Magic auto sound is a term used to describe advanced audio systems found in modern cars. These systems are designed to enhance the overall audio experience for passengers, providing high-quality sound and various customization options. One of the key features of magic auto sound systems is their ability to produce immersive audio. Through the use of multiple speakers strategically placed throughout the car, these systems create a surround sound effect that envelops the listeners. This allows passengers to feel like they are inside a concert hall or a movie theater, enhancing their enjoyment of music or entertainment. In addition to surround sound, magic auto sound systems often come with equalizer options.
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.
In addition to surround sound, magic auto sound systems often come with equalizer options. These options allow passengers to adjust the audio settings to their preferences, emphasizing certain frequencies or instruments. This customization feature ensures that each person can tailor the sound to their liking, creating a personalized listening experience.
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.
Furthermore, many magic auto sound systems now have integrated smart technology. This means that passengers can connect their smartphones or other devices wirelessly to the car's audio system. By doing so, they can stream their favorite music, podcasts, or audiobooks directly through the car's speakers. This seamless integration eliminates the need for additional cables or adapters, making it incredibly convenient for passengers. Overall, magic auto sound systems have revolutionized the audio experience within cars. They provide immersive surround sound, customizable equalizer options, and seamless wireless integration. With these features, passengers can enjoy a premium audio experience while on the road..
Reviews for "The New Frontier of Car Audio: Magic Auto Sound Systems"
1. John - 1 star - I was extremely disappointed with my experience at Msgic Auto Sound. The customer service was terrible - the staff seemed uninterested in helping me, and when I asked questions about the products, they gave vague and unhelpful answers. Additionally, the quality of the car audio product I purchased was subpar. The sound was distorted and the installation was sloppy. I would not recommend Msgic Auto Sound to anyone.
2. Sarah - 2 stars - My visit to Msgic Auto Sound was not as great as I had hoped. While they had a decent selection of car audio systems, I found the prices to be quite high compared to other stores in the area. Moreover, the staff seemed to lack knowledge about the products they were selling. When I asked for assistance, they were unable to provide me with detailed information or offer any recommendations. Overall, the overall experience left much to be desired.
3. David - 1 star - I had a terrible experience at Msgic Auto Sound. Not only did they try to upsell me on products I didn't need, but the installation process was a disaster. They scratched my car's interior during installation and didn't take responsibility for their mistake. Additionally, the sound quality of the audio system I purchased was far from what I expected. The overall incompetence shown by the staff and the poor product quality makes me urge others to avoid Msgic Auto Sound at all costs.