Help A Newbie Get Started :)

Welcome, It's great to see you here.

First thing I'd do is go the Learn section of this web site and start doing all the lessons.

Tutorials

Then download the latest version of ARC and install it on your computer.

ARC

Then start playing with it. You don't need the EZB to play around with it and learn to write scripts and use things like voice recognition and camera tracking. EZ Script is a very easy language to learn. There are also lost of pre configured controls that will already do lots of what you want.

Then buy an EZB and the proper servos you'll need. I think the Developers kit in the store here at the EZ Robot web site will have everything you'll need.

Delv Kit

Then ask us lots of questions and share what your doing. We love to watch. ;)

Thanks for the welcome Dave! So you think the dev kit is the way to go? Will I require more servos? Is the dev kit based on an Arduino or its own custom hardware? I'll get learning right now :)

First, welcome to the forum.

Second, where to start? At the start. The Ruxpin you have with Arduino is a good base, trash that Arduino though, you wont need it.

ARC is GUI based. EZ-Script is easier to learn than HTML. You should have no problems.

If this was my project I would first get An EZ-B V4 A 2S LiPo battery (5000mAh are what I use)

Presuming the Ruxpin has already got standard servos in it which can run on 7.4V, just hook those up to the EZ-B. Connect the battery. Shove it all inside Ruxpin and hit ARC.

Pass through audio from mic to robot isn't possible however you can record it and then hit play. The delay is the length of the audio.

Just a quick FYI, if running ARC desktop you don't need to have buttons for scripts in conversations, use voice control!..

Oh, you'll also want to get yourself a decent PC since ARC doesn't run native on a mac. It does run in bootcamp though.

I think I replied in a random order to your questions but the info is there. It's a start. I'm kinda in a rush right now though so am all over the place but trust me, you will have Ruxpin working better than you plan in no time with an EZ-B and ARC.

Amazing! Thanks Rich!

I'm guessing that the Dev Kit isn't worth it for me then given that i don't need the Teddy Ruxpin to see or sense distance: thus these would be of no use to me:

1 x EZ-Robot EZ-B v4 Camera (without ABS Plastic Shell) 1 x HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Distance Sensor

The teddy does indeed have servos inside (don't know whether these are standard or not) but it only moves the eyes and mouth so I'd need to install more for the arms, neck etc. Any idea what ones I'd need for that?

Could i make the voice come from inside the Teddy Ruxpin; I'd need a speaker in there and an output from the EZ-B v4 right?

There is a speaker on the EZ-B. You may find you need a better speaker and possibly an external amp though but that's only going to be known once it's all wrapped up inside Ruxpin.

The EZ-Robot servos are good servos and work with a 2S LiPo. You may be able to source locally but if you are ordering the Dev Kit or the V4 on it's own you may as well add in a few servos (DIY section of the store). It could even pay to get the servos with brackets (body parts section) and extension blocks and build a kind of skeleton inside the teddy (basically wrap the teddy around a simplified version of JD).

I haven't read the topic for a long time but DJ converted a teddy ruxpin. The topic may be of some help (just be aware, that was built on old technology, the V4 is more powerful than the V3 he used).

Rich has a good point. Teddy may already have servos installed that you may be able to reuse but they may be cheap and old. Last thing you want to have happen is a old used servo to strip or burn out onstage. EZ Robots servos are very high quality and there is nothing like new. ;)

Your going to have to dissect poor teddy and replace the neck servo with one that can turn 360. Most servos only will turn 90 degrees. I'm not sure but HD servos in the KIt may only turn 90. Someone else needs to confirm this. If you want him to look up and down and turn his head then you'll need to install a pan and tilt set up. The eye blinks and mouth movement can be handled by the mini servos sold here. His arms can be moved with the HD servos in the kit.

To answer you question; the kit will have most of what you need, some of what you don't need and you will need to get other stuff. However it's a good place to start and give you all the basics. It a great deal also and is shipping now. For the stuff you cant get here visit servo City. They have a great assortment of building material like channel and brackets to support your servos and sensors. They also sell a full assortment of high quality servos. It's a good place to compare all the different models and types.

Servo City

When you download ARC you can also go to the EZ Cloud and download other peoples projects and learn from what they did. It's a great way to learn script and how the different controls and scripts work with each other.

As far as having Teddy respond to your questions and commands EZ Robot does that through Windows Voice Recognition. On stage you'll want to ware an ear mic like you use with your smart phone. This is the best way to talk to windows and have the fewest misunderstandings. Once Windows VR is set up and trained properly you can wright ez scripts that will let Teddy react any way you want when you ask him a question. :)

@Dave, EZ-Robot servos turn 180 degrees. Well they turn about 181-182 degrees to be precise but call it 180 for simplicity.

The 360 thing wasn't a massive deal. I just thought it might be fun to have him put a curse on an audience member and turn his head 360

Tried to upload the gif but, alas, cannot. i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk143/faeini1/agscary4.gif

Cool Rich, then the ones in the Kit will turn Teddy's head 360 like James wants.

@James, don't count out the camera. You may find that it's a cool thing to have installed. With the camera tracking you can have his head turn and follow movement or colors. The ping sensor can start a script that will let him do things like say something or move when someone gets in a certain range.

Sorry that's 180 degrees total, not 180 degrees in either direction from centre. the standard servo will only turn to point left, right or centre not backwards. For that it would need a modified servo and would have no position control.

@James, I still get creeped out when I see that video cut. Still cant eat pea soup. sick

The Kit has a continuous servo in it. You just have to be cretin it doesn't spin round and around. It would twist up all the wires going through the neck.

Something to consider with modified servos. Usually you need to remove the pot and that causes you to loose position control. There are ways around that though but now we are getting complicated. tired

Ok. As far as I can tell, to start I need

I need EZ-B v4 WiFi Robot Controller Heavy Duty servo (For the arms) Humanoid Body (do I need this? seems like a good idea)

But I think I also need. Pan and tilt servo for the eyes. (can't find here, servo city?) 2S LiPo 5000mh (can't find here, servo city?) Battery charger. Skeleton for the arms.? Skull of some sort? The guy on here who did it before actually replaced the eyes so they could look left and right I think. I tried finding out what he used but to no avail.

synthiam.com/Community/Questions/7

A servo for the neck side to side A servo for the neck look up / look down.

Is that it? If so can you advise me on the remaining items. I can just imagine me sitting down to do this and discovering I have forgotten something vital.

This is all brilliant advice: Thanks guys!

The neck up, down, side to side is called pan and tilt. You can make your own but servo city has them prebuilt. However I don't know if any of them will fit in your application.

The eyes only need a micro servo each and linkage.

Rich has built a bot called Marvin that has blinking eyes and a mouth that reacts in sink to a sound file. You should take a look at his project.

I guess you could just get a Revolution JD and adapt it into your bear. However that would take some tinkering also.

Awesome :)

We put a JD inside a teddy bear... maybe some inspiration? :D

@chrissi that is AMAZING

The humanoid body would be a good idea to hold the EZ-B and battery however, by a simplified skeleton I meant something like this...

Obviously it's something I just threw together and not in any way to the right proportions but you get the idea. It's a cheaper option to using a JD (however, given what comes with JD it may be better to go down the JD route and add some extension blocks to make him fill the teddy better.

Man, this is a great conversation - I'm hijacking it with kudos!

The only bit i can add is - the program that you end up making in ARC for windows will also work on an android mobile device.

This means you dont have to carry a laptop around with you to gigs. Instead you can use your phone or tablet :)

Looking forward to seeing your ruxpin comedy show!

Amazing I'll totally keep you informed as I go!

I thought it might work on iOS too, no?

Soon iOS will be ready. Soon.. I've been repeating that because we are under staffed for development but it's coming along!

:) Awesome!

To be honest, I already carry around my computer, a projector screen, a projector, all sorts of wires etc so it's not a problem carrying laptop etc. However, it would be good to be able to work with the robot while also running a keynote deck on my laptop.

Here's a video of me doing some of my last show (where i replied to scammers)

http://vimeo.com/105759798

Anyway MERRY XMAS everyone.

I'm about to make my first order but I wondered whether one kind soul would tell me EXACTLY what to buy. Please be as specific as possible as I am bound to make a mistake and will end up ordering the wrong thing. Ideally, the cheapest way to get this all up and running:

: from my previous post: Ok. As far as I can tell, to start I need

I need EZ-B v4 WiFi Robot Controller Heavy Duty servo (For the arms) Humanoid Body (do I need this? seems like a good idea)

But I think I also need. Pan and tilt servo for the eyes. (can't find here, servo city?) 2S LiPo 5000mh (can't find here, servo city?) Battery charger. Skeleton for the arms.? Skull of some sort? The guy on here who did it before actually replaced the eyes so they could look left and right I think. I tried finding out what he used but to no avail.

https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/7

A servo for the neck side to side A servo for the neck look up / look down.

After your EZ Robot order you can always check eBay for batteries and for lots of other bits and pieces you might need to finish your project....

Make a list of what you need and then add more... Don't be afraid to buy extra with your ez robot order... It's cheaper than being short and having to put in another order... Besides, you can always use the extra parts for another future project or to even update the one your working on now...

That "guy" in the link you posted is the owner of EZ Robot, by the way... He posted a link to the teddy build here.... Teddy Ruxpin build

Thanks Richard!

I suppose I'm asking whether I need to buy

a humanoid body (for the skeleton?) a Skull of some sort? A servo for the neck side to side A servo for the neck look up / look down.

And where I can buy and what you'd recommend for

Heavy Duty servo (For the arms) Humanoid Body (do I need this? seems like a good idea) Pan and tilt servo for the eyes. (can't find here, servo city?)

I have learned over the past couple of years that you cannot have enough parts for whatever project you start. You ALWAYS need more PARTS. Become a "Hunter", "Gatherer", the process never stops. :)

I love your show. I love it when people turn the tables on the telemarketers. The last coded email you got back had me laughing so hard my eyes were watering.

As far as parts needed your probably going to have to make some choices on your own depending on your needs. Your doing a custom build here and there are not many people who would know what you exactly need. It's best to take you best educated guess on recommendations and what others have built into their bots that resemble what you want to do. The parts I suggest may be to expensive, cheep, overpowered or under powered for your bot.

With that said Hear's my shopping list:

EZB controller : Buy at EZ Robots Shop - synthiam.com/Shop/AccessoriesDetails.aspx?prevCat=9&productNumber=40

2 Heavy Duty servo for arms: Buy at EZ Robot's shop - synthiam.com/Shop/AccessoriesDetails.aspx?prevCat=9&productNumber=7

4 HiTec HS-81 Mirco servo's. One for each eye and one for each ear. Buy from servo City - www.servocity.com/html/hs-81_micro.html#.VJxXTF4CeA

1 pan and tilt unit with servos. To be used for the neck for head up & down and side to side. Buy at The Robot Shop - www.robotshop.com/en/lynxmotion-pan-and-tilt-kit-aluminium2.html or www.robotshop.com/en/lynxmotion-micro-pan-and-tilt-kit-with-servos-black.html

As far as the skeleton and skull there have been good suggestions already but you could build your own out of parts from the Actobotics section at servo City. Very many choices and the parts they sell fit together very easy. Everything is light weight and strong. You could use a combination of channel or tubes, connectors, hubs, beams and bearings. They have lots of pictures of how all this stuff can fit together. Take some time looking it all over then study, plan and design. Buy at servo City - www.servocity.com/html/actoboticstm.html

Your going to need connector cables for the servos and maybe jumpers. Buy at Amazon and The Robot Shop -
www.amazon.com/NEEWER%C2%AE-Servo-extension-1000mm-Futaba/dp/B00DU7HCEC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1419533970&sr=8-3&keywords=servo+cable

www.robotshop.com/en/sfe-170mm-mm-premium-jumper-wires.html

www.robotshop.com/en/sfe-170mm-ff-premium-jumper-wires.html

Have a long read through Rich's Project Hearoid thread. He did a lot of the things you want to do including making the eye blink (I think) - synthiam.com/Community/Questions/2307

This should give you a good idea what you need to do. Good luck and let us know how you end up going. Don't forget to mark this thread resolved when you get the answers you need. :)

Oh wow. This is FANTASTIC info everyone. Thanks so much Dave. I'll be ordering today or tomorrow. Very excited!

And so glad you liked my show :)

Ordering now. Excited. I'll start another thread to tell you how it's all going on. Unless I should keep it as this one. I just think it wants me to mark it as resolved and it sort of has :)

Do I need anything for power? A battery?

A battery for your Teddy project? Yes... what have you ordered so far?

Righteo!

Here's what I have ordered so far:

From EZ-Robot: 1 x EZ-Robot Developer Kit 1 x Humanoid Body 4 x Extension Block 4 x Extension Block

From Amazon: 1 x NEEWER® 10 Pcs servo extension cord cable 1000mm 100cm For Futaba 1 x Stanley Heavy-Duty Glue Gun 1 x Silverline 698462 Glue Sticks 50-Pack 11.2 x 100mm 1 x Dremel 3000 Series Multitool with 15 Accessories

From RobotShop.com/eu 1 x Lynxmotion Micro Pan and Tilt Kit with Servos (Black)

From ServoShop.co.uk 4 x Hitec HS-81

From Hobbytronics: 1 x Jumper Wires - Male/Female 6" (20 pack) 1 x Jumper Wires - Male/Male 6" (20 pack) 1 x Jumper Wires - Female/Female 6" (20 pack)

Anything else you think I need?

Power wise, I'm not sure what to get.

The lipos that are in the ez robot's are 1300mah... For Teddy (since you have more room) maybe get a larger capacity LIPO... 2200mA or so? It's really up to you, but a larger capacity battery will give you longer runtime... If you buy a lipo make sure you get a lipo charger as well. I usually get those kind of things off of eBay...

Great! Would this guy work? http://www.robotshop.com/eu/en/37v-2000mah-lipo-battery.html

And this charger? http://www.robotshop.com/eu/en/18w-lipo-battery-charger-eu.html

I presume I can run the starter kit from the mains or USB when I'm at my desk, right ? Can I just plug the Li-Po battery straight into the kit?

Those two should work together no problem... To run servos you really should use a battery like a lipo... You can (if you can find one... best from eBay) get a 10amp (or larger) 7.4V power supply so you can run Teddy off of mains (as you Brits call it... )

to run of mains, you will need a power adapter, and most available don't provide enough amps to run servos without browning out. USB doesn't provide enough amps. Best is to run off the battery. Get two so you can keep one charged while using the other if you are worried about downtime while you work on it.

The developer kit comes with a 6 AAA battery adapter. If you put NiMH Rechargeable AAA's it will be 7.2v so will be similar to a 7.4 LiPo as far as performance. I like Eneloop rechargeables.

Alan

Oh, great. It comes with a battery pack adaptor? That's fantastic. So I might not need to buy the lipo above, right?

The battery and charger I mentioned above fit the bill re 10amp?

I suspect I didn't pay enough attention at school on the day we did Amps, Watts, Current, Voltage .

If you use rechargeable niMh AAs then you won't need the lipo, but you will need an niMh AA battery charger... Battery chargers are different from power supply's .... power supply's will not charge batteries, but they do replace them....

That battery is too low voltage, and pretty low amps too. You want a 2S LiPo (7.4 volts) with a minimum of 1300 mah (which you can get from EZ-Robots) although since you probably have the room in the bear, you could get a bigger one and it will last longer. The charger is OK. It would take a little less than 2 hours to charge a 1300 mah battery, longer for bigger ones.

Using NiMH AA's in the included battery pack, you won't get very long life, particularly if you are running the servos a lot, but it is enough to get you started, and they are relatively cheap, so you can keep some charged while using others.

Last thing you want though is your battery to die in the middle of a performance, so going bigger is probably better.

Alan

Great could you recommend one from the shop here; http://www.robotshop.com/eu/en/ ?

This one has both the correct connector for the EZ-B power base and a standard JST connector for charging: http://www.robotshop.com/eu/en/74v-2000mah-lipo-battery.html

This one is a few more mah, and has the right barrel jack for the EZ-B but you would need to find a cable to connect to the charger, so probably not worth it just for 200 extra mah: http://www.robotshop.com/eu/en/dfrobot-7-4v-lipo-2200mah-battery.html

Alan

Thanks. and this charger would work with it? http://www.robotshop.com/eu/en/18w-lipo-battery-charger-eu.html

Yes, that charger will work fine.

Alan

Thanks so much. I'll order it tomorrow.

The Dev kit arrived as well has a ton of other stuff. Expect many many many (dumb) questions to follow.

First one; The lynx-motion pan and tilt says that its operating speed is

0.16sec/60 degrees at 4.8V 0.14sec/60 degrees at 6.0V

But the EZB outputs 7 volts, right? Am I going to fry it if i plug it in? I only ask because I may have just plugged it in and it may have started to make a noise.

You're ok... all servos make a buzzing noise... excessive noise and smoke are bad however..., That will happen if they are locked (trying to move but are binding or something is preventing them from moving) or trying to move a load that is to heavy for the servo... Are your servos ez robot or Hitec servos? The ezb outputs whatever battery you have it attached to... If your using a 7.4v battery then your servos are getting 7.4V... If you are using the ez robot servos from the kit then you're fine with 7.4v batteries

I'm using the EX robot human body which has a battery inside of it. And, though I also have ez-robot servos, I'm currently trying to get the hitec pan and tilt one to work

The battery the body comes with is apparently a 1 x LiPo Battery 7.4VDC 1300mAh

Did you put the ez robot servos in the pan and tilt brackets or did it come pre assembled with hitec servos?... Most of the time hitecs can handle 7.4...

Ah. I put it together using this guide: http://www.lynxmotion.com/images/html/build154.htm

two servos and brackets.

But are the servos you used from ez robot or Hitec? Other?

hitec

@bongobong

For a servo that travels more than 360 degrees you can use a Sail Winch servo. ServoCity.com carries them. It will turn 3 and a half rotations.

Servo City

Also if you need slip rings to help keep wires from getting twisted up you can get them through Adafruit.com.

adafruit

Why I am asking is the ez robot servos can handle 7.4v no problem... The hitecs are questionably "rated" for 6V max... I have had some trouble with hitecs before when I used more than 6V with them.... Dj says he has used 7.4v with hitecs no problem at all... So I am just offering you a caution, that's all...

Thanks :)

Thanks. I'm not going to fry the EZB am I, just the servos. I don't mind frying the servos.

You won't fry the ezb unless God never meant you to have one.... So yes, your servos usually sacrifice themselves first... :)

:)

So I'm embroiled in Teddy Ruxpin and I'm having fun!

I have some questions about the best way of affixing servos. To the eyes

I've had a look at the picture that was posted on here of how someone else did it but I can't quite work out what's going on. Also, should I be using a coat hanger or is there something easier?

Will a glue gun affix it? I expect not since it would need to pivot slightly.

This is the way someone on here did it before but I can't work out why a) they used the bottom mouth instead of the top (they don't appear to be connected) b) How it's affixed. c) what the benefit of the angle is (i.e why the top servo controls the bottom and vice versa)

Great work so far.

Your going to have to use linkage. It's called a Pushrod and comes in a few styles. Here's an example of what your trying to do:

The parts above are made from threaded rod and ball and socket linkage. The best and fasted way to get these are at a local hobby store that sells RC cars and such. That way you can see what our putting together. The guy at the store can maybe also help you get what you need.

Another type of pushrod is called a hook rod. It may be a better choice in your application. It's just a peace of rod with a hook on the end that hooks into the servo horn. The Hobby store may have that type also. That's what is used in your picture. A hanger cut and bent in the proper shape may work also.

If you cant find a store around you then servo has what you need (except the hook rod). look here: Servo City / LINKAGE

What happens on the other end of the hookrod though? How would your recommend affixing to the eye?

To be honest, still a bit lost. I'm going to try and order from Amazon.co.uk since I have prime and now that I have the ball rolling, I'm anxious to continue!

Am I right in saying that this should work? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MJUBVHA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A50DZI580G3JX

It might be easier if I replace the eyes altogether. Any advice for where I could buy some? I'd quite like them to go left and right too.

I think you can use a simple peace of ridged wire and bend it to fit. Like I mentioned one end would go on the servo horn. It looks like there is already a hole on the side of the eye to place the other end into. This hole may have to be a slotted opening to make up for any spatial anomaly. :-) If there is not a slot or hole already there maybe you can glue a tab onto it with a hole you cut out. Anyway the pushrod needs to be just long enough to reach between this slot and the servo horn. The servo horn needs to be positioned so when it rotates the rod will pull (or push) he eye open. Then when the servo rotates the other way it will reverse the action.

Was there anything moving the eyes already? When I bought this toy for my Daughter years ago i thought it's eye's blinked? If there was already pushrods how were attached to the eye?

Watching your vid again I do see a slot or hole on the right side of the left eye. It's in the white plastic section. Use that hole.

There weren't pushrods. It was a plastic roller that was padded that rolled over the eye to move it up and down. It blinked by simply moving the eye all the way down (the eyelid is painted onto the top of the eye)

I'm going to give it a go using that hole. But, ultimately, I think I want to have eyes move left and right as well as up and down. Which it think means buying more eyes; any idea where one can buy eyes?

Also, a question on bracing:

I need to, somehow, hold the servo that turns the neck in place. It needs to be a attached to the body and also form the next. I'm a bit concerned about the load I'm putting on the servo itself so I need to find some way to brace the servo and I also need this brace to be part of the body.

Do you guys have any suggestions for how to brace? I saw some guy used some pourable plastic which seems like a good idea but I'd have to model the brace,right ?

The picture you posted earlier shows that pan and tilt setup being just zip tied and hot glued to the body. However I think that's a poor way to attach the motor. After all it's supporting a lot of weight and resisting sudden torque.

I think you have a great idea; get some of PolyMold or InstaMorph and make your own bracket that attaches to the main body in several places. Spread the load. That will give the servo a good strong base to support it's self on.

Awesome. Looking them up now. One valuable lesson I learned yesterday is to calibrate the motors and set them up for the movements you want to make BEFORE connecting them to the Ruxpin.

CUE spinning head and some weird cheek movements.

lol, i'm a huge fan of hot glue My hot glued robots from year ago are still together. Make sure you clean the surface with rubbing alcohol first - get off the grease. And use a "real" glue gun, a man's glue gun! One you find in the hardware store :D

It's funny - I did take pics of it but not sure where they are at the moment. The 1952 jukebox that my parents restored in the 1970's has parts hot-glued! It has these spinning tubes on chained gears that rotate around the florescent light fixture. In the 1970's, my parents hot glued the parts together when restoring it - probably because without the internet, finding parts was a challenge.

I was changing the light bulb and saw all the glue - laughed! Looks like hot glue has been in my family before I was even born :D

Guys, see above for latest.

I have some questions about placing of servos and some linkage that I bought today.

Does the linkage need to go on both ends?

Here are some images; if anyone can help it would be much appreciated.

Hi bongoBong. I do not know if you already figure out how to sync your teddy's mouth with sound coming from a mic, but I did that in one of my projects. It's very simple if you use this board here http://www.cowlacious.com/scary-terry-audio-servo-driver-board/

it contains inputs for both line And mic signal, and you just hook up the Jaw servo on it. that simple. Use the mic input to the mic you want, and the line to the source of other sounds, like the EZ-b, or computers out... it will drive the servo perfectly! best regards.

I believe you can use the "sound servo control. It makes making phrases harder but each time a word is said the servo moves in relation to the audio volume.

A while ago I made this bear, it ain't no fancy skeleton but it did what I needed it to do, so it worked fine. Maybe you could cut out a square on the left and right side of the body and hot glue some servos. To make the body look like the JD torso. Then just put the arms together making sure it fits in the bear's fur.

@bongobong, you dont have to have your pushrod threaded on both ends. Simply make a Z-bend on that side. Its up to you on whether the Z-bend side needs to be on the servo side or the other end. It depends on the application. One way may work better than the other.

The other question on how to attach to the eye: It looks like you will need to attach to the top near the edge or bottom edge. Remember that you are looking for either a push or pull action so on the servo side you should be on either the top arm or bottom arm to get the most motion.

EDIT: I see the hole you're refering to now. Yes use that and use the bottom servo arm.

Amazing! Thanks everyone. this is super useful.

To be honest, I wish I'd bought the clip and play servos.

But, in the long run, I expect it's better to learn.

But can anyone tell me what these bits are for?

Ignore that. I worked it out :)

What I'm trying to do now is get my teddy to lip sync to music and vocals. I can record this in advance; i.e play the music and the script at the same time. But i'm wondering what the best way to record that is? Using the recorder script?

I'm thinking that I could record it using a playstation controller and then play the music in the background while moving his mouth.

Thoughts?

Or, you can simply use the sound servo control in ARC... This will allow the servo controlling his mouth to move according to sound levels...

Yes. But that won't be specific enough for me. For instance, in front of an audience, I might get a big laugh and that might trigger him to move his mouth for instance.

I'm having some trouble with the code. I'm trying to get it so lifting my finger off the W key moves his mouth back to the closed position. But so I can interrupt it at any point and send it moving up again. that way he can talk.

Here's my code thus far:

currently, I have pressing 'W' doing the following:

1 Stop() 2 ServoSpeed (d1,3) 3 REPEATUNTIL (GetServo(d1)=100) 4 ServoUp(D1,1) 5 ENDREPEATUNTIL

Then I have 'W' key up command as

1 Stop () 2 ServoSpeed (d1,2) 3 REPEATUNTIL (GetServo(d1)=1) 4 Servodown(d1,1) 5 ENDREPEATUNTIL

But is this really the best way to do it? I'm having some difficulty getting this working. I'm confused because the GetServo goes between 1 and 100. I'm presuming that's a % because the mouth is open at 176 and closed at 152. But where do I set the parameters? I've done so when I added the servo so is that the highest and lowest it can go? If so, great.

Ideally I would "repeat until" the key is released. But I can't find that parameter. any ideas?

Should I be using "Release" instead of "Stop"?

This is another good example of how useful it would be to have a control that moves a servo based on text in a script, rather than by sound. I have been working on this with other community members and hopefully soon we will have something. This will provide a more positive control of "mouth" movements.

@bongobong ... Yes, that would happen... However, you can enable and disable sound servo via software on the fly... Meaning you turn it on (through a command control) when he speaks and then turn it off when he is finished speaking... That way ambient noise won't trigger his mouth to move...

ControlCommand("Sound Servo", PauseOff)
saywait("Hi, nice to meet you all")
ControlCommand("Sound Servo", PauseOn)

Stop() is a Movement Panel command, it won't stop your servos, Release() command will, however... By the way Servos positions are from 1 to 180 (not 100)... GetServo() will read all the way to 180.... This represents degrees of rotation

The thing is that i want to have him sing just the chorus bits of songs. For instance.

ME: I was working in the lab late one night When my eyes beheld an eerie sight For my monster from his slab began to rise And suddenly to my surprise

RUXPIN: He did the mash ME: He did the monster mash RUXPIN: The monster mash ME:It was a graveyard smash RUXPIN: He did the mash ME:It caught on in a flash RUXPIN: He did the mash ME:He did the monster mash

Anyone know what the best way of syncing these up is? So the song plays and the script runs at precisely the right points? Without having to do it live?

@bongoong, Have a look in the Learn section under JD/exercises/first dance.

Thanks. Looking at them now. I made a video and it's uploading but one of the major problems I'm having is that the mouth isn't moving fast enough. I'm using a hittec HS-81 servo for the mouth.

Would the heavy duty ones from my dev kit be faster?

Are you using sound servo? You will need to tweak the settings to get the servo to move faster... If you are using sound servo, which one are you using? Sound servo PC or sound servo EZB?

The heavy duty servos (provided they fit) won't move faster, but they are much stronger and maybe you HS-81 doesn't have the torque to move the mouth properly...

Also be sure to initialize your servo speed to 0 (speed range is 0-10 with 0 being the fastest).

Alan

I have done so. I'm thinking it's either

a) The servo is not fast enough b) My programming is wrong. c) I have installed the servo wrong.

It's not the servo (unless it is too weak to move the mouth)... Can you post your code to move the mouth?

here's the code I was trying to get him to say: "It was the mash"

Sorry it's not written down but I'm running Windows virtually which makes copying and pasting problematic!

Here we are.

@bongobong ... Hmmm... that script going to be really hard to get working the way you want...

Hang in there a day... I am working on a script that may help you... Another member wrote a script to convert text based speech to servo movement... I just need to tweak it a little more and then I will post it (with credit to the original author of course)....

Thanks so much. But it is slow, right? And that's the fastest it can get?

I think it is your code that is causing the lag in the servo movement... Nevertheless I hope you have something for you tomorrow...

If you want to keep experimenting with your code, try reducing the sleep commands from 500 to 250 or whatever... it will speed up the servo

Fantastic! Thanks so much :)

But it seems odd to me that something simple like

Servospeed (d1,0)
Servo (d1,153)
Servo (d1, 176)
Servo (d1,153)

doesn't make his mouth snap immediately open then closed

(153 is closed, 176 is open)

Yes, you will still need some sleep commands between servo movements... What I was saying is try sleep(250) instead of sleep(500) or a variance of....

Ez-script processes faster than the servo can respond. If you give a bunch of movements with no sleep commands it will process the second movement before the first has completed.

I would wait to see what Richard comes up with, but the other thought I had was to use auto-positions where you can set delays and speed on each frame.

Alan

Amazing. Thanks so much!

One question;

I add a servo and in the settings of the servo (vertical) box in ARC I work out where the servo makes the mouth close (153) and open (176).

That's defined the minimum and maximum the servo can move, right?

So when the script asks me for a number between 1 and 100 for the RepeatUntil command, it is looking at a percentage of 23 (176-153). Is that right?

So if I say

Servo (d1,153)
REPEATUNTIL (getServo(d1)=100)
ServoUp(d1,1)
ENDRepeatuntil

then that's telling the servo to move the servo up by gradations of 1% until it reaches 176 (100%).

Is that right?

Sorry. Follow up question; I can't find out where I define scripts. So, for instance, I want to be able to tell him to open his mouth slowly without coding each time.

I think this is done by Auto Position but I can't find out where the info in the manual is. Any links? Sorry. I am searching.

No. Script commands don't look at the servo object definition at all. In fact, you don't need to have the servo objects in the project.

The script commands use 1-180 for position, so if minimum position is 153 and the max is 176, use those values (or something in between) in your script.

I am not in front of my computer to check. If ARC is telling you the value is between 1 and 100, it is because the documentation hasn't been updated. The EZ-B v3 used values of 1 to 100. V4 is 1 to 180.

Put a sleep(20) or something like that after the servoUp(d1,1)... However using servoSpeed command to slow servo movements would do the same thing....

If your servo position is 153 to start wouldn't you need servoDown instead of up?

Servo (d1,153)
REPEATUNTIL (getServo(d1)=100)
ServoDown(d1,1)
sleep(50)
ENDRepeatuntil

Quote:

If your servo position is 153 to start wouldn't you need servoDown instead of up?

Ah, no. Because 153 is mouth closed and 176 is mouth open. It's a small movement of the servo. Maybe that's my problem; perhaps it's too small a movement.

Yes. Some of the builder script functions Cheat Sheet have not been updated, alas.

Ok, but the problem is you start your servo at 153 and then ask it to go up to 100? That would be down to 100 the way I see it...

This makes more sense...

(d1,153) #mouth closed
REPEATUNTIL (getServo(d1)=176) #mouth open
ServoUp(d1,1)
sleep(20)
ENDRepeatuntil

Sorry. Yes. That's my bad. I think the script cheat-sheet confused me

Hmm. I keep getting emails saying that there are updates on this thread but there aren't. Bug?

Anyway; I got him to react to the sound live. Unfortunately he only reacts about half a second after the sound so I had to shift the audio forward in a movie editor. Nevertheless:

Teddy

I have the text/speech to servo movement working, but unfortunately I am not the original author. Although I have tweaked it somewhat (so it is easier to use throughout the users code), I can't release it (out of respect) until the original author gives me permission... Another forum member and I are trying to track him down as he does not frequent the forum much anymore...

Sorry about that... Stay tuned...

No probs whatsoever.

Quote:

Hmm. I keep getting emails saying that there are updates on this thread but there aren't. Bug?

Mail system may be running behind. To prevent being flagged as a spammer, the EZ-Robot email server only sends a certain amount of email per minute, and on a busy day, it can get behind, so you may be getting notifications for posts that were made earlier in the day.

Alan

bongobong

Your Teddy Ruxpin project is coming along nicely. I am curretly working on a Teddy Ruxpin as well. I am having trouble with the mouth as well. I have just finished the physical build of the robot, but now have to work on the program for him. I may have to rework the mouth-servo connection to speed up his ability to talk. I am not sure yet, I will have to do some testing on that to confirm that possibility. I want my robot to read a story and respond to voice commands. I have enjoyed reading this thread, because I am learning as much as you are learning. Thanks to everyone for their expertise, and let me know if I can help! onedrive.live.com/?cid=93FE49EAA389647F&id=93FE49EAA389647F!3642&v=3 onedrive.live.com/?cid=93FE49EAA389647F&id=93FE49EAA389647F!3638&v=3

Awesome Chris. Can you show me how you wired the head? Are you putting shoulder and elbow servos in?

@bongobong See here text to speech engine

bongobong

I used a paperclip for the pushrod for the eyes. I reused the wheels and the band to move the mouth. The eyes work perfectly,but the mouth is way to slow. I will have to open things up and come up with something new.

Thanks Richard! I'll check it out today!

Chris, paperclip is an awesome idea.

I pulled out all the wheels and band and was beginning to think that I shouldn't have so I'm glad to have the info that it is, indeed, too slow.

It's funny how these toys went through so many iterations. I have a different mechanism from you I think.

Meanwhile. Watch Teddy Ruxpin explain the Construct.

bongobong

He is working perfectly, you don't have anything to worry about the mouth speed! Everything was very fluid. Teddy, aka Morpheus looks great as well!

Here are some photos of my recently finished Teddy:

BONGOBONG

you will like this.

@bongobong, nice video of the mouth moving. Are you using the "text to speech engine" that Richard R posted a few days ago? @nomad18.08- Totally inappropriate !

@bhouston Not yet; I haven't had a chance to try it yet. Can't wait though.

@nomad18.08 that is AMAZING

Hi guys

I'm having some difficulty with the servos and with text to speech in general. Was wondering whether you could give me some advice

I will be testing a board that drives a servo based on sound. I should have a video up early this weekend hopefully. It will be with a teddy ruxbin also.

Have you tried the text to speech script that Luis wrote and that I posted link to a few pages back?

Yes. That's what I'm using

@bongobong, You need to adjust the following values in the script, to meet your needs. It takes a little trial and error but it works good once you get it.

$pauseForLetters = 85  
$pauseForvowels = 85  
$pauseBetweenWords = 90

$mouthServoPin = D0
$mouthServoOpenAngle = 60
$mouthServoClosedAngle = 90

But I'm not convinced that the servo is in the right position? Do you think it needs to be moved ,

The servo should be OK where you have it. Just make sure it's anchored down and the ltitle screw holding the horn on is tight. You don't want the travel of the horn to bind at all when it moves.

I am posting a video now using another method. It will be on my Teddy project thread shortly.

d.cochran Teddy

bongobong

It just seems to be a syncing problem with the software and the mouth. Just make sure the servo for the mouth is secure and the horn to that mouth is secure. You will just have to go through a trial and error process to get adjust the script so that the mouth moves at the appropriate time with each word. Good Luck!

Cool. Do you think that the servo should be moving more to get the mouth down though?

What's the optimum movement of the servo to move the mouth?

Currently it's a gap of 24 to get the mouth from closed to open? Is that too little to leave room for small movements between mouth open and closed?

@bongobong If your using the text to speech script then adjust the servo open and close maximums here.... these values may need to be reversed depending on your servo orientation... (Close maybe be open and open may be closed)

$mouthServoOpenAngle = 60 #these values will need to be adjusted 
$mouthServoClosedAngle = 90 #these values will need to be adjusted 

I'll give it a go but here's the issue i'm having at the moment.

I assume you are using sound servo PC for this? Sound servo responds to sound volume... So a constant sound value like a note playing on your keyboard may be why he is holding his mouth in one position instead of moving quickly up and down...

Thanks Rich, I had assumed that, with the gaps, he would begin to close his mouth and then start to open it again. As in there is 0 sound during the gaps so, theoretically, he should start to move his mouth.

Any ideas about the other issues I'm having ?

Once I get my V4s I will see if I can be any help to you. My old V3 may not control the servos the same.

Guys, I'm having an issue. Dumb question. But my servo keeps returning to it's default value. I.e it never stays where it should be. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

for instance: Servo(d1,0) moves it, but then it moves immediately back.

Hmm. weirdly it's stopped. But, question; if I've set the upper and lower limits to servo d1 in my servo control (say d1 lower 50, upper 100) and then I add another control to the project; a script; and put, say Servo(d1,60) am I telling it to go 60% of the lower and upper limit I defined or am I telling to go to 60?

The limit only controls movement by that control. A script or different control that moves the servo can exceed that limit.

Alan

I'm still getting latency. But I've realised that the latency is from when the mp3 plays not the other way round. So his mouth moves before the sound has played.

Any ideas what I can do to either speed the sound up or delay the servos?

Also, any idea how I play this through speakers when it comes time to do the show?

Gotcha! Thanks :)

Without re-reading the whole thread. You are using Sound servo right? DJ said recently he was going to look at the issue with the servo getting ahead of the sound. I have noticed it both on MP3 and on speech, particularly on longer phrases.

for re-directing the sound, there are a few threads about wiring an external amp (or a small external speaker) to the EZ-B.

This is a rather complete one: https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/5681

Alan

Another option is to use this board and pass the sound out of the bottom of the EZ-B using the thread that Alan posted. I have used it with great success.

Amazing. DJ, care to chime in?

Does anyone have DJ's email or a way of contacting him?

I too have not read the entire thread, but

This is a script

that was written to handle the movement of a servo with spoken sound.

I found that it took a while to run with long text and got off sync. By long I mean like 4000 characters or so, but it was an improvement over the sound servo control.

I ultimately went with the solution I provided earlier and will for my next project also. It just works very well.

He reads most of the threads. Probably better than emailing for technical issues. You can add onto this thread: https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/7390 to bring it back to the front of the forum for a couple of days and he will certainly see it since it is tagged as a bug report.

Alan

@bongobong I am interested in your progress on your project. Have there been any new changes? I too am working on a Teddy Ruxpin ( https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/8200 ) and am following your post with great interest.

HI there, Certainly; I've almost got it down. I'll write more later but bit busy right now. But feel free to shoot me any questions.