So back in the mid-1980’s, I came across the SP0256 Narrator Speech Processor from Radio Shack. The chip was manufactured by General Instruments or more specifically General Instruments Microelectronics. The company had a number of 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers, along with some ROM, EAROM (electrically alterable ROM), and telecommunications chips that were spun into a division called Microchip. Yeah, that Microchip. The variant of the SP0256 I have is the SP0256-AL2 which according to Wikipedia was the most common. If you want more background on the SP0256 checkout Wikipedia.
My original implementation of the design was based on the reference design included in the spec sheet. The board was controlled through software that I had written for the PC and have long since lost the source code. The software used the computer’s parallel printer port to push data to the SP0256. Apparently, the parallel printer port has wained somewhat in popularity over the last few years and I thought it might fun to go back have another look at the design and see if we could “modernize” it.
Project Constraints
The problem with this project is that I have a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. It’s tempting to throw in the proverbial kitchen sink, however, I think I need to set a couple of boundaries before it completely spins out of control. One of these boundaries is to complete the project with only parts I have on hand.
Proposed Features
- Controlled using a microcontroller
- Programmable through the USB port
- volume controlled through microcontroller (programmable)
- Powered by USB
- Sufficient memory to place a “large” amount of “speech”
- Automatic English text to allophone generation (dictionary)
- WiFi chip to pull messages and notifications from external devices (so it can read out things that are happening.. weather, new email notifications, etc)
- Temperature, humidity and barometer sensor that it can pull data.
- 3D Printed Case