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Carlitos' Projects: Wireless Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot

by RobotShop on March 22, 2011 Table of Contents Carlitos' Projects: Wireless Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Carlitos' Projects: Wireless Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Go Further . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 5: Get Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 4 5 8 8 9

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

Author:RobotShop

RobotShop.com RobotShop is the World leading robot store for personal and professional robot technology.

Intro: Carlitos' Projects: Wireless Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot

We all dream of having appliances and machines that can obey our spoken commands. Well, let's take the first step towards making this happen and build a speechcontrolled Arduino-based mobile robot. You may be thinking that making such a robot must be a very complex task. After all, humans take many years before they can understand speech properly. Well, it is not as difficult as you may think and it is definitely lots of fun.

Step 1: Materials
In order to make a speech controlled mobile robot, there are a few basic components you will need. Rather than reinventing the wheel and telling you how to first build the mobile platform from the component level, or a speech recognition circuit, we show you how to integrate existing components into one seamless design. The list of parts below is suggested, though many can be swapped for similar products.

1x DFRobotShop Rover kit: It constitutes the robot to be controlled.

1x VRbot speech recognition module: It processes the speech and identifies the commands.

2x Xbee RF communication modules: They create a wireless link between the speech recognition engine and the robot.

1x Arduino Uno: Controls the speech recognition module.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

1x IO expansion shield. Allows to connect the Xbee module to the DFRobotShop Rover

1x Xbee shield. Allows to connect an Xbee module to the Arduino Uno.

Male headers. They are required by the Xbee shield.

1x barrel jack to 9V battery adaptor. Allows to power the Arduino Uno trough a 9V battery.

1x microphone (a microphone is included with the speech recognition module) Optional parts: 1x LED. It is not required since the IO expansion shield already has one but it can provide a more visible activity feedback. 1x Audio jack used to connect the optional headset 1x Headset (this is more comfortable than holding up a microphone)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

Step 2: Tools
Several tools will be required to build the project, most of which are found in a small workshop. If you don't already have these items, they are all inexpensive (except for the computer).

A Wire Cutter. It will be used to cut the leads off components.

A Soldering Iron. In order to solder all the (many) connections, a soldering station might be preferable since it provides steady and reliable temperature control that allows for easier and safer soldering (you have less risk of burning the components if the temperature is set correctly).

A Third Hand. This is not absolutely required, but it is always useful for holding components and parts when soldering.

A computer. It programs the DFRobotShop Rover and the Arduino Uno using the Arduino IDE. A Hot-glue gun in order to stick the components together.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

Step 3: Assembly
1. Assemble the DFRobotShop Rover and mount the IO expansion shield, an Xbee Module and the LED. Se the picture above or the video for further information. 2. Solder the headers onto the Xbee shield. Also solder four headers on the prototyping area as shown below. Do not like soldering? Then keep reading since there is no-solder-required version of the project.

3. Connect the four headers to the corresponding pins as shown below.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

4. As shown above, you can also mount the headphone jack and use the cable included with the microphone in order to connect it to the VRbot module microphone input. 5. Put the shield onto the Arduino and connect the battery.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

6. Connect the VRbot speech recognition module wires and the microphone. Incorporating multiple parts from different suppliers often means that screws, headers and other connection points do not always line up. In this case, there is no specific mounting position for the voice recognition module.

7. Program the DFRobotShop Rover and the Arduino Uno with these programs respectively: dfrobotshop_serial.zip and VRbot.zip. These files contain the sample code needed for the DFRobotShop Rover as well as the Arduino connected to the voice module. 8. Start talking to your robot! Say "forward", "backward", "left", or "right" in order to make the robot move in the desired direction. The word "move" indicated in the video has been removed from the program in order to improve the performance.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

Step 4: Go Further
Now that you have the basic program you can create new commands in order to build upon this project. For instance, it would be nice to program a "dance" command that would make the rover execute a predefined choreography. It is also possible to use this knowledge to control other devices such as lamps, TV sets, and more. You can find more information about using the VRbot speech recognition module here: Veear Arduino Demo Arduino Demo program In our case, we used two of these robots in order to create a "ball-fetching" challenge at the CRC 2011 with high-school and CEGEP students.

Step 5: Get Your Own

RobotShop put together a full kit that you can buy in order to get started with speech control. This kit is a bit different than the project shown and does not require any soldering and uses the microphone included with the VRbot module:

DFRobotShop Rover - Speech Control Kit

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/

Related Instructables

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Computer, Give Me Coffee! (How to Build a Robot With Voice Interface) (video) by mikhalchuk

Use Spells to Control Your Computer! by technick29

Ereader is optional by using your portable music player and MSWindows by Computothought

How to use the speech tool in Mac Os X 10.5 leopard by ANony-Mus

Read Email with Arduino and Wave Shield by davewking

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carlitos-Projects-Wireless-Speech-Controlled-Ard/