Hello Backers!

Since our last update, we have made progress in several departments. Let’s get started!

Main PCB Assembly

Components for Voder’s main board arrived this week! We promptly put together a functional prototype by carefully soldering them into place onto the PCB. Check out pictures of a completed board below.

A prototype heading into the SMT reflow oven.

Final assembly of the prototype with the LED PCB.

Audio Tests Continue

As highlighted in the last update, we had finished testing 3D printed forms over the mics of a C.H.I.P. Pro Dev Kit. The purpose of those tests was to answer the questions of mic placement and the level of noise interference during recording. The results pointed to an upward facing mic position on the main board, as you can see pictured above.

Nailing down the mic placement led us to a new design of the enclosure. This iteration features two openings on the top, each with a channel reaching down and covering their respective mics. Check out pictures of these details below.

When we hit the road to test how well the mics worked while enclosed in this new design, the recordings were clear and uninhibited.

Voder FAQ

Will Alexa voice recognition and skills work?

Yes. We are currently working on an Alexa Demo.

Still red LEDs?

Yes, we are sticking with red LED matrices.

Will Voder continue to support Alexa, Spotify, Google Play Music, and NPR One out of the box?

Voder will support Alexa which includes control over the Spotify app. With Voder’s new scope we are currently not supporting Google Play or NPR One.

Ask Google Anything

The office has been filled with pun-heavy jokes this past week. This is due to our software team finishing a Google Assistant demo and then finding out that Google has nothing but punny jokes to share.

This demo is open to the public and ready to use! You can find all the source files in our Github account. If you have a C.H.I.P. Pro Dev Kit, you can start using it now by downloading the .chp file here and copying it to your Dev Kit using our web flasher. If you don't want to download the .chp, we've built the image into our flasher too.

The demo is automated so, as soon as the device is flashed and restarted audio instructions will guide you through a one-time setup. All you need is a pair of headphones or a speaker and the WiFi antenna connected to the Dev Kit. Once done with setup, you will have the power of Google’s API at your fingertips and all the cheesy jokes your heart desires.

Before going, we would like to share a couple of our favorites.