David you can buy a cell phone bluetooth headset and use it as wireless microphone, just add it to your laptop bluetooth, set it your default microphone, works well for me.

Hello David. I am using a wireless xbox 360 controller for my bot. It came with a headset with microfone. Allthough the headset isnt exactly wireless since it connects to the controller, the controller itself is wireless. Asside from the power switches,my bot has no external buttons or switches of anykind and I only use the wireless 360 controller to controle it. I am thinking of opening up the controller and simply placing the included microfone inside so I can give it verbal commands without having to wear a headset. You could also try a bluetooth cellphone or headset like Louis T suggested.

Kristian.

I use the XBOX 360 Wireless headset ($40). Works great. You would need the XBOX 360 Gaming receiver ($10 on E-Bay) to use it. I also use a XBOX 360 Controller to drive my droids.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I would really rather not wear a headset though. It would be nice if the robot could respond to other peopleand me and if I'm wearing a headset I would be the only one talking to it. I would consider one if I could remove the mic and just let it sit on the table near the robot. How would one of these 360 headsets pick up voice if it's away from the mouth by several feet? This is going to be a static robot standing in one spot like an animated display.

Any other suggestions for a good wireless microphone?

Thanks again! Dave

Well, I am assuming that you want your laptop to remain mobile. And it is your laptop that is connected and controlling the EZ-B? I'm not sure If there are too many options. The microfone will have to be connected to the laptop somehow. If this laptop was placed near or around the robot you could possibly extend the microfone cable. But then obviously you wont be able to travel with the laptop a lot without having to disconnect it first.

You can maybe use a wireless usb hub, connect a cheap webcam with microfoon on that and place that near the robot. You'll only need an unused usb port on your laptop for the transceiver. But from what ive seen, those can be pricy. For the same money you might be able to find a small notebook or something to devote that entirely to the robot.

I could be wrong but, as useful as wireless microfones are, I don't think there is a whole lot going on technology wise to developing wireless microfones. They are usually connected to some kind of computer or device with somekind of support for it. In this case it would have to be your laptop since that is basically the soundboard for the robot. Maybe you can connect a soundboard to the EZ-B itself that will support a microfone and the translation required for it to work.

Other than this, I'm afraid I can't come up with a solution for a wireless microfone. I'm sure that other members have a lot more knoledge about this. I'm not too sure about the 360 controller microfone's range. allthough there are diferent types of microfone's, I'd like to think that they all behave the same way with similar charactaristics. I won't be wearing a headset either, but I will be carrying the controller around close to me or the robot whenever I want or need to control it in some way.

My idea was to simply take apart the headset. It has a very basic connection with the controller and can possibly be tapped off from the inside. I think I will drill a a tiny hole into the controllers shell somewhere at a conveniant place, to put the microfone behind it. In the same way it may be possibe to place an extra microswitch somewhere in the controllers casing to turn it on or off or mute it. I'm guessing that if I am carrying this controller to control the bot, it will be close enough to me to hear what im saying. It may even hear me and/or other people if I place the controller in the middle on a table for instance. Heck, the robot may carry the controller itself. If I am going to give it vocal commands, I'm likely to be standing near or round the robot. For me, that would work well enough though ofcourse it's just an idea and I havent tried this yet.

Like Lumpy said, you would have to buy xbox 360 gaming receiver. I bought mine as package, a 360 controller for windows, it came with the usb gaming receiver. wether for xbox or pc, the controllers are basically the same, its really the receiver that allows them to connect to a Computer. so if you already have a controller, you'd only need the receiver...and ofcourse the headset. Other than this, I really can't think of a solution. I hope you'll come up with a good idea though.

Kristian.

Yes, the laptop will be mobile but dedicated to the robot. I was trying to keep from buying a now one as it runs pretty smooth and seems fast enough. Sadly though, as I mentioned it has no microphone (or camera). I've seen a few wireless or usb mics for sale on Amazon & eBay. I'll just have to try a few cheaper ones to see how they work.

I first thought of somehow mounting a mic on the robot but have heard the noise from the robot (mine has a lot of noise) confuses the Voice Recognition.

The wireless USB hub sounds like an idea worth looking into. I'll check that one out.

Thanks again for all the good ideas.

Dave

OK, I bought a Samson Meteor Mic USB Studio Microphone (Cardioid) : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004MF39YS/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

And a Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone (Gloss Black): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OO18NS/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

Both USB mics. I think plugging directly into the laptop will work just fine. Of the two I like the Snowball better. It has 3 voice receiving patterns and picks up my commands nicely from anyplace in the room.

Thanks, Dave