Raspberry Pi and Arduino enthusiasts building projects requiring text-to-speech may be interested in a new development board created by InvIoT aptly named TextToSpeech. The development board is capable of supporting multiple languages and voice packs which can be loaded onto an SDcard for easy customisation and updating when required. The word synthesis is done with an SAMD21G18 micro controller, running with an Arduino Zero bootloader.
The text-to-speech board is now available to back via Kickstarter with early bird pages available from just $24 and worldwide shipping expected to take place during September 2019. Watch the demonstration video below to learn more. “Make it simple to add speech to any of your projects. It only takes 3 wires to connect it with an Arduino or a Raspberry. No need to install libraries. By coping a .WAV file on the SD, you can play music, a prerecorded sentence or combine it with word synthesis. “
“You must always power the board with 5v. Text is sent to the board thru USB Serial communication or by UART connection. There is a level shifter so a 5v (Arduino UNO, etc) or a 3.3v (Arduino Zero, Raspberry Pi, etc.) micro controller can be used. Both can work simultaneously. The default serial speed is 9600, but the speed can be changed by editing the file ‘setup.txt’ found in the SD card. In this file you can also change the bit rate (default 22050), the bit resolution (default 8 bits), and the speed of the text (default 100). An error LED is turned on when a word is not found in the SD card. Also there is a test button, so you can hear that the board is working.”
Source: Kickstarter
