#259 Add Voice to your Home Automation Project

Writing Alexa or Google Home skills is not easy, their voices are impersonal, and we never know what they gossip elsewhere. Also, the devices are not funny looking.
We will build a system which, when triggered by MQTT, plays voice messages. It uses a JQ6500 sound module which can play mp3 files. A PAM8304 and an ESP8266 (also an ESP32 would be good) is also part of the design. The software is written in the Arduino IDE

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#MQTT, #JQ6500, #ESP8266, #HomeAutomation

[klassichd]

Very helpful devices indeed. I am using a similar device now for years using an ESP8266, soundprocessor/amplifier with µSD-Card and a PIR sensor. It is connected tp my Homematic home automation system and located in the hall cupboard. When leaving the house I open the hall cupboard to take my coat or jacket. The device is triggered by the PIR, connects the home Automation System and reads which windows or doors are still open.
Originally I did this for my old mother but such a device is also really helpful for me.

[PhG]

Awesome video with a great sense of 'Swiss-German' humor.

[adlerweb]

I'm also currently playing around with these devices for a project. I prefer the JQ8400-FL since it features double the memory (4MByte). When using USB it appears as a standard mass storage device, much easier. Sadly there don't seem to be modules with larger integrated memories and the only alternative would require those pesky micro SD cards.

[trentbrown]

Thank you Andreas, I finally got around to making this (so far just bread-boarded but it works great). Next steps, combine it with the "you left the fridge/freezer door open again" nagging device" I made a while ago as well as other sensors and dash buttons to help cope with getting pre-occupied and forgetting to turn things off or closing doors. Much better (and more fun) than buzzers!

[avejst]

Wow, impressive amount of patrions.
Impressive evolution of your project😀
Thanks for sharing 😀👍

[TvistoProPro]

I love that you also have a mailbox sensor. I made one on my own before finding your channel. A simple light sensor that sends MQTT that reflects through FHEM and pings my phone. :)

[xyloidify]

Another great video Andreas! Right now I am using Alexa TTS with home assistant. It works well. I like that your idea does not need a cloud service! Also love the email idea and the case!

[zukjeff]

thankyou Andreas, your 9 second Audacity training session @3:46 is brilliant and will save me hours of cutting and saving. thankx !
I have been waiting for a reasonable voice generator to create a battery management system for the camper trailer.

[thetinytrader]

Alexa speaks all the important messages and reminders for me. Still I love this alternate way of doing the same thing :)

[zukjeff]

@4:00 it is hard to see the Normalize setting Andreas used. The default an Audacity is -1db which is way too loud for the jq6500 and clips the audio to a near squarewave. -2 works well.

[WacKEDmaN]

very nice Mr Spiess..i like your credentials.h tip, that'll save me uploading my passwords to github and pastebin!

[leef_me]

@ Andreas Spiess @ 3:08, you drew your diagram incorrectly.
Wemos should be on left, JQ6500 in the center, PAM8403 and speaker on the right.

[niniliumify]

Awesome Project! Smiley is a great name, and a cute addition to your Laboratory.

[csongorvarga]

It is a nice project and easy to implement. JQ6500 is my favorite sound board as well. If you own a Google Home check out for node-red.

[tonysfun]

Nice job again Andreas! I'll show this to my group on Sunday! Thanks again!

[rantalbott]

Thanks, Andreas! Your timing is perfect: I have a PC program that monitors a remote system via TCP connection, displays its status, and "speaks" via sound file playback when it sees an alarm. I'm working on an ESP8266 sketch to replicate the alarm indicators on the LCD of a small portable device, and this will let me add the alert sounds.

[fabiopigi]

Andreas, es isch immer toll, ihri Projekt z verfolge. I bin vor eimehalb Jahr usgwanderet nach australie. Ihri videos bringend mer immer wieder heiweh. I han selber au e Garage, woni mini Elektronik projekt verfolge, und hoffe, dass weni älter bin und meh ziit finde, ähnlich begeisteret und begeisternd z sii. Weiter so, viele dank dass ihr mis YouTube 1000x interessanter machet wie ohni euri videos.

[fransdebruijn]

you may want to consider measuring the Thiele/Small parameters of the speaker if you can't obtain them in order to design an enclosure with suitable volume suited to the speaker so you don't get nasty peaks in the SPL vs frequency response. it also helps a great deal to select a suitable speaker for a given enclosure volume. an easy start is simulation with software called winISD. the parameters can be measured with a few basic tools and some accurate scales by adding a mass to the cone.

[whc]

Seems like the manufacturer provides a downloading tool for 128Mbit flash, you can try to replace the W25Q16 on board with a W25Q128 and the storage space will be 8 times larger.

[raffyturc]

This would indeed be a fun project! Thanks Andreas 👍