Voice via BT
Voice via BT
by subpilot
Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:31 am
I got my Bluetooth audio/voice link working. I hacked a Motorola H300 BT Headset. I added an audio amp and speaker. I also added a couple of series diodes to drop my 3.3V supply down to ~1.9V for the BT supply.
I'm using the SAPI development demo for text to speech on the PC. A very cool addition. Need to put a cover over the speaker so it doesn't get tweaked but everything fit under the chest cover plate.
The audio is not high fidelity but its fine for voice (playing an MP3 file doesn't sound so great)
All the parts can be had from Radio Shack! The H300 is very easy to dis-assemble (unlike many of the other BT headsets out there).
I'm using the SAPI development demo for text to speech on the PC. A very cool addition. Need to put a cover over the speaker so it doesn't get tweaked but everything fit under the chest cover plate.
The audio is not high fidelity but its fine for voice (playing an MP3 file doesn't sound so great)
All the parts can be had from Radio Shack! The H300 is very easy to dis-assemble (unlike many of the other BT headsets out there).
by subpilot
Fri Mar 24, 2006 4:59 am
Per Request, here's a video with the voice. It's a bit distorted but I'll get around to trying to fix that at some point. The speaker is a bit crappy and the impedance match between the amp and the Blue Tooth headset output isn't right.
http://webpages.charter.net/b_waters/www/MVI_0915.AVI
Getting the Bluetooth headset service running on the PC is a PITA. I gotta figure out a good way to auto start it. The software app I have running is a VB demo included with the Microsoft Speech SDK Version 5.1. It's a freebie download but the voice I'm using costs a little bit ~$20 as I recall.
If anyone has a source for a low profile ~25mm speaker with a grill let me know.
http://webpages.charter.net/b_waters/www/MVI_0915.AVI
Getting the Bluetooth headset service running on the PC is a PITA. I gotta figure out a good way to auto start it. The software app I have running is a VB demo included with the Microsoft Speech SDK Version 5.1. It's a freebie download but the voice I'm using costs a little bit ~$20 as I recall.
If anyone has a source for a low profile ~25mm speaker with a grill let me know.
by subpilot
Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:48 am
I don't have written details on doing it but could answer any specific questions you may have. Part of the enjoyment is in the learning.
You need to be fairly familiar with, and have a copy of, Visual Basic, VC++ or Boland C++ etc. You also need a bit of electronics and soldering skills.
Oh, and have enough computer skills to be able to get past the hassles of Bluetooth in Windows.
If that's not too discouraging then get started by getting a Motorola H300 BT Headset and download Microsoft SAPI 5.1
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/defau ... per_51.asp
Once you get speech happening by using the demo TTS (text to speech) app on the headset (start by getting it out of the PC speakers) you can then proceed to the hack to get it into the RN.
The freebee voices supplied with the SAPI download are OK but there are several much better ones available for not much $
You need to be fairly familiar with, and have a copy of, Visual Basic, VC++ or Boland C++ etc. You also need a bit of electronics and soldering skills.
Oh, and have enough computer skills to be able to get past the hassles of Bluetooth in Windows.
If that's not too discouraging then get started by getting a Motorola H300 BT Headset and download Microsoft SAPI 5.1
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/defau ... per_51.asp
Once you get speech happening by using the demo TTS (text to speech) app on the headset (start by getting it out of the PC speakers) you can then proceed to the hack to get it into the RN.
The freebee voices supplied with the SAPI download are OK but there are several much better ones available for not much $
by subpilot
Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:09 pm
I hope I'm not discoraging you. My camera doesn't have good macro capability so it's kinda hard to take good pictures.
Did you get the Motorola Headset? Any luck getting the voice out of the headset using the SAPI demo?
The headset runs on a 1.5V AAA battery so to replace it you will need to regulate your RN supply down to ~1.5V. My RN controller board is modded to run on 3.3V so I just used two 1N4148 diodes in series to drop that down to ~1.9V which is close enough. You're going to have to either mod your controller or come up with a 1.5V regulator to run the headset off of.
You will also need to build up an LM386 based audio amp like this http://www.rason.org/Projects/icamps/icamps.htm
I didn't want to drive the 10K resistor directly from the headset output so I used an audio transformer (Radio Shack 273-1374)
This isn't the highest fidelity setup and I want to do something better one of these days but it gets the job done.
My ultimate goal is to build a new PCB with a BT module and amp all on the one board.
Did you get the Motorola Headset? Any luck getting the voice out of the headset using the SAPI demo?
The headset runs on a 1.5V AAA battery so to replace it you will need to regulate your RN supply down to ~1.5V. My RN controller board is modded to run on 3.3V so I just used two 1N4148 diodes in series to drop that down to ~1.9V which is close enough. You're going to have to either mod your controller or come up with a 1.5V regulator to run the headset off of.
You will also need to build up an LM386 based audio amp like this http://www.rason.org/Projects/icamps/icamps.htm
I didn't want to drive the 10K resistor directly from the headset output so I used an audio transformer (Radio Shack 273-1374)
This isn't the highest fidelity setup and I want to do something better one of these days but it gets the job done.
My ultimate goal is to build a new PCB with a BT module and amp all on the one board.
by subpilot
Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:49 pm
I just found this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002F ... =pdagroove
It may be the way to go since it has the amp included and will no doubt have better fidelity than my setup. Don't know what it would take to hack it down to a reasonable size for the RN.
It may be the way to go since it has the amp included and will no doubt have better fidelity than my setup. Don't know what it would take to hack it down to a reasonable size for the RN.
by subpilot
Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:08 pm
I broke down and ordered the BT speaker to try out. There is also a newer model (HF820) and I see there are a couple other options out there like http://www.jabra.com/NR/rdonlyres/61FD3 ... sheet1.pdf
Still think the best solution would be a custom PCB with both the audio and serial Bluetooth interfaces. I want the connection to be automatic and not have to push the button on the headset/BT speaker to establish the connection.
Still think the best solution would be a custom PCB with both the audio and serial Bluetooth interfaces. I want the connection to be automatic and not have to push the button on the headset/BT speaker to establish the connection.
by limor
Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:50 pm
I think the following would work too..
Take a Bluetooth headset which comes with a tiny rechargeable battery that lasts a day (20$ on ebay)
Get a Billionton USB bluetooth dongle ($10 on ebay)
which comes with a software called BlueSoleil
once the headset is identified by the BlueSoleil, it creates a virtual sound device which can be made the "default" sound device
Now XP has a text-to-speach application
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Speech.
2. On the Text-to-Speech tab, click Audio Output.
you'd still have to hack the bluetooth headset and connect a speaker and aplify it..
Take a Bluetooth headset which comes with a tiny rechargeable battery that lasts a day (20$ on ebay)
Get a Billionton USB bluetooth dongle ($10 on ebay)
which comes with a software called BlueSoleil
once the headset is identified by the BlueSoleil, it creates a virtual sound device which can be made the "default" sound device
Now XP has a text-to-speach application
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Speech.
2. On the Text-to-Speech tab, click Audio Output.
you'd still have to hack the bluetooth headset and connect a speaker and aplify it..
by subpilot
Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:04 pm
I use Blue Soleil and (although it probably the best so far) unfortunately it isn't as straight forward as it seems. The headsets are pretty much setup for use with phones so you have to initiate a connection then push a button on the headset to connect. I find it is constantly dropping the connection and is generally a pain. It works but requires alot of fiddling with especially if you cycle power to the headset while connected.
The headsets are designed to conserve battery power so go to sleep (IE turn off) every chance they get. Try it out and you'll see what I mean.
The headsets are designed to conserve battery power so go to sleep (IE turn off) every chance they get. Try it out and you'll see what I mean.
by subpilot
Sat Jun 24, 2006 4:19 pm
Just received the HF800 BT speaker. It seems much better connection wise than the headset I was using but the sound isn't much better than what I have now. I'll see how easy it is to disassemble and what the resulting inards look like for mounting on the RN.
The newer model (HF820) is supposed to have better fidelity.
The newer model (HF820) is supposed to have better fidelity.
by subpilot
Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:36 am
After taking the HF8000 apart I have sort of mixed feelings about using it on the RN. The circuit board is the same general shape and size as the housing. It's an awkward peanut shaped thing that doesn't give me any bright ideas on how to mount it in the RN. On the other hand, it's pretty thin so maybe I can find a reasonable location. The microphone works pretty well at a distance and could really be useful for voice recognition apps. I'm going to pursue it some more and report what I find.