Voice-activated paper towel dispenser
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Made by It's a Feature:
3megabytesofhotRAM: https://3megabytesofhotram.github.io/blog/
BrainHu42: https://github.com/BrainHu42
Nika Chuzhoy: https://github.com/nika-chuzhoy/
We're also the team behind Audiomatic, an app for automated video dubbed translation: https://www.audiomatic.app/
DISPENSE TOWEL!
The code for the "dispense towel" wakeword recognition is available here: https://github.com/BrainHu42/spencer-the-dispenser
The amount of towel dispensed is volume-adjusted.
We have successfully trolled someone!
Video demo here: https://vimeo.com/1063915896/1a0645efcb
We've finished the project, though we're still working on some optimizations to prevent the pulleys from getting stuck. The STL files for our 3D printed parts (pulleys, blue/grey core adapter, and motor mount) have been posted to Hackaday. Here's the editable Onshape file for the pulleys: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/380de83321b66506218ea3fa/w/c4c5e723950741839b369f04/e/5c50764f8d3d2605ba21e744
We'll also post the TinkerCAD links for the 3D parts soon.
While working on mounting our motor in the paper towel dispenser body, we decided it would make the most sense to connect it using a belt and pulleys. This prevents us from having to drill into the paper towel dispenser's plastic axle to fit the motor.
We got this belt from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098QH4MW3
and are using this design as the base for our pulleys:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/cf7b858fb3c2f64bb9c06e22/
We're going to 3D print the gears and some of the required components for adapting it.
We've made good progress developing the components of our project. Here's the inside of the paper towel dispenser unit:
In the meantime, we've gotten speech detection software loaded onto our Pi that responds to the command "dispense towel." It uses Picovoice's wake word detection algorithm, and is available at: https://github.com/BrainHu42/spencer-the-dispenser
The paper towels we have readily available (Scott grey core) aren't compatible with the paper towel dispenser unit we were able to get (blue core), so we're going to 3D print an adapter.
We've gotten controls for a test motor & motor driver to work.
We've ordered all the core components for this project. We'll be testing out the motor controls soon!
SSH into your Raspberry Pi and load the "Dispense Towel" detection code at https://github.com/BrainHu42/spencer-the-dispenser. Attach your microphone to the Raspberry Pi and test that the wake word is being detected.
Using your driver module, link the motor controls to the Raspberry Pi's wake word detection output. The wake word should now trigger motor rotation.
Open your paper towel dispenser body. On the side of the dispenser axis opposite to the manual control handle, there is a nub that should fit the indent of the smaller pulley should fit perfectly. You will need to remove some springs. Refer to logs for pictures.
Finally, mount the motor in the motor holder, the larger pulley on the motor, and the belt between the pulleys. Refer to logs for pictures. (We don't have a picture of the new motor mount).
3megabytesofhotram
We expect to do a few revisions after the first print, but we're optimistic about the approach.
Justin Kenny
Mike Maluk
Xylitol