Home stretch little help needed

thenoob1 · November 5, 2021, 5:40pm

Hello

I’m at home stretch. I am doing an Alexa billy bass project.
I have everything working fine, motors I know work fine as I ran a test sketch.

Now signal flow is fine up to the speaker, it works fine , the issue is audio BACK to the motor shield. In the code , it specifies A1 I believe which I believe, is what I soldered to.

The singnal to A1, is coming from the speaker + going into the little amp. The speaker works as you can hear in the video. So I Twisted a line as instructed with that line, and T’d off to the A1 input on the shield.

There is no pickup on the motor shield analog of the audio. I “think” the code is good. I ran it, came back no errors. Maybe something I can’t see.

The solder is bang on, I believe everything is correct. If anyone can help that would be great , I’ll also include the code in a Seperate post.

The power to the shield is coming from the battery pack on the billy bass fish, I removed the little jumper which allowed the amp etc to work fine. The issue is the analog, I’m so close lol. Video is below and extra pics

thenoob1 · November 5, 2021, 5:41pm



/*  
  Make a set of motors move to sound.
  Uses an Arduino Uno paired with the Adafruit Motor Shield v2.
  Written with the larger Big Mouth Billy Bass (or any animatronic) in mind.
   
   Modified by Joe Villegas on July 2018:
   -Defined all motors
   -Set variables (Ex: speed and sensitivity) for easier tweaking
   -Added support for the third motor in some Basses (Disable/Enable third motor use)
   -Included serial printouts for debugging and audio reading monitoring
   August 2018:
   -Added frantic mode (Maximum speed of motor movement, requires lots of power)
   
   Original information:
   Created by Donald Bell, Maker Project Lab (2016).
   Based on Sound to Servo by Cenk Ã–zdemir (2012)
   and DCMotorTest by Adafruit
*/

// Libraries
#include <Wire.h>
#include <QueueArray.h>
#include <Adafruit_MotorShield.h>
#include <Adafruit_PWMServoDriver.h>

//* SETUP (!!! This is the usually the best and probably only place you need to adjust!)
boolean legacyFish = true; //For older models that incorporate three motors
//* Motor speed variables
int motorDelay = 0; //Delay between sound readings and motor movements
//* Range: 1 - 255. Lower makes most movement.
int mouthMotorSpeed = 100;
int headMotorSpeed = 100;
int tailMotorSpeed = 25;
// Funsies (ENABLE AT RISK (make sure you have power)
boolean modeFrantic = false;
int logDelay = 10;
//* SETUP finished

//Base system variables
int afmsFreq = 1600; //Default is 1600 (1.6kHz)
int audioSensitivity = 1023;

//Audio threshold variables
boolean headMovementEnabled = true; //TODO: head motor is unable to move the head itself (reglue?)
int staticThreshold = 1;            //To leave out any unwanted movement due to static
int mouthAudioThreshold = 10;
int tailAudioThreshold = 25;

//* ---- This section below don't touch

//Handled all by system (Best to not touch)
// Create the motor shield object with the default I2C address
Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield();
// Or, create it with a different I2C address (say for stacking)
// Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield(0x61);

// Select which 'port' M1, M2, M3 or M4.
Adafruit_DCMotor *mouthMotor = AFMS.getMotor(1);
Adafruit_DCMotor *headMotor = AFMS.getMotor(2);
Adafruit_DCMotor *tailMotor = AFMS.getMotor(3);

// Some other Variables we need
int SoundInPin = A1;
int LedPin = 12; //in case you want an LED to activate while mouth moves

boolean audioDetected = false;
int audioLastDetected = 0;
QueueArray<int> audioReadingQueue;
boolean bodyMoved;

int speedFrantic = 254;
int ping = 0;

//* ---- This section above don't touch ---

//The setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup()
{
  //Pre-setup tweaks

  if (modeFrantic == true)
  {
    motorDelay = 0;
    mouthMotorSpeed = speedFrantic;
    headMotorSpeed = speedFrantic;
    tailMotorSpeed = speedFrantic;
    Serial.println("hello");
  }

  Serial.begin(9600); // set up Serial library at 9600 bps
  Serial.println("sup b");

  AFMS.begin(afmsFreq);
  if (afmsFreq == 1600)
  {
    Serial.println("Adafruit Motor Shield booted");
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.println("AFMS enabled with frequency of " + String(afmsFreq));
  }

  // Set the speed to start, from 0 (off) to 255 (max speed)

  //mouth motor
  mouthMotor->setSpeed(mouthMotorSpeed);
  Serial.println("Mouth motor speed set to " + String(mouthMotorSpeed) + ".");
  mouthMotor->run(FORWARD); // turn on motor
  Serial.println("Mouth motor connected, attempted to move");

  mouthMotor->run(RELEASE);
  pinMode(SoundInPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(LedPin, OUTPUT);

  //head motor
  headMotor->setSpeed(headMotorSpeed);
  Serial.println("Head motor speed set to " + String(headMotorSpeed) + ".");
  headMotor->run(FORWARD); // turn on motor
  Serial.println("Head motor connected, attempted to move");

  headMotor->run(RELEASE);
  pinMode(SoundInPin, INPUT);

  //tail motor
  if (legacyFish == true)
  {
    tailMotor->setSpeed(tailMotorSpeed);
    Serial.println("Tail motor speed set to " + String(tailMotorSpeed) + ".");
    tailMotor->run(FORWARD); // turn on motor
    Serial.println("Tail motor connected, attempted to move");

    tailMotor->run(RELEASE);
  }

  Serial.println("Billy Bass is GO!");
}

void loop()
{
  uint8_t i;

  //Reading values from analog pin
  int sensorValue = analogRead(SoundInPin);
  sensorValue = map(sensorValue, 0, 256, 0, audioSensitivity); //Sets the range of audio readings

  if (ping >= logDelay)
  {
    Serial.println("Audio - Input value: " + String(sensorValue));
    ping = 0;
  }
  else
  {
    ping++;
  }

  //int LEDValue = map(sensorValue,0,512,0,255); // we Map another value of this for LED that can be a integer betwen 0..255
  //int MoveDelayValue = map(sensorValue,0,255,0,sensorValue);  // note normally the 512 is 1023 because of analog reading should go so far, but I changed that to get better readings.

  //Passive movement (Moves the head when it detects any audio, and moves back when it becomes silent for a while)
  if (headMovementEnabled)
  {
    //Gathering history
    audioReadingQueue.enqueue(sensorValue);
    //Serial.println("QUEUE SIZE: " + String(audioReadingQueue.count()));     //DEBUG
    if (audioReadingQueue.count() == 50)
    {
      if (audioReadingQueue.peek() > staticThreshold)
      {
        audioLastDetected = 0;
        audioDetected = true;
      }
      else
      {
        audioLastDetected++;
        audioDetected = false;
      }
      audioReadingQueue.pop();
      //Serial.println("Audio - Last detected " + String(audioLastDetected) + " steps ago");      //DEBUG
    }
    //Moving head according to specific scenario
    if (audioLastDetected < 50 && bodyMoved == false)
    {
      headMotor->run(FORWARD);
      for (i = headMotorSpeed; i < 255; i++)
      {
        headMotor->setSpeed(i);
      }
      headMotor->setSpeed(0);
      bodyMoved = true;

      Serial.println("I'm ALIVEEEEE");
    }
    else if (audioLastDetected < 50)
    {

      //hold position
    }
    else if (bodyMoved == true)
    {
      headMotor->run(BACKWARD);
      for (i = headMotorSpeed; i < 255; i++)
      {
        headMotor->setSpeed(i);
      }
      headMotor->setSpeed(0);
      bodyMoved = false;

      Serial.println("Imma be sleepin");
    }
    else
    {

      //hold position
    }
  }

  //Active movement
  if (sensorValue > mouthAudioThreshold)
  {
    delay(motorDelay);
    // now move the motor
    mouthMotor->run(FORWARD);
    for (i = mouthMotorSpeed; i < 255; i++)
    {
      mouthMotor->setSpeed(i);
    }

    analogWrite(LedPin, sensorValue); //Brightens LED according to immediate audio strength

    mouthMotor->run(RELEASE);
  }

  if (sensorValue > tailAudioThreshold)
  {
    delay(motorDelay);
    // now move the motor
    tailMotor->run(BACKWARD);
    for (i = tailMotorSpeed; i < 255; i++)
    {
      tailMotor->setSpeed(i);
    }

    tailMotor->run(RELEASE);
  }

  // Done.
  // turn off the led again.
  analogWrite(LedPin, 0);
  // and this repeats all the time.
}

thenoob1 · November 5, 2021, 6:01pm

and 1 thing im a bit confused about
if using a seperate power supply to the arduino, your supposed to remove the pin.

when i remove it, the little amp will not work anymore, but when i put it on, it works. so im also a bit confused about this as well.

thenoob1 · November 5, 2021, 6:17pm

im trying to find out how to use the serial monitor to test the audio A1 , not too sure how to proceed or find a proper code to test with, any advice would be awesome. Im trying to do my best. audio is fine up to leaving the speaker to the arduino, so the problem is the Analog input not registering imo.

thenoob1 · November 6, 2021, 12:01pm

Im running this is the serial monitor at moment and, i can hear music fine on the speaker, coming out of it into A1 pin, and nothing is registering into the Serial monitor

[code]
int sensorPin = A1; // select the input pin for the audio signal input
int ledPin = 13;

void setup() {
// declare the ledPin as an OUTPUT and sensorPin as input
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(sensorPin, INPUT);
Serial.begin(9600 ); // open the serial port at 9600 bps:
}

void loop() {
int quietThreshold = 3;
int sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);
if(sensorValue > quietThreshold) {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
Serial.println("Music IS playing!");
Serial.print("sensorValue: ");
Serial.println(sensorValue);
} else {
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
Serial.println("Music is NOT playing.");
Serial.print("sensorValue: ");
Serial.println(sensorValue);
}
}

[/code]

Idahowalker · November 6, 2021, 12:15pm

2 things.

Post a schematic.

Code in code tags.

red_car · November 6, 2021, 12:16pm

You need to ensure that the Arduino and whatever device the analog signal is coming from, have a common Ground connection.

thenoob1 · November 6, 2021, 12:19pm

finally got audio to trigger, ill try to post a schematic, never done one ill look for some templates, thank you for all responses

Idahowalker · November 6, 2021, 12:22pm

Try

thenoob1:

// Some other Variables we need
///int SoundInPin = A1;
void setup() {
// declare the ledPin as an OUTPUT and sensorPin as input
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode( A1, INPUT);
Serial.begin(9600 ); // open the serial port at 9600 bps:
}

thenoob1 · November 6, 2021, 12:23pm

Thanks buddy!!! I’ll give a go as well, I finally got the LED to trigger on the board and see it in the serial monitor, I really appreciate it!!!

red_car · November 6, 2021, 12:27pm

analogRead returns a value based on a comparison to the voltage of the Arduino (5v) - the value is 0 (0v)-1023(5v).

If you are only getting small values then you can change the reference voltage by including the following line in your setup().

analogReference(INTERNAL);

thenoob1 · November 6, 2021, 12:50pm

Thank you for that , is there anywhere is particular you would slide that in the code? Or does it matter?

red_car · November 6, 2021, 8:11pm

Anywhere in the setup routine should be fine.

SteveMann · November 6, 2021, 9:29pm

Pencil and paper work just fine. Be sure to label the pins.

thenoob1 · November 7, 2021, 9:32pm

Here’s as good of a drawing I can do with limited skills.
Now my signal flow is fine , I get sound from the amp, to the speakers, and can see it registering In A1 via the serial monitor. The final hurdle is the reaction of the fish talking with the code. I feel like it’s something mislabelled in the code.

The motors work fine via test sketch, the power coming from the battery bank on the fish is fine, powers the shield fine, and running seperate power for the Arduino via USB cable.

wildbill · November 7, 2021, 9:50pm

As I suggested in your other thread, take a copy of your code and delete a lot of it (or at least comment it out) so you can detect sound from A1 and when you do, run one of the motors for a few seconds. At this point you could use delay to ensure you get movement for long enough to see.

That code is a bit convoluted but you can build back up to whatever complex fish actions you want once the basics are working.

thenoob1 · November 8, 2021, 5:27pm

i will attempt to do this, however i am not a coder. so i was hoping to try to outsource this issue by payment. Its a christmas present project and unfort with 2 toddlers and a busy business its very hard to take on something like coding. i am trying to learn basics, but very time sesitive and consuming, i wouldnt even know what to delete etc . All good i appreciate the feedback, ill keep plugging away at this

Idahowalker · November 8, 2021, 5:47pm

You can flag this thread for moderation and have the moderator move the post to "Gigs and Collaborations" where someone may give you a hand for a fee or not.

wildbill · November 8, 2021, 6:16pm

It sounds like the motors work and you can detect sound. What is the fish supposed to do that isn't happening - apologies if you explained already.

wildbill · November 8, 2021, 10:19pm

Here's a combination of your two programs. All it is supposed to do is detect sound and then move the head. I'm not sure if the music detection code is your latest. If it works, we can move on to more movement.

/*
  Make a set of motors move to sound.
  Uses an Arduino Uno paired with the Adafruit Motor Shield v2.
  Written with the larger Big Mouth Billy Bass (or any animatronic) in mind.

   Modified by Joe Villegas on July 2018:
   -Defined all motors
   -Set variables (Ex: speed and sensitivity) for easier tweaking
   -Added support for the third motor in some Basses (Disable/Enable third motor use)
   -Included serial printouts for debugging and audio reading monitoring
   August 2018:
   -Added frantic mode (Maximum speed of motor movement, requires lots of power)

   Original information:
   Created by Donald Bell, Maker Project Lab (2016).
   Based on Sound to Servo by Cenk Ã–zdemir (2012)
   and DCMotorTest by Adafruit
*/

// Libraries
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_MotorShield.h>
#include <Adafruit_PWMServoDriver.h>

boolean legacyFish = true; //For older models that incorporate three motors
//* Motor speed variables
int motorDelay = 0; //Delay between sound readings and motor movements
//* Range: 1 - 255. Lower makes most movement.
int mouthMotorSpeed = 100;
int headMotorSpeed = 100;
int tailMotorSpeed = 25;

//Base system variables
int afmsFreq = 1600; //Default is 1600 (1.6kHz)
int audioSensitivity = 1023;

//Audio threshold variables
boolean headMovementEnabled = true; //TODO: head motor is unable to move the head itself (reglue?)
int staticThreshold = 1;            //To leave out any unwanted movement due to static
int mouthAudioThreshold = 10;
int tailAudioThreshold = 25;

//* ---- This section below don't touch

//Handled all by system (Best to not touch)
// Create the motor shield object with the default I2C address
Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield();
// Or, create it with a different I2C address (say for stacking)
// Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield(0x61);

// Select which 'port' M1, M2, M3 or M4.
Adafruit_DCMotor *mouthMotor = AFMS.getMotor(1);
Adafruit_DCMotor *headMotor = AFMS.getMotor(2);
Adafruit_DCMotor *tailMotor = AFMS.getMotor(3);

// Some other Variables we need
int SoundInPin = A1;
//int LedPin = 12; //in case you want an LED to activate while mouth moves
int sensorPin = A1; // select the input pin for the audio signal input
int LedPin = 13;

boolean audioDetected = false;
int audioLastDetected = 0;
boolean bodyMoved;
bool modeFrantic = true;
int speedFrantic = 254;
int ping = 0;

void setup()
{
  if (modeFrantic == true)
  {
    motorDelay = 0;
    mouthMotorSpeed = speedFrantic;
    headMotorSpeed = speedFrantic;
    tailMotorSpeed = speedFrantic;
    Serial.println("Frantic mode");
  }
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println("sup b");
  AFMS.begin(afmsFreq);
  if (afmsFreq == 1600)
  {
    Serial.println("Adafruit Motor Shield booted");
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.println("AFMS enabled with frequency of " + String(afmsFreq));
  }
  // Set the speed to start, from 0 (off) to 255 (max speed)
  //mouth motor
  mouthMotor->setSpeed(mouthMotorSpeed);
  Serial.println("Mouth motor speed set to " + String(mouthMotorSpeed) + ".");
  mouthMotor->run(FORWARD); // turn on motor
  Serial.println("Mouth motor connected, attempted to move");
  mouthMotor->run(RELEASE);
  pinMode(SoundInPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(LedPin, OUTPUT);
  //head motor
  headMotor->setSpeed(headMotorSpeed);
  Serial.println("Head motor speed set to " + String(headMotorSpeed) + ".");
  headMotor->run(FORWARD); // turn on motor
  Serial.println("Head motor connected, attempted to move");
  headMotor->run(RELEASE);
  pinMode(SoundInPin, INPUT);
  //tail motor
  if (legacyFish == true)
  {
    tailMotor->setSpeed(tailMotorSpeed);
    Serial.println("Tail motor speed set to " + String(tailMotorSpeed) + ".");
    tailMotor->run(FORWARD); // turn on motor
    Serial.println("Tail motor connected, attempted to move");
    tailMotor->run(RELEASE);
  }
  Serial.println("Billy Bass is GO!");
}

void loop()
{
  if (MusicPlaying())
  {
    headMotor->run(FORWARD);
    for (int i = headMotorSpeed; i < 255; i++)
    {
      headMotor->setSpeed(i);
    }
    headMotor->setSpeed(0);
    bodyMoved = true;
    Serial.println("I'm ALIVEEEEE");
  }
}

bool MusicPlaying()
{
  int quietThreshold = 3;
  int sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);
  if (sensorValue > quietThreshold)
  {
    digitalWrite(LedPin, HIGH);
    Serial.println("Music IS playing!");
    Serial.print("sensorValue: ");
    Serial.println(sensorValue);
  }
  else
  {
    digitalWrite(LedPin, LOW);
    Serial.println("Music is NOT playing.");
    Serial.print("sensorValue: ");
    Serial.println(sensorValue);
  }
  return sensorValue > quietThreshold;
}

Topic		Replies	Views
Help Wanted for Big Mouth Billy Bass Alexa Hack General Guidance	15	434	November 19, 2025
Honest hire for converting existing sketch? Jobs and Paid Consultancy	35	2570	May 5, 2022
Billy Bass Hack trouble General Guidance	45	3039	May 28, 2023
Help with Billy Bass 3 motor General Guidance	15	453	June 22, 2025
Arduino problema a unire 2 codici Software	24	203	November 8, 2025

Home stretch little help needed

Related topics