How does it work?
Text To Speech Click is based on the S1V30120, a speech synthesis IC powered by the Fonix DECtalk® v5 engine from Epson. Speech synthesis is the production of the human voice from a non-human object and can be software or hardware type. The Text To Speech Click is a hardware solution. The S1V30120 contains all the required analog codecs, memory, and Epson-supplied embedded algorithms. Because of the initialization data that should be uploaded to this Click board™ on power-up, the host MCU should have at least 45KB of Flash memory. The Fonix DECtalk® v5 speech synthesizer engine is one of the most intelligible TTS (text-to-speech) synthesizers, with the most natural sounding voice, as a multi-language synthesizer. The S1V30120 also has Audio reproduction capabilities (ADPCM decoding), with audio reproduction bit rates of 80kbps, 48kbps, 40kbps, 32kbps, 24kbps, and with a sampling rate of 16,8 kHz.
The Text To Speech Click features a 3.5mm audio jack for connecting an active external speaker. The LM386, a low-voltage audio power amplifier from Texas Instruments, is used to amplify the sound toward the audio jack. In addition, as a 3.3V and 5V board, this Click board™ features the TXB0106, a 6-bit bidirectional level-shifting and voltage translator with auto-direction sensing and ±15-kV ESD protection from Texas Instruments. This TXB1016 makes the development of applications safe on any MCU regardless of supported power supplies.
The Speech To Text Click uses a standard 4-wire SPI serial interface to communicate with the MCU over the mikroBUS™ socket. In addition, this Click board™ features a few other functionalities, such as an RST pin to reset the S1V30120 and MUT, which will disable the LM386, thus the audio output. The RDY pin will send the interrupt signal to the host MCU when the S1V30120 is ready.
This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the I/O SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.
Specifications
Type
Speakers
Applications
Can be used for the development of the talking robots, text to speech and speech processing applications for embedded systems and portable devices
On-board modules
S1V30120 – speech synthesis IC powered by the Fonix DECtalk® v5 engine from Epson
Key Features
Fonix DECtalk® v5 fully parametric speech synthesis, US English, Castilian Spanish or Latin American Spanish language in nine predefined voices, control over the quality, pitch and intonation of the synthesized speech, and more
Interface
GPIO,SPI
Feature
No ClickID
Compatibility
mikroBUS™
Click board size
L (57.15 x 25.4 mm)
Input Voltage
3.3V or 5V
Pinout diagram
This table shows how the pinout on TextToSpeech Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).
Onboard settings and indicators
Label | Name | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|
– | PWR | – | Power LED Indicator |
– | I/O SEL | Left | Logic Level Voltage Selection 3V3/5V: Left position 3V3, Right position 5V |
TextToSpeech Click electrical specifications
Description | Min | Typ | Max | Unit |
---|---|---|---|---|
Supply Voltage | 3.3 | – | 5 | V |
Reproduction Bitrates | 24 | – | 80 | Kbps |
Audio Sampling Rate | – | 16.8 | – | KHz |
Text To Speech Sampling Rate | – | 11.025 | – | KHz |