Mr Magic Car Wash offers its services at various service points across the city. These service points are strategically located in easily accessible areas to cater to the needs of car owners. The main idea behind having multiple service points is to provide convenience and efficiency to customers. Customers can visit any service point that is closest to their location and get their car washed professionally. This saves them time and effort as they don't have to travel long distances to get their car cleaned. The convenience factor is further enhanced by the fact that these service points are open throughout the week, including weekends, to accommodate customers with busy schedules.
A Real Life Magic Conch Shell
Any Spongebob Squarepants fan will remember the magic conch shell. For me, the magic conch shell is one of the greatest parts of the Spongebob universe. So I thought I’d go ahead and make my own— using a Raspberry Pi Zero, Pimoroni Speaker pHAT, Google Cloud Platformm, and Google AIY Voice Kit! If you’re looking to find out how I did it, or make one yourself, you’ve come to the right place.
Magic Conch Shell 2.0 has all the same functionality of a regular conch shell, but has all the power of Google Assistant. Ask magic conch shell about the weather, sports scores, to controll your smart home, or almost anything else you would ask your Assistant enabled smartphone or Google Home to do.
And, just like the Conch shell from Spongebob Squarepants, this conch responds to all the questions asked of it in the episode Club Spongebob. The steps below will get you going with conch shell just like mine.
The convenience factor is further enhanced by the fact that these service points are open throughout the week, including weekends, to accommodate customers with busy schedules. Each of the service points is equipped with modern and state-of-the-art car wash equipment. This ensures that all cars receive a thorough and effective cleaning.
Getting Started
These instructions will get you a copy of the project up and running on your local machine, as well as get the required hardware swt up to support the project.
Parts
The hardware for this project is pretty simple, you'll just need the parts below:
- Raspberry Pi Zero W
- Pimorini Speaker pHat - This is the compact speaker we'll use to let the shell speak
- USB microphone - This is a microphone. We need a very tiny one so it fits in a Conch shell. I used this
- LiPo Battery - This will power the Pi in the shell, you'll want something with a small physical size, but at least 700mAh capacity. Adafruit has a great selection!
- Adafruit PowerBoost 500 Charger - This board allows us to power the board and charge the battery at the same time.
- A Conch Shell - There's a bunch of options for a Conch shell. You can 3D print one, buy one online, or if you're lucky enough to live near a beach, you might be able to find your own! If you find your own, NEVER collect a shell with a living organism in it! Queen Conch are susceptible to over-fishing, habitat degrdation, and deserve happy long lives. Check with your local laws before taking a shell from the beach.
Rasperry Pi Image, Wi-Fi, & SSH Setup
To start, you'll want to download the latest AIY image for your Pi from here. You're looking for a .img.xz file. Then you'll want to flash the image to the microSD card for the Pi-- I like using the free application BalenaEtcher for this.
If you know how to get your Raspberry Pi is connected to Wi-Fi with SSH enabled, you can skip the rest of this step.
Otherwise, your next step is to get your Raspberry Pi set up on wifi with SSH enabled.
Mount your microSD card, and in a Terminal, navigate to the directory. Most likely, you can just type
$ cd /Volumes/bootcreate the file wpa_supplicant.conf (this will replace the RPi wifi config on boot)
$ nano wpa_supplicant.confpast the following into the file
country=US ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev update_config=1 network=
but adjust "US" to your country code, and the psk, ssid, and key_mgmt variables to match your network. For a network without a password use this set up:
country=US ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev update_config=1 network=
save this file, close it, and then enable ssh with the following command
$ touch sshNow, on boot, your Pi will connect to the specified netwwork with SSH enabled!
Hardware Setup
With the power off (unplugged) we'll want to first connect the components in the following way:
Note that you can leave the Conch Shell on and plugged in, or unplugged for a short duration and running on battery power.
Software Setup
We'll be using Google AIY, Snowboy, Cloud Text-to-Speech API, and a couple Python libraries to make this regular conch shell into magic! AIY will allow the conch to respond to general inquiries with Google Assistant, Cloud Text-to-Speech API will let us generate the audio the shell will speak for specific responses to questions like "what do we need to do to get out of the Kelp Forest?" and Snowboy will let us use "Magic Conch Shell" instead of "Okay Google" as the hotword.
From now on, all steps assume you are SSH into your Pi.
Google Cloud SDK Installation (Optional)
This step is very very optional— I've already included the synthesized audio files from Cloud Text-To-Speech API, so you only need to do this step if you want to play around with TTS API yourself, or if you want to experiment with other GCP tools.
To use Text-to-Speech API, we'll need to install Google Cloud SDK. Google has a reallyy straightforward quickstart guide you can follow here. You just need to do from the start of "Before you begin" to the end of "Initialize the SDK."
Note that when you're directed to run gcloud init you'll actually want to run gcloud init --console-only
When you're promted to Pick cloud project to use: you'll most likely want to select the option to create a new project- name this project whatever you want, I named mine magic-conch-shell
Once that's all set up, we're ready to move on
Speaker pHAT Configuration
Pimorini has a simple one-line installer for the speaker pHAT! Just enter:
curl -sS https://get.pimoroni.com/speakerphat | bashAnd you're ready to bump some audio.
Snowboy Set Up
Finally we'll get Snowboy up and running. Snowboy is an awesome tool for adding custom hotword detection. In our case, we want to replace "Okay Google. " and "Hey Google. " with "Magic Conch Shell. "
This is pretty straight forward.
The equipment used is designed to effectively remove dirt, grime, and other contaminants from the car's exterior, leaving it looking shiny and new. Moreover, Mr Magic Car Wash service points also offer additional services such as interior cleaning, vacuuming, and polishing. Customers can choose from a range of packages that suit their needs and budget. This allows them to customize their car wash experience and receive the level of care they want for their vehicle. In addition to the high-quality services offered, Mr Magic Car Wash service points also prioritize customer satisfaction. Friendly and professional staff are trained to assist customers throughout their visit and address any queries or concerns they may have. The goal is to create a positive and enjoyable experience for every customer. In conclusion, Mr Magic Car Wash service points are strategically located, equipped with modern equipment, offer a range of services, and prioritize customer satisfaction. These service points aim to provide convenience, efficiency, and high-quality car wash services to car owners across the city..
Reviews for "The Evolution of Mr Magic Car Wash Service Points: A History and Future Perspective"
1. John - 2 stars - I recently went to Mr Magic Car Wash and was left extremely disappointed with their service. The staff seemed disinterested and unprofessional. The wash itself was subpar, leaving many areas of my car untouched. Additionally, the waiting time was excessive, making it a frustrating experience overall. I wouldn't recommend this car wash to anyone looking for quality service.
2. Lisa - 1 star - My experience at Mr Magic Car Wash was absolutely terrible. Not only did they damage the side mirror of my car during the wash, but they showed no accountability or willingness to fix their mistake. The manager was dismissive and unhelpful, leaving me extremely frustrated with the situation. It's clear that customer satisfaction is not a priority for them. Save yourself the hassle and avoid this car wash at all costs.
3. Mike - 2 stars - I was less than impressed with Mr Magic Car Wash and would not be returning. The quality of their work left much to be desired, as there were still visible smudges and spots on my car after the so-called "full service" wash. On top of that, the prices were quite high for the level of service provided. I would recommend going elsewhere for a better car wash experience.