X10 Community Forum
🖥️ActiveHome Pro => SDK => Third Party Add-Ons & Software => Topic started by: aslamma on August 05, 2008, 07:40:05 PM
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OK, I have a microphone, a HTPC with Vista ultimate, a CM15A with Activehome Pro and all of my X-10 stuff working (for the most part). I am curious about BVC (who wouldn't be), but I just don't get it.
I talk into the mic and the BVC uses the speach recognition software to interpret what I have said. Then what? Where does it go and how does it work with the CM15A? I currently do NOT have the CM15A connected to the computer (info is downloaded to the module). The reason is that the computer location does not work well for me with the CM15A there (not all modules respond). Does the CM15A have to be connected via USB and that is how it communicates? Or is there something that will send a signal to the CM15A that I am missing?
OK, any help would be appreciated. Seems like a lot of fun :)
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BVC IS alot of fun.
To answer your question, yes the CM15 has to be plugged into the computer for BVC to work.
However, many users get BVC to tell the time and weather (and even daily Bible quotes) which do not require the CM15 to be connected.
BVC also works with a USB-UIRT that allows the computer to work the TV or Hi-Fi or any other IR device.
Hope this helps.
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It is alot of fun. STop by http://www.bdshost.com/ac/.
Its a chat room for automation and just about all the guys in there use BVC
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BVC IS alot of fun.
To answer your question, yes the CM15 has to be plugged into the computer for BVC to work.
However, many users get BVC to tell the time and weather (and even daily Bible quotes) which do not require the CM15 to be connected.
BVC also works with a USB-UIRT that allows the computer to work the TV or Hi-Fi or any other IR device.
Hope this helps.
I may have a technology backfire here then. I have a remote (MX-900) that natively emits RF. That gets transmitted to a RF receiver which has little IR emitters that are attached to the different components. Therefore, I do not know how I would splice the USB-UIRT into that loop (components cannot do not have frontal access really).
But...let me ask this. Will I be able to control some of the Vista Media Center commands with BVC without the USB-UIRT? I would like to have some simple things like skip song, and the like. Well..either way, that is enough info for me to get started. I think I will have to try some different locations and see if they work to get both a USB and reliable PLC so I can work BVC.
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I may have a technology backfire here then. I have a remote (MX-900) that natively emits RF. That gets transmitted to a RF receiver which has little IR emitters that are attached to the different components. Therefore, I do not know how I would splice the USB-UIRT into that loop (components cannot do not have frontal access really).
You can buy IR emitters for the USB-UIRT also. Don't ask me where, but I did notice that some sites that sell it say their kit comes with one or two.
But...let me ask this. Will I be able to control some of the Vista Media Center commands with BVC without the USB-UIRT? I would like to have some simple things like skip song, and the like.
BVC (at present) doesn't control any computer software directly. A possible option for controlling Media Center would be to use the USB-UIRT to learn and transmit appropriate IR codes to the Media Center IR receiver.
I am also doing some work with the X10 CM19A (USB version of the Firecracker). Some BVC users have already experimented with it and say it works with BVC, but until I can verify an installation procedure, it's still experimental.
The CM19A would allow BVC to send and receive X10 signals via RF and talk by RF to the CM15A (not for programming the CM15A however).
Hope that gives you a better idea of what BVC will and won't do.
Oh, yeah.... I wrote BVC, in case you hadn't already guessed. ;)
>!
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I am huge fan of BVC myself! I even have a BVC fan Site <link (http://www.davesdomainonline.com/bvc/bvc.htm). (Be sure to check-out my YouTube Videos (http://www.youtube.com/suitmanIM).) I have been running BVC for [pushing] a couple years now. And it makes an awesome and futurist.. Home Automation setup.
I use an old (rescued from curb-side) computer that runs 24/7. The computer is connected to the CM15A interface and controls all my home automation.... as well as BVC.. and a software that keeps track of the weather for me. I use a baby monitor whole-house microphone setup... which cost me nearly nothing.
Even if you don't use BVC.. a HA PC is a great addition to any setup. If your new to X10 and AHP be sure to get your setup dependable (it sorta sounds like you might have a phase issue). X10 is a hoot when it's reliable... and frustrating when it's not.
I would hate to give-up the advantage's that Voice Controlled Home Automation gives me.
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Interesting, I have wondered this myself and considered a phase coupler and filter. It seems to be OK with an alternate location that goes to both my outlet and USB. To be frank though, I am already considering going to a UPB setup since there are many things I find frustrating about X-10. What is keeping me on X-10 now is that I need to use slimline switches and motion sensors and there are not really any good alternatives in the UPB world...yet.
In any case, I think I am going to look into a filter and phase coupler since I don't think it matters what system you use for those.
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I can not seem to get the speach recognition side to understand me well. How sensitive is it to background noise? I am going to try a new mic as well. If I a having trouble from just a few inches away from the mic, is it realistic for it to work throughout the house with background noise?
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I can not seem to get the speach recognition side to understand me well.
It may require you do some "training". Remember to speak "normally" when training.
How sensitive is it to background noise?
Mine hasn't ever appeared to notice normal background noise.
If I a having trouble from just a few inches away from the mic, is it realistic for it to work throughout the house with background noise?
My system is about as reliable as a PalmPad. And I use $17 baby monitors for my whole-house microphone setup (http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=12202.msg67395#msg67395).
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I tried it on another computer and seem to have more success, but still having problems....more tweaking needed.
From a purely aesthetic point of view, I would need something more than the baby monitors though. How about this setup?
http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=14534.0
-What kind of range can one get with the intercom system (meaning distance from voice to nearest intercom)? 5', 10', 20'?
-Also, will it work if you have the TV on or another audio system working? I almost always have some kind of audio going unless it is right before bed when I really would not need it anyway.
Seems to be quite a tricky setup, but I think I am gonna give it a shot.
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From a purely aesthetic point of view, I would need something more than the baby monitors though. How about this setup?
http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=14534.0
I like s0urc3f0ur's idea/setup! He wasn't the 1st one to use the intercom's but he was the 1st to use them 2-way. His setup uses powerline signal transmission which (IMHO) complicates the process. Radio Shack (and others) has Radio Signal 2-way intercoms that would be excellent for BVC. Although I used the baby monitors myself... and I am very happy with them.... if I was doing it all over again I would likely use the intercoms. The reason being that the intercoms also resolves the whole-house speaker issue at the same time.
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I like s0urc3f0ur's idea/setup! He wasn't the 1st one to use the intercom's but he was the 1st to use them 2-way. His setup uses powerline signal transmission which (IMHO) complicates the process.
It was a bit tricky but after making sure that the carrier freq was different then that of x10's.. I really have not had a problem.. Allthough I am only currently using one icom in my living room to communicate with BVC.
What kind of range can one get with the intercom system (meaning distance from voice to nearest intercom)? 5', 10', 20'?
The Range is really relative as to what kind of Icom you would use. If it is a PLC Icom then range should not be the issue. However phase will be. Most Icoms that carry on the PLC require that they all be on the same phase of electricity
-Also, will it work if you have the TV on or another audio system working? I almost always have some kind of audio going unless it is right before bed when I really would not need it anyway.
It all depends on where you Place your mic/Icom. I've found that in some cases I do need to mute the audio on my TV to get the computer recognize my commands thourough my Icom.
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As far as range goes, what I mean is the distance from the VOICE to the INTERCOM, not from intercom to intercom. For example, I can now get commands to work from about 2' when using my microphone, but if I move more than a couple feet from the mic, its a no go. I was thinking I might have the same problem with an intercom setup. I would like the intercoms to be at least 10-15' away and still be effective if possible.
So how quiet does the room need to be? Maybe I am missing something, but if you have to mute the audio...how practical is a setup like this? I thought the hope was to have hands free control, but if I have to reach for the remote to control the volume, I may as well just control the lights with the remote. Sure there are a lot of times when the room is quiet, but 90% of the time I either have music from the HTPC going, radio, or TV.
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.......what I mean is the distance from the VOICE to the INTERCOM, not from intercom to intercom. ......
I can't answer THAT... I don't have an intercom setup.
As far as distance from my baby monitors... I find they work best across the room (I face mine to the corners of the rooms). Twenty feet isn't a problem (even further is doable).
So how quiet does the room need to be? Maybe I am missing something.........
The room doesn't need to be particularly quiet.... Volume should be somewhere below football game with the guys.... or kids on hardwood floors. I don't need to mute my TV.... for BVC to hear me... but I do often mute the TV to hear Kate (I use the Kate16 voice with my BVC... it's MUCH nicer than the standard MS voices). If I ask Kate for the weather... I often mute the TV to hear her announce it.
Your questions are all the "normal" ones. If you have a particularly noisy home... you likely know it. Screaming kids and barking dogs can make talking to a machine... as difficult as talking to the other people you live with.
I really don't "talk" to the computer that much. But... I REALLY like having the computer talk to me. If my garage door is forgotten [open] BVC reminds me. BVC lets me know when visitors are outside my home. Or if at night.... even warns potential intruders.
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Unfortunately I cant answer that either... My set up works fine but my house is very small. My source Icom is in the living room which is about 15 feet away from the interface Icom(In the Den). I can walk up and down the hallway that separates the 2 and have no problems communicating with the computer if the house is quiet... If say the TV in the living room is on though (because I have surround sound and the source Icom is mounted on the wall behind my couch) I have problems communicating with BVC. The Mic inside the interface Icom(the one connected to the puter) is still active and can pick up sounds as well
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EDIT: I think most of my questions will be answered here...just not sure what would be different if I go with the Shack Intercoms though.
http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=14534.0
So I am thinking about giving the Radio Shack intercoms a shot:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2464775&cp=&pg=1&sr=1&origkw=intercom&kw=intercom&parentPage=search
In addition to these, exactly what hardware will I need? Bill mentioned I might need another sound card, which could a simple USB adapter....but what else do I need as far as cables, etc?
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I am open to the Westinghouse ones as well, I think they look nicer. But not sure about the powerline interface and I thought the radio shack one would require less "hacking" because of the outputs?
http://www.buy.com/prod/westinghouse-whi-4cupg-4-channel-voice-activated-intercom/q/loc/111/90128815.html
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Couple questions:
-For the additional sound card, can it be a standard PCI or does it HAVE to be an external one? Would having two sound cards mess up my existing audio? Never done that before so a little confused by it.
-Until I start getting into, I am still a little confused by the setup. If my computer is a HTPC that is playing music, would this have a problem of sending audio out to the intercom? (just like BVC sends it audio). Or is there someway to just have BVC output to the additional sound card?
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-For the additional sound card, can it be a standard PCI or does it HAVE to be an external one? Would having two sound cards mess up my existing audio? Never done that before so a little confused by it.
The mother board sound card cannot handle both line in and line out from a single source. Thus the need for an external SC. No It should not mess up your existing audio. You can assign which Sc you want for which device. I have both my standard audio and BVC audio coming from the external SC in case I want to here playlists and songs from my computer over my Icoms.
-So I am thinking about giving the Radio Shack intercoms a shot
By the looks of those intercoms you may still have to mod a Line out jack from your Icom. The Instructions for this can be found in Step 4 of my Mod of the Icoms (http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=14534.0)
-but what else do I need as far as cables, etc
Some hook up wire and a mini TRS cable should be fine. It looks as though the input on the radio shack Icom is an RCA type of connector. If it is you will either need an RCA to mini TRS cable. or and adapter that changes either the mini TRS to RCA or and RCA to mini TRS. ALL can be found at Radio shack.( Mini TRS cables are the kind of cables that your destop speakers or Headphones use for connections)
Hope this helps
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Picked the radio shack intercoms and they would not recognize the voice activation from more than about 3-5' unless I was pretty much screaming. So if that is the capability then it is not very practical for what my goals are. One of them also locked up on me and would not work until I removed the batteries for a while. I ended up returning it a few hrs later.
The other thing I noticed is there is a pretty significant delay between the time BVC recognizes a command until execution...about 2-3 seconds. Using the same trigger..."an all off" command, it works almost immediately using a slimswitch.
So not sure where to go with it now. It looks like the westinghouse icoms are still a good option...but the big downside for me is that they are not battery controlled, which really limits the positioning. So strike 1 on my first attempt.
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I have been experimenting with the Radio Shack intercoms mentioned here. I was disappointed to find out that the VOX wasn't particularly sensitive from more than a few feet away. Also, when one intercom would transmit there was a "hang time" of several seconds until it could receive again, which really slowed things down and made voice commands difficult. I also wasn't thrilled about having to buy/obtain another sound card. Intstead, I settled (for now) for a reduced functionality that uses only one soundcard. I use one intercom (they come in pairs) solely as a receiver connected to the computer, and the other becomes my "wireless microphone" (transmitter). I was worried that I was basically installing a mic in my house for the world to listen in on me. Using a scanner I found the transmit frequency (about 910 MHz) and noted that the signal was somewhat "scrambled". I'm sure with the same intercoms or some effort someone could listen in on my day to day activities, but for now it's nice to know that the signal isn't "in the open." I lock the transmit so that it is always "listening" for voice commands, and when they are picked up they go from the "wireless mic" intercom to the receiver intercom, then into the mic input (NOT the line in connector) of the computer. Sounds being output from the computer line out go to a separate set of regular computer speakers but unfortunately do not get rebroadcast back to the other intercom (it can't transmit and receive at the same time anyway). I did tap into the speaker of the "receiver" intercom to get my output audio signal, and it works very well! I was surprised. I'm sure someone may have a better solution, but if you can solder and follow instructions it really isn't that difficult. If anyone is interested I am putting together a step by step on how I did this. While I hesitate to use the word "kludge" to describe this process it works very well, albeit I only have one "microphone", but augmented with remotes it works for me.
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Sorry, I had to make a correction to my account name - apparently my typing skills aren't what they used to be ;D
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I have been experimenting with the Radio Shack intercoms mentioned here.
Yeah... I think a little more trial and error experimenting may be needed to perfect the intercom setups yet... maybe finding the exact brand/model might help.
I set up my BVC using cheap $17 baby monitors (http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=12202.msg67395#msg67395). They've been working great for about two years now. I was out shopping the other day... and saw some really NICE new baby monitors. Ether way.... they are pretty easy to hide away... as they don't need to be close to the user.