So you're a Noob? Post your questions here until you graduate! Don't be shy.

User avatar
By bob21
#86542 Hi All!

I hope everyone is well under this current climate!

I have recently been asked by my daughter for a doorbell for her 'princess castle'. Problem is - it's got to have custom 'sparkly' tone. So that's all of the junk on eBay and Amazon out then. My first thought was play the sound via Alexa - but this is easier said than done and only TTS is really an option as it looks like Amazon limit where the Echo can play a file from. I don't want to use Spotify sounds etc so I thought of an ESP. It will be hooked up to Home Assistant and triggered with a zigbee button of some kind. I have very limited knowledge of ESP boards, but it looks like this touches on the kind of thing I would like to achieve: https://youtu.be/3bC9B00c_XI

But with the following differences:

1. The unit is not stand alone, it will be hooked up to and called from home assistant
2. The unit would have one sound (but be changeable when one tone gets boring)
3. Not as many 'local' buttons

So I guess the first question is: is this possible?

If so, the 2nd question is: Where do I start?!

Obviously I will need:

1. ESP8266
2. LM386? Or?
3. Laptop Speaker
4. Small button - for local testing of sound / fun?
5. Small ABS box and PSU (Obviously)

And that' pretty much where I've got to in this thought process :lol:

Any help / pointers / input would be greatly appreciated and would make a small bored child in isolation very happy!

Best wishes to all! :)
User avatar
By btidey
#86566 https://github.com/earlephilhower/ESP8266Audio

is a set of libraries for playing audio files of different formats on an ESP module. You could store different mp3 files on the SPIFFS filing system on the ESP and play them back triggered by different wifi mechanisms.

There are references to a few different projects using this method there.

For moderate quality you can use the AudioOutputI2SNoDAC output method which can drive a speaker via a transistor mosfet without needing a DAC.
User avatar
By bob21
#86571 Thanks both for the links and suggestions. I am looking for a WiFi enabled solution so it can be plugged in and triggered from a smart button. Looking at the git for that audio library, I found something that I think is just the ticket - the ESParkle project. I already have an MQTT broker running so this will tie in nicely.

I have ordered some components and will see how I go.. I may have to post again if I come unstuck. :-)