Animated Skull

[robomaster-1]

I am sorry there is a lot of stuff to look through on this forum I did not know you have already got it working with the VSA software. To answer your question I made a Test CD that I used to see what the data look like comming off the CD and designed a simple circuit to get clean it up and back to the proper levels to work with the Mini-SSC servo board that I am using to control the skull that I have. What I plan to do is convert the Audio wave files to MP3 format and I am working on a PIC solution to control a VMusic2 player That I discovered at this address: http://www.scary-terry.com/vm2/vm2.htm . I should have a rough version of it work in thirty days. I am in the process of moving but I will have it working very shortly.

[JonnyMac]

I wonder if you could use an SX... as in Prop-SX.  The Prop-SX would allow you to send serial data to the VMUSIC player and then you could take the data from the control channel into the comparator (part of port B) for clean-up and level correction.  You wouldn't need to send it out to the a PSC as you could have a virtual servo controller built in.  One board could, with a bit of code, handle the works.

Does the standard VSA program create the stereo file that was once used by the CD-based RAPU?

Answered my own question; yes, the stock VSA program does in fact export for the old RAPU device.  I'd love to see your "clean up" circuit to see if I can apply that to the SX.  It would be cool if the project consisted of an Prop-SX commanding the VMUSIC and acting as its own servo controller.

[robomaster-1]

Sorry for not getting back with the VSA-RS232-Circuit, but I have been very busy working on a PIC Chip controller project and getting ready to move out where I am now living. The VSA  CD Option has a limition of you can only use 16 channels at a time. I have converted the Wave files to MP3 OK. I an in the process of using an Prop-2 to control the Music2 MP3 Player and using the VSA-RS232-Circuit and my Minni's servo board I should be able to get a very small Animation Controller working. Then I think I want to try out your SX-16 Channel servo board out Jon and maybe get it down to a single broad system. So Here is the VSA-RS232-Circuit . Can you help me with getting a SX system working?

[JonnyMac]

Tim,

Sorry, I didn't realize that was you.  Here's what I'm thinking: the SX has a comparator built in to port B.  I'm going to make  little Prop-SX add-on board with your interface and pump it into the SX's comparator (instead of using the hardware you have).  The comparator inputs are on RB.1 (P1) and RB.2 (P2), and you can make RB.0  (P0) follow the comparator output.  I will use RB.0 as the input to a virtual UART that is running in an interrupt and will interpret the serial data from the audio stream created by VSA; this data will drive a virtual servo controller (already coded).

A second UART (TX and RX) will be setup to control the VMUSIC player (I've done this part).  What this means, though, is that Port B (P0..P7) of the Prop-SX is used for interfacing leaving only eight channels open for servos (P8..P15).  That's enough for me, and might be for others as well.

I still have to finish my Prop-SX/Vex interface for Jeff so I won't get to this project for a few days.  If I can get it working I will post it in the Prop-SX forum.

[tds234]

This is COOL, COOL,  COOL, I had dreamed of a standalone show system controlled by something like this. The old Chuck E Cheese and show biz pizza systems were tape with audio channels and control channels mixed and once written ensured the sync between the two that is so critical to maintain. I'd love to see a way we could put this on a digital storage and take the output to run the controllers along with the audio.

I am assuming you end up with just one audio channel and the other is used to carry the control data?

I had considered multiplexing the control channels over one audio channel by using different parts of the audio bandwidth and using filter circuits to pull out the band that I wanted and then compare to a level reference (less for one way, approximately equal for center and more level for movement the other way)....

I'm really interested to see where this is going...

Freshly Doug

[robomaster-1]

That will be great Jon as you know I have been working on this problem for a long time and when I found the Vmpalyer-2 MP3 Player on the Terry Scary Site I know it be a good way to a low cost animation controller. If I understand what you are going to do is use a SX Chip to replace the MAX232 to clean up the data and then send it to the Servo Controller Board. Will is be an added on board to the SX servo Controller?

[robomaster-1]

HI Doug,

I know what are talking about I used to work for Chucky Cheese as a store technician and am very familiar on how that system works. I was able to make a way to make my own tapes but the figures responded too slowly to be any use. I was also able to come up with my own system to record and play back sixteen digital tracks which at the time was able to control two Chucky Cheeses figures and I have been using it to control a Figure in a case that I and my Roomate came up with. This Idea is a way to control my talking Skull figure with out having to stay hooked up to the VSA program. Check out my WEB page look in robotics and Animatronics Sections.

www.magicandtechnology.com

[JonnyMac]

If the project goes as I intend the Prop-SX will control the VMUSIC player and take the control channel into its comparator (P1 and P2 -- after conditioning) which will be cleaned and passed to a virtual (i.e., software-based, in the ISR) UART which controls a virtual servo controller (also in the ISR, up to eight servos).  So you could do eight channels of servo control with just a Prop-SX and the VMUSIC player.  Of course, you'd need VSA to create the sequence to be exported.

That will be great Jon as you know I have been working on this problem for a long time and when I found the Vmpalyer-2 MP3 Player on the Terry Scary Site I know it be a good way to a low cost animation controller. If I understand what you are going to do is use a SX Chip to replace the MAX232 to clean up the data and then send it to the Servo Controller Board. Will is be an added on board to the SX servo Controller?

[robomaster-1]

Can't wait to see how it turns out Jon it looks great. I am also going to see how the original circuit will work and  using my Prop-2 to control the VMusic-2 MP3 Player which will give me sixteen channels of  animation control. I also want to try  your version as well can't to see it work.

[JonnyMac]

Keep in mind that the Prop-2 and Prop-SX only have 16 I/O pins; if you're using some of them as control lines for the VMUSIC and other devices you can't have 16 servo channels.  I'm going to settle on eight for my Prop-SX project because it works cleanly and keeps the software manageable.

[davisgraveyard]

here is a video of my latest 3-axis Bucky Skull project powered by a Prop-SX and a Vex transmitter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idUfOeE9Gx0

[steveo]

Well now I have to hop on this too :)

Here's mine, with a Prop2, Ping))) and vMusic2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9FWglsPLpg

[davisgraveyard]

Here is the latest version of the animated skull

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5igIQMUAY

I am using a Prop-2 with a uMP3 and a Cowlicious Audio Servo Controler for the jaw.

There are about 400 data records in the Prop-2 using about every available byte with the program and data.

For more information on how I got it working you can follow this thread

http://www.efx-tek.com/php/smf/index.php?topic=630.0

Jeff
www.davisgraveyard.com

[davisgraveyard]

We are just about ready to put out our animated driver with a 3-axis skull for another season.  This year we updated his uMP3 and external Amplifier with a single AP-16+.  It was VERY simple to swap out and change just a few lines of code.  The audio is much louder and complexity of the animatronic has been simplified.    This is the 3rd year we have been working with this skull.

I still haven't got a good eye movement mechnism working but I hope to next year.   I even have the mini servos mounted and the cables ready for 6 servos and LED eyes.

I still drives me crazy that the movement is so jerky because of the lack of data the Prop2 can store.   If only there was a prop controller that read data from a SD card  I wouldn't even need servo intrupt a servo timer would be more than enough to keep the movement moving smoothly.

I still have a program for the PropSX that will drive 4 servos and when I hook up a RC controller to the head and move it the motion is SO lifelike.  I can then store that data from the PropSX to a file on the PC through a serial port but there is no way to play it back without a PC connected using show control software.

Maybe next season will be the year that a new EFX-TEK controller will get introduced that will finally allow me to animate the skull and play it back as smoothly as I want in a self contained controller.