element14 presents | Matt Eargle's VCP Profile | Project Videos
Matt is quite picky about the looks of his AI assistants: he shies away from the uncanny valley and abhors the abstraction of a disembodied voice in his devices. With this in mind--and following his penchant for retro restorations--he decides to build a customized voice assistant into the body of one of his favorite "artificial intelligence": the classic 1978 model 2-XL educational toy from Mego. In this first part in a 2-part series, Matt will walk through how the 2-XL toy robot worked, before setting up Google Assistant on the Raspberry Pi, training a custom wake word for the assistant, and rewiring the power supply with modern components!
Supplemental Content:
- Mego 2XL Robot Teardown
- How To Set Up Google Assistant On The Matrix Creator Development Board
- Attempting to get Snowboy working on the Matrix Creator
- How To Set Up The Google AIY Voice Kit
- How To Use A Custom Wake Word With Google Assistant
- How To Train A Custom Wake Word For Google Assistant Using Snowboy
Bill of Material:
| Product Name | Manufacturer | Quantity | Buy KitBuy Kit |
|---|---|---|---|
| RPI3-MODBP - Single Board Computer, Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, BCM2837B0 SoC, IoT, PoE Enabled | Raspberry Pi | 1 | Buy NowBuy Now |
| 44082 - Flash Memory Card, MicroSD Card, Class 10, 16 GB | Verbatim | 1 | Buy NowBuy Now |
| 28-19339 - AC/DC Power Supply, for Raspberry Pi, ITE, 1 Output, 13 W, 5.1 V, 2.5 A | Pro-Elec | 1 | Buy NowBuy Now |
| MATRIX.C1.US - Daughter Board, Matrix Creator IoT, Raspberry Pi 3, Loaded with Sensors, Mic Array, US | Matrix Labs | 1 | Buy NowBuy Now |
| 4080 - GOOGLE AIY VOICE KIT FOR RASPBERRY PI V2 | Adafruit | 1 | Buy NowBuy Now |
Additional Parts:
| Product Name |
|---|
1978 Mego 2-XL Educational Toy |
Screw-on barrel jack connectors (CD016 - DC Power Connector, Plug, 4 A, Cable Mount, Screw: NO LONGER AVAILABLE) |
Top Comments
Still have mine...
Entertaining episode.
Fun to watch.
DAB
It works! The potentiometer is very flakey, as they get as they age.