Asked
— Edited
One item that crops up often is sound activated LEDs or lights. And while the Sound servo control in ARC can handle this it is not perfect. So some clever scripting needs to be used to activate/deactivate/dim the lights or LEDs.
A quick little example of the outcome of the script initially done for Rex's project Questor.
So how is it done? It's very simple to be honest.
First add the Sound servo control and set it up as below.
Notice how the port used is set to N/A. We don't want it to control any servo directly, what we want is the variable it gives.
Then add a new script control or new script to a script manager...
Code:
# Sound servo to PWM range Script
# Author: Rich
# Version: 1.0.0
# Date: 25th June 2013
# Variables (do not adjust)
# $soundvalue = auto
$pwmvalue = 0
# Main script
# Set the start point for the never ending loop
:loop
# Check the variable from the Sound servo control against a list of pre-determined levels (you may need to change these) and set the PWM value to suit.
IF ($soundvalue < 10)
$pwmvalue = 0
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 20)
$pwmvalue = 10
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 30)
$pwmvalue = 20
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 40)
$pwmvalue = 30
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 50)
$pwmvalue = 40
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 60)
$pwmvalue = 50
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 70)
$pwmvalue = 60
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 80)
$pwmvalue = 70
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 90)
$pwmvalue = 80
ELSEIF ($soundvalue < 100)
$pwmvalue = 90
ELSE
$pwmvalue = 100
ENDIF
# Set the PWM with the value chosen above (you may need to change the port to suit)
PWM(D7, $pwmvalue)
# Add any other PWM ports above this line with PWM(PortNo, $pwmvalue)
# Sleep for 100ms to avoid saturation (you may need to adjust this to increase accuracy or increase stability. Reduce the delay for better accuracy, increase for better stability)
Sleep(100)
# Jump back to the start
Goto(loop)
Change the port on the PWM command line if needed, I used D7 but any port will work. Duplicate that line with a different port number if you need 2 (or more) ports to react.
You may also need to adjust the PWM values in the if/elseif part to suit your robot, LEDs, Lamps etc.
Lastly, connect up the LEDs, Lamps etc. to the EZ-B using the TIP Transistor circuit method.
Now, when any sound is detected by the Sound servo control it should adjust the PWM of the digital port in steps, as defined in the If/ElseIf/Else statement. If low level sound (in this case below 10 however that can be adjusted) the PWM is set to 0 and therefore the LED, Lamp etc. is off.
If you have any questions, queries, problems or even suggestions please feel free to ask. This is currently Version 1.0.0 of this script, there is always scope to improve
I may, should time permit, add in the usual variables for ease of use (that'll be V1.0.1)
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Mini-B Speaks
I used an op-amp tied into the speaker output from my sound board to my LED array. I can adjust the brightness and responsiveness of the LEDs by adjusting the op-amp output. See my build here
Mini-B Build
I had come up with what @Herr Ball mentioned above. The nice thing about doing it this way is the LEDs are not triggered by any sounds, the loop script flickers them only while the text is being spoken. The SayWait lets the flicker loop run until the text finishes then the script is stopped by the ControlCommand("Voice Lights", ScriptStop) that I made. The only thing is I am sure that you could help me clean up the code some to streamline it.
I still want to test your latest version using the SoundServo. I have other uses for that.
Thanks
With Herr Balls method one thing I thought about was if the LEDs are on when the ControlCommand stops the script, they would stay on. But an easy solution. I'll post on that something shortly
CHECK OUT THIS PROJECT FOR DETAILS
LYNXMOTION JOHNNY FIVE PROJECT
I'll use the RSS News Reading script I made a few weeks back. The original looks like this;
Code:
We also want the Sound servo control from post #1
and the script from post #1
Code:
Assuming the scripts are EZ-Scripts rather than in the script manager. The Sound servo script we will assume is named "SoundScript"
So we need to modify the RSS News Script to include starting and stopping the SoundScript. We do this with
Code:
ControlCommand("SoundScript", ScriptStart)and
Code:
ControlCommand("SoundScript", ScriptStop)We put the ScriptStart before any SayWait or SpeakRSSDescription and the ScriptStop after. So the code should now look like;
Code:
Now, there may be a problem of the LEDs/Lamps staying on after the speech. It shouldn't happen but it could do. In which case, rather than using a ControlCommand("SoundScript", ScriptStop) command we can make another script to sort this out for us. A script that will be started, in the script it will stop the SoundScript and also set the PWM to 0.
Code:
ControlCommand("SoundScript", ScriptStop)PWM(D7, 0)
And change any command line above that was ControlCommand("SoundScript", ScriptStop) to ControlCommand("SoundScriptStop", ScriptStart).
Code:
This will always ensure that the LEDs/Lamps are off after speech has finished.
I'll post an updated script for just on and off next. It's much simpler so should only take a few minutes to throw together and test.
Code:
Basically, what it does is it checks for low sound value, if it is low it will set D7 to off, the lamp will turn off. Otherwise it will set D7 to on, the lamp will turn on. Again, adjust the sound value level to suit your needs and the port where necessary.
In this case the SoundScriptStop script will need to be
Code:
ControlCommand("SoundScript", ScriptStop)Set(D7, off)
The volume level picked up by the sound servo control
The sound servo control stores this as the variable as defined in the control settings
We use that variable in the script to check which range the volume level is in and set the PWM (or on/off status) as required
The PWM command will simulate a lower voltage to the device thereby creating a dimming effect
The Set command will enable or disable the device
To increase the accuracy of the script decrease the Sleep time at the end. This will require more processing and more bandwidth therefore may cause negative effects if set too low.
To increase performance and allow for other functions to communicate with the EZ-B increase the Sleep time at the end. However this will cause the lamp, LED etc. to react slower.
Basically, I want LED (eye) lights to pulse with speech files. I am also going to try to wire a larger speaker to where the tiny one would be. I'll probably just use a speaker that has a headphone jack input +/- an amplifier.
Do I need to make anything like the TIP Transistor circuit to connect the LEDs?
It looks a bit complex for my capabilities. Is there a simpler method to achieve what I'm after?
Separately, I need to cause 12 different LEDs to randomly light up (not associated with sound). Can the EZ B 4 do this without tying up 12 ports/ plugs? I do have a way of doing this with some circuits that will blink the LEDs sequentially (I'll just put them in a random order on the robot), but it'd be nice if the EZ B could do everything.
thanks in advance,
Frank
You could do some Charliplexing if you'd like, you would only need 4 Digital lines to control 12 LEDs.
The equation to find how may LEDs you can control is n(n-1) where n is the number of Digital lines you have.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept Google it up if you'd like to know more
http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/picoswitch
Frank
That Dimension engineering product looks like it would work if you sent it a servo command to it but it seems to be fairly expensive for what a 50 cent transistor can do.
There are a number of great tutorials on these forums such as this one that can help you put your circuit together.
Relays can work too but you likely won't need them unless your LEDs are very high in current draw (like 10Amps).
You can look up your audio settings in windows at check if your microphone is working. There you can also increase the microphone gain if you need to in order to make sure your mic is picking up your voice.