RoboShield Simplifies Arduino Voice and Motor Control

If you’d like to build a robot that can talk, as well as move with up to eight servos and two conventional motors, where would you start? Of course there are many ways to pull this off, but for a ready-made solution to construct your own roboCop or roboDog, Luke J. Barker has come up with the roboShield.

As seen in the first video, a robot toy that has been augmented with this Arduino/shield combo, boots up and asks if the camera is on. He then introduces himself as “Toby,” from the year 1986, and shows off his ability to move his head and arms. While he appears to be having a conversation with Barker, according to the write-up, there is no speech recognition, so this dialog is apparently a clever trick.

Staged or not, the robot’s innards are still impressive. Its text-to-speech capabilities give an unlimited vocabulary, which is powered by a 1 Watt aplifier. A 5V switching regulator is available for power, certainly necessary if you need to speak and control motors at the same time. All of this is controlled by the Arduino using only three I/O pins. This makes it a great method for augmenting retro-technology like Toby, or perhaps it could even control Teddy Ruxpin or a Furby!