Download K9 Sounds Notes on K9`s speech repertoire. Script link Me

Me and Michelle:
K9 Sounds
Notes on K9's speech repertoire.
Mar 20, 2010
Script link
Me: Apparently a 1 gig card can hold 380 minutes of audio :)
Mar 20, 2010
If there is anything we want logged we may be able to use some unused space on the card to store files. This is how I do the barcode scanner I made. Whether or not this is practical probably depends on how much
program space memory we use up doing other groovey things. Changing the card from "read only" to "read/write" increases the size of the software library quite a bit.
Me: Sound conversion:
Mar 20, 2010
Instructions on how to format sound files to the specifications required by the wave shield can be found here. She presents a number of software options but I recommend using "audacity". It's cross platform,
powerful, and if you do get presented with a single long recording, will be super useful in chopping it up into separate files and cleaning them up.
I can help with this effort too of course.
Me: File names:
Mar 20, 2010
Because the format on the card is an old (and thus simple) dos format, all files need to be named using the "8.3" format. i.e. "K9 says affirmative.wav" is a no-no. "affierm1.wav" is acceptable.
Michelle: I'm still not entirely comfortable with putting spaces in file names. So that won't be a problem.
Mar 20, 2010
Me: Amplifier/ eye flasher
Mar 23, 2010
Blog post about making a dalek voice that includes making a light flash with sound. Here
He talks about the vellman mk103 sound to light kit. He also mentions the vellman mk114 sound organ kit, but that's for flashing bright lights like halogen lights.
Me: Other kits:
Apr 29, 2010
http://www.chaneyelectronicsstore.com/servlet/the-121/20-Watt-RMS-Mono/Detail -- 12 volt input, 20 watt output mono. $17.50
http://www.hobbytron.com/18-watt.html -- very litttle detail about this 18 watt amp $14.95
Michelle: I tried to fill out the email form to ask Hobbytron about the amp, but the form is borked. They also charge more for shipping so with that included the Chaney one will actually
be a few bucks cheaper...
Apr 29, 2010
I just found the direct email for questions about Electronics products, so I'll try that.
Michelle: So in the build diary you mention that the volume on K9's voice is low. Is that a function of just the board or can we fix it by using a different speaker?
Apr 21, 2010
Me: It's a function of the amount of power it puts out. This is why speakers from your computer either need big batterys or a separate plug. The audio output needs to be amplified with a Apr 21, 2010
larger current source than the 5 volts that is generating it now.
I imagine this speaker will be fine with proper amplification.
He sounds great over headphones.
Michelle: According to that guy who's pretty active in my thread over on the TARDIS builders board, other K9 builders have suggested...
Apr 26, 2010
On sound, it's been recommended to me that a 20-30w amp will be required to have a dog that can be heard in loud places,
Does that sound right to you? Will we be able to do that?
Me: I am no audiofile, so I can't speak to the appropriateness. Googling around, I see that amplifiers in that range generally want to be running off of 12 volts. Which may or may
not be a problem, depending on whether we will be running his motors off of 12 volt batteries.
Apr 26, 2010
El cheapo PC speakers (like the ones you put on either side of a monitor) seem run about 2.5 watts and they can be pretty loud, so I wonder if the 7 watt velman kit I keep seeing everywhere would be
enough. It depends on how loud a place you want him to be shouting in. 7 watt kit and 30 watt kit
Of course a kit is not needed, a premade amplifier will be fine, but maybe kits are cheaper.
Michelle: Will this work? :D
Apr 27, 2010
Michelle: Actually... I realize that's a guitar amp... So it probably won't work well for normal audio huh? How about this?
Apr 27, 2010
Me: Sure, it would be extra loud, but there are two problems. 1) it's a stereo amplifier, so you will be wasting half it's capability (unless you have a separate speaker Apr 27, 2010
for something else, like maybe voice spoken into a wireless mic).
2) The description says "Powered by included 120V AC wall adapter" which is the wrong kind of power (we want DC) and too much. Of course, that adapter is almost certainly converting to
DC, but there are no included details about what DC voltage it has or how much current it draws (expressed as AMPS or MilliAMPS.) Certainly worth keeping on the list to evaluate.
Me: One of the pictures addresses the second question, it's 24 volts, twice as much as I had hoped. I just noticed that the 30 watt kit I referenced above also Apr 27, 2010
wants 24 volts.
This is probably going to be the case with any amplifier this powerful. A Watt is a measure of voltage times current. So the higher the wattage, the more power is drawn, either by
increasing the voltage, or the current (amperage). Greater amperage = faster current draw/battery drain. Greater voltage = greater "pressure" of the current.
The router wants 9 volts (I think, I'm in Houston and can't check), the arduinos want 5 volts (which USB provides, so the router can solve that problem) and the motors will require
some unknown quantity, though I was hoping it would end up being around 12 volts.
Whatever the max voltage needed by any component would be the value we would get batteries to match, and then there will have to be some sort of power supply to provide the
different values to the other things.
PC power supplies work like this. They take 120 AC and provide a number of different "rails" of power to different parts of the computer. Typically 12 volts and 5 volts.
Tags: K9 ProJect
Michelle: Well, I was worried that an amp of that nature would blow the WaveShield or something, but I suppose it draws it's own power and passes it on to the speerker rather
then pulling it through the board huh?
Apr 26, 2010
Me: That is correct, and in fact is literally describes what is being amplified. The audio is an electrical signal rising and falling in voltage within whatever range it has. An
amplifier takes that signal, an extra power source, and reproduces that signal with a larger range or with a stronger current (I'm fuzzy on the details, I think it's the latter.)
Apr 27, 2010
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