Voice alerts test build

Deal57 wrote: MWM, do we have a test build from a more recent nightly for the 6s? I've been otherwise distracted from this and I'd like to get it back together. Seeing that the test build has been downloaded 40+ times, it seems we have an audience!

Hay not everyone in the audience has downloaded the test build.... 3 over here watching. Thanks guys.... IMO ALL TX's need voice alerts so your eyes can stay on the aircraft. Taking your eyes off a UMX Radeon at altitude to check your time when it's in lift and just a speck in the sky may be the last time you see it.

This is so awesome. Guess I'll order such a dfplayer

I'm encouraged by my recent testing of the voice alerts. Using the January build, I hooked up the voice alert module externally, plugged in the trainer port and connected to a 5v regulated power source, and it's like magic! "Welcome to deviation" at power up (in a British accent, too), alerts on low voltage or timer countdown, and a nice "Goodbye!" when powering down.

This seems to be a very reliable configuration. Here are the parts:
DFPlayer Mini, BG about $5.
1" speaker, Radio shack, $4.
Mono 1/8" jack, (panel mount), $4. pack of 2
Mono 1/8 to 1/8 audio cable.
MicroSD card preloaded with voice alert folder
5v supply... I used a 2s Lipo with 5v regulator, and it also works from a 1s directly (but I can't recommend this approach, not yet anyway)

Test build "deviation-devo6-v4.0.1-d4679c2"



Plug power into DFPlayer pin 1 (Vcc) and pin 10 (ground)
Plug the audio "tip" into pin 2 (RX) and connect the shield to pin 7 (ground).
Last, plug the speaker + into pin 6 and - to pin 8.





It seems like the module should be switched on before applying power to the Devo, because sometimes it misses the power on message. I am using an external power source to avoid issues with my TX power supply. I measured a current use of about 30ma on standby, and about 70ma when it is actively playing. This seems a pretty high draw, particularly in the Devo 6s or 7e. If it runs constantly it's like having another transmitter module active. I hope to test it for several flights with the 6s and see if it's a problem.

I think the external power is the real solution. That also means you can use an external speaker, as I haven't found one that fits and produces enough volume to hear!

I hooked up a 2" 4Ohm 5W speaker and pretty much blew myself out of the room

A more practical solution might be to use the 36mm 8Ohm 2W speaker that Taranis users are fond of. Together with a plastic collar modification the speaker seems to be pretty popular... but then I don't know if the Taranis provides any sort of amplification. In any case I'm getting one to try.

I don't have any idea how to squeeze all this into a Devo 6s or 7e case! No problems with the other cases, as near as I can tell.

Can you provide a link to that taranis speaker? And do you have issues getting it into a 10?

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TGSCUBO/ref...kId=FWEXRY7KUF24MZ6S

Still playing with the voice alerts hardware and there are a couple of new things I want to share. First, the speaker output is significantly improved by providing a chamber on the speaker to direct the sound. The Taranis speaker upgrade kits have essentially this function, and I simulated it on the cheap by fitting my 1" speaker into a 1" diameter x about 1/2" long tube. The sound seems louder; I haven't tried it in the field yet.

The second update is the addition of a micro USB plug, which allows PC access to the files on the SD chip. This means that once installed, you could upgrade the voice files without disassembling your transmitter. You can't play sounds while connected to the PC, and as soon as I disconnected she was back to her chatty self!

I also added a pair of momentary buttons for testing, because they allow you to move sequentially up and down between the voice files. They also allow you to adjust the volume (long press). Of course the right programming will do this through the GUI as well.

I'm really just stuck on how to package this now. Here are the parts:
DFPlayer Mini (Banggood, $5 or less)
1GB or larger SD micro memory card
2w Speaker, size 36mm or smaller (many sources, typically about $3 to $10)
Mini USB breakout (5 for a couple bucks at Banggood)
2 x pushbutton momentary switch (volume and browsing, if desired, from test stock)
Power 3.3-5v - note, while talking, this system consumes about 70ma, so drawing power from the Devo may shorten control times:
* 2s battery with 5v regulator. This has been my primary source during testing and seems pretty long-lasting
* 1s battery - while this works, it's not clear how long it will last
* for larger Devo you could tap into a 3.3v or 5v source.

I've updated my drawing to show the additional connections.

Hi, do the push-buttons pull "UP" or "down" ? (is the other side connected to VCC or ground ?)

Pull-down. Drawing updated . Thanks!

Would you mind making a test build with current source, so we/I can get this to work together with FrSkyX

Since I've upgraded the MCU on my Devo 7e, I'm now thinking of adding the DFPlayer Mini for voice support. I've tested it with a 8ohm 0.5W speaker (4cm diameter, 5mm thickness). It's pretty loud and can easily fit inside the 7e. I've also measured the current to be around 30mA while idle; 220mA during peak playback. The peak current that I observed is much more than Deal57 measurement. Maybe it's because we're using different speakers. Does anyone know if it's safe to draw that much current by tapping to the 5V point from the 7e?

Here is the speaker that I'm using.

I am in for the voice mod for U7E , I received my DF player module, I pulled some speakers from an old laptop, they are also boxed/enclosed.
So basically once firmware is there will be ready to test it.

The voltage circuit on 7e yes that's still something to analyse, I put a heavy duty regulator basically to get rid of fluctuating voltage, but that never solved the issue.

For the u7e, the UART5_TX pin (PC12) seems to be available. Maybe we can connect it directly to DFPlayer. In this case, we can free up the DSC port for other purpose.

The UART5_RX pin (PD2) is being used for Haptic vibration motor accordingly to PB's wiki. But I guess we don't really need the receive pin on the UART.

I've created a test build with the latest nightly of u7e with voice alert functions from mwm. To test it, you'll also need to download the MP3MINI.zip from the test build by mwm. Make sure you've modified the hardware.ini file with the corresponding audio player you've.

Is your newer build available in a github repo? One of the issues keeping me from working on things (besides health) is not wanting to deal with moving my dev branches into git....

i think this is going to be my next mod to my u7e, I don't think it's something I'll use much but it's a nice little project to hack on, as (like most here I presume) I like hacking/building stuff

sorry to hear of your health troubles mwm, hope things get better for you soon bud

mwm wrote: Is your newer build available in a github repo? One of the issues keeping me from working on things (besides health) is not wanting to deal with moving my dev branches into git....

It's available under Github deviation fork at github.com/phantom-8/deviation . Your code is residing in branch "extended_audio". I've also added support for UART5. That is, the u7e can use PC12, UART5_TX (Processor Pin 53) for audio support. Thus freeing the PPM port for other purposes. You can check the branch commit log for details. I've already fitted the DFPlayer & a speaker inside my u7e and have tested the UART5_TX pin and everything is working well. Since the UART5_RX pin is not available, we can't have 2 way communications under this configuration.

I'm also in the process of adding voice feedback when changing switch positions. This feature is not in repo yet as I'm still working on it. However, the way I implement the voice feedback may not be what you expect. I took a easy route to make it work without any fancy configuration interface. I will add it to the repo once it's done and you can decide if you want to merge it or rework on it.

I hope you're recovering well after your surgery. Pls get well soon and thanks for bringing the voice feature to deviation.

Here are some photos of the voice mod in my u7e using pin PC12.

Disclaimer: Pls note that this only works on a Devo 7e with processor upgrade. You can't do this on any other Devo models as the Pin has already been used. You also won't be able to use 2-way communications when connecting to PC12. If you need 2-way communications, you will have to use the PPM connection.

My plan on switch positions et. al. is to integrate them into the alerts page. Right now, alerts only trigger on telemetry values. I want to add channel values to that, and then provide </=/> alerts, plus a "only trigger once" option. But hey, if you want to do the work, then whatever makes the most sense to you that PB will merge is cool by me!

More important is changing the page so that you can select a "named section" in the sound.ini file for each alert. When they're just beeps, it really doesn't matter much which you get. But you'd really like to be able to see that the selected alert is for RSSI or voltage or whatever when it says "Losing signal" or "Transmitter voltage alert"!