-mail..... support@parallax.com ' Updated.... 14 FEB 2012 '
   ' {$STAMP BS2}
   ' {$PBASIC 2.5} '
   ' =========================================================================
   ' -----[ Program Description ]--------------------------------------------- '
   ' This program provides a simple demonstration of the Emic 2 Text-to-Speech ' Module. Please refer to the product manual for full details of system ' functionality and capabilities. '
   ' -----[ Revision History ]------------------------------------------------ '
   ' 1.0: Initial release '
   ' -----[ I/O Definitions ]-------------------------------------------------
   EMIC_TX PIN 13'  Serial output (connects to Emic 2 SIN)
   EMIC_RX PIN 14 ' Serial input (connects to Emic 2 SOUT)
   ' -----[ Constants ]-------------------------------------------------------
   #SELECT $STAMP
   #CASE BS2, BS2E, BS2PE
   T9600 CON 84
   #CASE BS2SX, BS2P
   T9600 CON 240
   #ENDSELECT
   EmicBaud CON T9600
   ' -----[ Initialization ]--------------------------------------------------
   Init: DEBUG CLS, "Emic 2 Text-to-Speech Module Demonstration", CR, CR ' when the Emic 2 powers on, it takes about 3 seconds for it to successfully ' intialize. it then sends a ":" character to indicate it's ready to accept ' commands. if the Emic 2 is already initialized, a CR will also cause it ' to send a ":" DEBUG "Waiting for Emic 2..."
   SEROUT EMIC_TX, EmicBaud, [CR]
   SERIN EMIC_RX, EmicBaud, 5000, No_Response, [WAIT(":")]
   DEBUG "Ready!", CR ' -----[ Program Code ]----------------------------------------------------
   Main: DEBUG "Speaking some text..."
   SEROUT EMIC_TX, EmicBaud, ["S", "Hello. My name is the Emic 2 Text-to-Speech module. I would like to sing you a song.", CR] ' Send the desired string to convert to speech
   SERIN EMIC_RX, EmicBaud, [WAIT(":")] ' Wait here until the Emic 2 responds with a ":" indicating it's ready to accept the next command
   DEBUG "Done!", CR
   PAUSE 500 ' Short delay DEBUG "Singing a song..."
   SEROUT EMIC_TX, EmicBaud, ["D1", CR] ' Play the built-in demonstration song. See the product manual for exact settings used to create this song.
   SERIN EMIC_RX, EmicBaud, [WAIT(":")] ' Wait here until the Emic 2 responds with a ":" indicating it's ready to accept the next command
   DEBUG "Done!", CR
   DEBUG CR, "Demonstration complete!"
   END
   ' -----[ Subroutines ]-----------------------------------------------------
   No_Response: ' if we get here, it means we did not receive a ":" from the Emic 2
   DEBUG "No response!", CR, CR, "Ending demonstration!"
   END
   ' -----[ End of File ]----------------------------------------------------

erco · 2014-02-08 22:08

BTW, I tested your code. It works after one modification. I change your line:

EmicBaud = 16468

The correct value is 84.

babo18 · 2014-02-09 05:19

Thanks Erco,
Sorry it took so long to reply, I had to give it up for the night. I used your code and it works great. I agree that the parallax sample code was confusing to decode as printed in the sample. I came up with the number 16468 by an online formula: (1000000/9600)-20, covert to binary, add 1 or 0 to the 13th, 14th,and 15th places, then convert back to a number. I found this formula in multiple places so I assumed it was correct. I really really appriciate your help on this because it was getting very frustrating.
Thanks Again,
Babo18

erco · 2014-02-09 08:53

Happy to help, babo18. Now that your BoeBot can speak, it can sing too. I want a little competition! I used a Robovoice chip here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inM04mo9D8Q and

babo18 · 2014-02-09 09:33

Thanks, but I am no where near that level yet.

erco · 2014-02-09 17:58

The EMIC2 has better (more intelligible) speech than the RoboVoice chip, and probably better text to speech capability, justifying its higher price.

Both chips are a lot of fun to play with. As soon as you get speech down, all sorts of new project ideas will pop into your head. Here's one of my faves:

KronicKold · 2014-04-14 17:55

As an update I was able to get ERCO's code to work after I changed line 6 and line 7 to match the pins I used for serial in and out. Just a heads up to anyone following this double check this and it should work.

Emic 2 help.

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