Voice commands. How to?

T Chap

Someone asked me about using voice commands as a trigger. They said they’d like to speak 12’ away from the sensor. I have never looked into this. Can this be done at that distance? It seems rather far.

Mike Green

Devices like Apple’s HomePod or Amazon’s Echo Dot or equivalent can do this, but I’m sure it’s way beyond what the Propeller can do. Both devices have multiple microphones which are processed to locate the sound source within the room space, filter out extraneous noise, and look for specific phrases initially. The various companies have hired sizable groups with a lot of experience in doing this kind of sound processing and they’re using a pretty good sized ARM processor with plenty of memory to do the initial processing before handing off a lot of the hard work to a processor farm elsewhere.

Peter Jakacki

You should go ask the real experts. My wife is a real expert at voice commands. She commands, I obey

T Chap

Thanks for the Echo suggestion! This is for a handicap person to automate a few things in the house. Lights, automatic doors, etc. I just need a contact closure. After a quick google “how to control lights with echo dot” this seems very easy. But here are cases with I’d like dry NO momentary relay closure vs flipping a light on via the WiFi power outlets. I’ll read on.

ctwardell

You might want to check out the AIY Voice Kit from google.

MicroCenter currently has the for $4.99, you also need a RaspberryPi 3.

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntt=aiy+voice

I bought one last week but have not used it yet.

C.W.

GordonMcComb

As an FYI, the kit MicroCenter is selling is the first generation. It's still perfectly good, but the second generation kit, available online through Target, includes the Raspberry Pi and some improvements in the hardware and firmware. If you don't already have a Pi3, you're looking at about $40 for the package. The new generation kit is $49.

I have the new generation kit. Accurate voice commands at 12 feet (without shouting) might be a challenge in a room with significant background noise. As packaged, the kit uses the big button as the trigger. You can replace that for hands-off activation.

erco

Peter Jakacki wrote: »

You should go ask the real experts. My wife is a real expert at voice commands. She commands, I obey

Kinda like my wife. Without her, I'd never know if I was driving too fast, had the air conditioner on too high, etc...

Alexa/Echo Dot is simply amazing. Its microphone array not only hears and understands while it's talking/playing/alarming, but it detects the direction of the sound source.

Now THAT's some magic smoke in there.

erco

There are some inexpensive self-contained modules around, such as https://www.ebay.com/itm/LD3320-ASR-Voice-Recognition-Professional-SP-Voice-Recognition-Voice-Module-GM/262136735338

Haven't tried, so I can't say how good or (more likely) bad they are.

But it just HAS to be better than the VCP200 voice recognition chips I got from Radio Shack back in the 1988: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-Shack-Archer-276-1308-Voice-Recognition-IC-VCP200-Tandy-NOS-Vintage-1988/282976262537

Speaker independent, and VERY few commands. Your choice of:

1) Yes/No or On/Off Just two choices, more reliable than...
2) Go, Stop, Left Turn, Turn right, Reverse

They do work, but you need to practice saying the words in a way the chip likes. Watch EEVblog Dave test it at 19:00:

Jorge P

I recall several years ago, back in the 80's, some CB-ers with base stations made some remote microphones that they would carry in their pocket or on a necklace and it fit inside a pill bottle. I think they called them "pill bottle mics". I'm pretty sure they got the idea from the Amateur Radio enthusiasts. If you know someone that can add Upper and Lower side bands to a decent standard CB radio, they will be the ones to ask.

I tried doing some searches but com up with little regarding the schematics of the pill bottle mics of the old days. It's becoming a lost art!