ftlum
Resolved by Dunning-Kruger!
Hi All.
I need to put in a speaker for my full-sized Dr. Who K-9 robot (see my avatar). He is made of styrene and the speaker (about 3 inches or so in diameter) for his speech would go into the head. I'm also debating about putting in a 2nd speaker in the body for sound effects. The power will be from a 12v lead battery (which actually attaches to a power distirbution board that some of the R2 builders use).
I'd like to keep things as simple as possible with as little soldering as needed.
I have a few questions:
Is an amp needed? If so, how's this one? Are there ones that are any easier to wire-up? Specifically, it looks like I'd have to attach the raw EZ B output (I'll be removing the tiny speaker it comes with) to a plug to get the audio into the amp. It'd be nice to not have to do additional soldering.
http://www.amazon.com/Lepai-LP-2020A-Tripath-Class-T-Amplifier/dp/B0049P6OTI
If I do use 2 speakers, can the same amp power them both?
I won't be using a Sparkfun MP3 trigger now that the EZ B can take care of the sound files. Do I need a ground loop isolator anymore?
thanks in advance,
Frank
The bluetooth idea won't work after all. The small ones all seem to require you to press a button to turn it on and reconnect after a period of inactivity.
If I simply rewire the speaker to an unamplified one that's about 3 in in diameter will that still end up weak sounding? I may go back to my original idea about using a wired portable speaker, but it's a little hard to fit these in.
http://www.amazon.com/iHome-IM60GT-Portable-Speaker-Translucent/dp/B004OA733E
I used a small 5vdc stereo PCB to run two speakers using the mono non-amplified output from the EZB(4) The output is 3 watts and has a volume control pot also on the board. These PCBs can be found on ebay.
Here's a picture of a basic setup that can give you an idea of size.
And another view. More details can be provided if needed.
Here is a picture of just the Amp without the small header that can be soldered onto the board to provide a way to plug connectors onto the PCB.
I finally found a tiny Bluetooth speaker that doesn't seem to need me to press an additional button to connect. Where in ARC do I tell the EZB V4 to use its Bluetooth to connect to the speaker? I can't find a project button to add a Bluetooth speaker.
Also, will the V4 directly connect to the speaker via Bluetooth? I don't want to use my PC to connect and I understand the iPhone's Bluetooth will not work with the EZB.
thanks again,
Frank
@ftlum ... As Mentioned earlier the EZB4 does not have Bluetooth.... The ezb4 uses wifi only... The EZB3 uses Bluetooth but only to connect to ARC (or the mobile android app) for the purpose of controlling it. .... The Bluetooth on your PC would connect to your Bluetooth speaker....
Thanks for the clarification-- maybe someone will add Bluetooth back for the V5.
Why? All processing is done in ARC... The computer is the brains, not the ezb... Even if you put Bluetooth back into the "ezb5" or whatever version, it won't be able to use it other than to connect to the software (ARC) that runs it...
Both your Bluetooth speaker and the ezb are both referred to as (for a lack of a better term) "slave" devices... Insofar they need a "master" device to control them. The ezb is the slave device and the master device is your pc with ARC... Two slaves can't control each other... That's why your ezb4 (even if it had Bluetooth) can't be used with your Bluetooth speaker.
Put your Bluetooth speaker on your robot... Now when you play sounds, mp3 etc out your pc speakers it will instead come out the Bluetooth speaker that is on your robot... Problem solved...