A few weeks ago I had my first air conditioner installed. After a while I noticed that it would be useful to control the A/C with voice rather than the manual remote.
I would first like to mention I am a hardware newbie, never really built anything before, but I am better with programming.
I want to build a self-sustained device(implies no connection to the PC except when uploading new firmware/program) that listens for speech which would be mapped to IR commands which are sent to the A/C. Verbal commands like ON/OFF, UP/DOWN for temperature control and say MODE 1,2,3... for choosing whether to cool or heat up the room.
I am not even sure if Arduino is up for the task, so this is why I am asking here for general feasibility and arduino feasibility. I mean, several components will need to be integrated, like an IR blaster, voice recognition module and perhaps the main controller.
Also, while English voice recognition would suffice, my native language is not English so a plus would be the voice recognition module to have support for other languages.
Anyway, I am looking for an inexpensive way to build this device, with a feature full SDK for the programming. And some device that would let me reverse engineer the IR protocol of my current A/C remote.
I can foresee problems with using voice recognition.
You get angry with someone and tell them to '*/&!<^ off' and your A/C turns off!
Or you come in tired, announce that you're going to sit down for 10 minutes and your A/C turns itself down!
You'll have to exclude all the command words from your vocabulary, except when you want to adjust the A/C.
Step 1: Get your arduino controlling the AC unit using the IRremote or IRLib library.
Step 2: Use your PC.MAC with some free voice recognition tool to send the IR command via the Arduino
Step 3: Investigate how to get voice recognition working directly on an Arduino...this will be the most challenging bit.
It should be possible to configure special keywords to minimise false recognition ("COMMAND OFF", "COMMAND ON" etc.)
As an alternative, it could be much cheaper to just set up a sound sensor and just listen for 3 hand claps or 4 hand claps. But as the previous poster suggested, 100% accuracy may be a dream particularly with a TV in the same room.
Bluetooth control via mobile phone may be a better alternative.
For Step1 check out: Air Conditioners: Recording long Infrared Remote control signals with Arduino
Also, while English voice recognition would suffice, my native language is not English so a plus would be the voice recognition module to have support for other languages.
Voice recognition software does not recognize English. It records sounds, and then matches the recorded snippet against its vocabulary. If there is a match, it performs whatever action you have associated with the vocabulary word/phrase.
Step 1: Get your arduino controlling the AC unit using the IRremote or IRLib library.
Step 2: Use your PC.MAC with some free voice recognition tool to send the IR command via the Arduino
Step 3: Investigate how to get voice recognition working directly on an Arduino...this will be the most challenging bit.
It should be possible to configure special keywords to minimise false recognition ("COMMAND OFF", "COMMAND ON" etc.)
As an alternative, it could be much cheaper to just set up a sound sensor and just listen for 3 hand claps or 4 hand claps. But as the previous poster suggested, 100% accuracy may be a dream particularly with a TV in the same room.
Bluetooth control via mobile phone may be a better alternative.
All commands will be concluded with an OK verbal command, like Windows' speech recognition. Also, step 3 is what I want to do from the get-go, are you saying there is nothing that fits the bill?
All commands will be concluded with an OK verbal command, like Windows' speech recognition. Also, step 3 is what I want to do from the get-go, are you saying there is nothing that fits the bill?
No, but as you posted that you are a 'newbie', I suggeted a stepped approach.
Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with voice recognition for Arduino, but I have have come across projects supporting different levels of voice recognition, so it should be possible. Getting the AC IR signals working can be a little tricky as they are usually much longer than typical TV IR signals.
So, I plan to buy an Arduino UNO Rev3, and your copy of AnalysIR, but I want to know if your tool would work with A/C Mitsubishi MSZ-SF35VE(2013 model).
Also, can you recommend me an IR Receiver/Blaster for the UNO?
My suggestions would be:
TSOP34438 from Vishay (However, some AC units operate at 33kHz and not 38kHz)
or just for decoding purposes (TSSP4038) - but this should not be used for a deployed project.
Regarding your other question, which could be seen as not related to the Arduino forum, please use the contact form on our website.
Finally, I would go with a Leonardo in preference to a UNO.
farmdve:
A few weeks ago I had my first air conditioner installed. After a while I noticed that it would be useful to control the A/C with voice rather than the manual remote.
I would first like to mention I am a hardware newbie, never really built anything before, but I am better with programming.
I want to build a self-sustained device(implies no connection to the PC except when uploading new firmware/program) that listens for speech which would be mapped to IR commands which are sent to the A/C. Verbal commands like ON/OFF, UP/DOWN for temperature control and say MODE 1,2,3... for choosing whether to cool or heat up the room.
I am not even sure if Arduino is up for the task, so this is why I am asking here for general feasibility and arduino feasibility. I mean, several components will need to be integrated, like an IR blaster, voice recognition module and perhaps the main controller.
Also, while English voice recognition would suffice, my native language is not English so a plus would be the voice recognition module to have support for other languages.
Anyway, I am looking for an inexpensive way to build this device, with a feature full SDK for the programming. And some device that would let me reverse engineer the IR protocol of my current A/C remote.
