DIY Sound Generator for model boat is working!

[Trevortheweather]

Thought I’d share with you my recent attempt at getting some sound effects onto my model boat. After researching the available sound generation systems and finding they don’t exist or are rather expensive I thought I’d try to cobble together something from the kit I had lying around the house.

The core of my DIY sound generator is an MP3 player which I use to store sounds I have downloaded from the internet. A ready source of sounds from boats, planes, cars, etc is the www.YouTube.com site (using the search facility will normally find an example of what you want in a few seconds).

The other part of my sound generator is the X-mini capsule speaker which despite its small size delivers a big sound with lots of bass and is as far away from tinny as you can get. The X-mini comes with a USB connector (for recharging purposes) and a normal earpiece size connector to link to the MP3 player. A picture of the above items is shown in the attachment below

Any MP3 player could be used in this set-up as they are normally battery driven and all have an earpiece socket and volume adjustment and are very cheap to buy these days. The X-mini capsule speaker costs £13.99 at the cheapest internet outlet I could find but I can thoroughly recommend it for both model and leisure use.

The only slightly techie part of the set-up was using some software to convert the YouTube video files into MP3 sound files. Luckily this software is available FREE and in a very easy to use form from

http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/products/dvd/Free-YouTube-to-MP3-Converter.htm . You might also need to edit the created MP3 file to get rid of unwanted sounds or gaps so that when you play the track on the MP3 player (with track repeat/loop set) it sounds continuous and not jumpy. I used the Nero Wave Editor software to tidy my soundtrack but there are many other programs (mostly free) which can be used too.

To re-cap the steps to set up and run the sound generator are :-

1. Purchase or scrounge an MP3 player & X-mini capsule speaker

2. Ensure devices are charged up and ready to go

3. Download and install the free software from dvdvideosoft.com to your PC (see above link)

4. Search the You-Tube.com website for videos containing the right sound you are after

5. Run the software and input the URL address of the YouTube video you wish to convert to an MP3 sound track file

6. Edit the MP3 soundtrack to remove superfluous background noises and make the track repeatable

7. Download the final sound track to your MP3 player

8. Connect the MP3 player to the X-mini capsule speaker

9. Place the speaker and player inside your model (as close to the expected source as possible) and play the sound track

10. Scale the volume by ear outdoors

11. Set the MP3 player to repeat the sound track



I am now using this DIY sound generator in my Classic Runabout speedboat model with the sound of an original full-size boat engine idling as I figured you’d only really be able to hear the speaker when the boat is running at low speed or still in the water anyway. It sounds amazing so I am very chuffed to have ended up with a working system and not had to spend anything in the process.

Obvious limitations to this system over tailor made solutions are a) no automatic change to sound on acceleration, b) no servo link to change sound being played c) no simultaneous sound capability. Will be working to resolve these limitations in due course but for now I’m just content to have some authentic noise coming from my model.

Hope you found this thread interesting and would love to hear what other people have been up to in this subject area.

Trevor



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[Bunkerbarge]

What an interesting first post, many thanks for that and welcome to the forum Trevor. Using an MP3 player opens up all sorts of possibilities such as longer recordings of relevent music. How about a U-boat coming into harbour playing the German National anthem?

I look forward to seeing what else you have been playing with and how you fit them into your models.

 

[Trevortheweather]

Glad you liked it

What an interesting first post, many thanks for that and welcome to the forum Trevor. Using an MP3 player opens up all sorts of possibilities such as longer recordings of relevent music. How about a U-boat coming into harbour playing the German National anthem?I look forward to seeing what else you have been playing with and how you fit them into your models.

Thanks BB glad you liked it and i'll keep you posted on developments on the sound generator. Must admit I do like to mess around with video too and have put a live action camera into a model glider already and want to put one into a boat or submarine soon. Particularly interested in FPV (First Person Video) which puts you into the pilot or captains seat literally but still got a long way to catch up with the guys at FPV Video Pilot Home Page who are really pioneering. All the best.

 

[afb]

New on here - I composed a long reply, pressed the button and it wanted me to register (but I was already logged on!) lost the lot! This is now a test, if it *does*post this time, I'll compose the reply again, if not goodbye!

 

[afb]

Hi Trevor

Like you I've travelled the on-board mp3 player route - using it to make a continuous engine tickover sound - and like you I've wished that its speed were linked to throttle demand.

So, I've had a go at making my own sound unit. Whilst a synthesized engine sound can never compete with recordings of the real thing, nevertheless I think I have captured the 'spirit' of the engine sound.

Reaction from my (boat) club members and other modelling pals has been very positive - so much so that I've conned a local shop (from whom I buy my electronic components) into making up a kit for it so like-minded enthusiasts can build their own.

You can read my article about it and hear sound samples of the unit in operation on our club website - Solent Radio Control Model Boat Club srcmbc.org.uk (link below)

versatile marine engine sound unit

The kit is available from

Technobots Ltd Marine Engine Sound Unit Kit

It costs £8, which is a lot less than some of the commercial offerings I've found on my researches. I don't get a penny of that, I'm merely putting something back into the collective 'pot' from which I've drawn since taking up boat modelling (Autumn 07). You don't even have to buy the kit, I've published all the hardware and software info in my article.

The design is such that (by tweaking software values - clearly identified in the code) you can alter the character of the engine(s) more to your liking.

Check it out and let me know what you think

BUT I'M NOT FINISHED WITH MP3 PLAYERS YET . . . . . . .

My next project is to prepare an MP3 file to play which contains eg a tug-horn sound plus a short silence. Now set the player in 'repeat mode' and start it up. At this stage, you would have repeated 'honks' ad infinitum.

Next an R/C switch is used to detect your commands for honk or silence and it switches the speaker on or off as required (as we can't stop/start the player itself). Whilst you may be skilled enough to switch off during the short pauses between honks, some time later when you command another honk, the player could be anywhere in the file so you might only get half the sound.

It is easy to make a circuit to detect the silence between sounds, so the cunning idea is that when you command 'honk', a latch circuit will store your intention to honk, but it waits until the silence is detected before enabling the speaker (so you get the next whole honk). The short silence that follows the honk then disables the speaker.

OK, the short but random delay between your command and the emitted sound is less than ideal, but the effect perceived by spectators would be normal.

Again, any feedback on this idea would be welcome

Best wishes

Alan

 

[Trevortheweather]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for you reply and interest in my post I shall certainly check out your kit as it sounds like a very good way of cracking the problem. My line of thinking for the sound effect is now becoming slightly more radical involving introducing a new form of radio control as well !

With the increased use of wi-fi at home and with laptops getting cheaper each day I was thinking why don't we combine the technology and really make a difference by having a small PC or Mobile on the boat controlling servos to steer the boat as well as managing sound production and amplification all under the control of the master control program being run on a laptop linked by wi-fi from the shore.

I shall let you all know if I get this idea off the ground but in the meantime you might like to checkout a video of one of my boats with a Flycamone2 on board . Regards

 

[afb]

Hi Alan,Thanks for you reply and interest in my post I shall certainly check out your kit as it sounds like a very good way of cracking the problem. My line of thinking for the sound effect is now becoming slightly more radical involving introducing a new form of radio control as well !

With the increased use of wi-fi at home and with laptops getting cheaper each day I was thinking why don't we combine the technology and really make a difference by having a small PC or Mobile on the boat controlling servos to steer the boat as well as managing sound production and amplification all under the control of the master control program being run on a laptop linked by wi-fi from the shore.

I shall let you all know if I get this idea off the ground but in the meantime you might like to checkout a video of one of my boats with a Flycamone2 on board . Regards

Hi Trevor

Sinking a £10 mp3 player is one thing, losing a notepad or similar just doesn't bear thinking about! So that route is not for me, but I applaud your vision and courage. My interest *would* however stretch to attaching a camera - it's been fun on a friend's garden railway - your video is really very good indeed.

The computer link idea gives you *lots* of channels I suppose with the option to design your own control screen so that the (mouse) controls are not interactive like they (unintentionally) tend to be on a 4/6 channel (joystick'd) TX. Also you can store and easily access lots of mp3's - though for the latter task you can buy mp3 player modules with I2C bus control so you can do all that by a £5 micro-controller rather than a fully-fledged PC.

Were you also thinking of using the processing power for autonomous operation (eg collision avoidance via ultasonic ranging?) . . . . now I'm getting silly!

Best regards

Alan

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I am watching your communications with interest gents and am looking forward to seeing what will be the products of these experiments.

I have a few JJC "Sounds Amazing" units as well as a fishing boat with a very effective Graupner unit controlled from a single channel that includes speed dependant diesel engine sound with false start capabilities and stop/start as required, horn, bell and even seagulls. From a single channel that is quite impresive.

However just a couple of point to consider in your thinking:

1) Many boats nowadays contain sophisticated electronics to a value of well above that of a cheap laptop, my own steamer contains a steam plant at a value of over a thousand pounds, so the cost of processors is not as extreme as it may initially sound.

2) There is a very small model tug in my club that produces an absolutely superb diesel engine sound which follows the engine speed better than any electronic device could and it is produced by nothing more than an out of alignement gearbox. The point is keep it simple and don't loose sight of the easy ways to do things rather than sophisticated and expensive electronics that don't even do the job as well. In this months Marine Modelling International Magazine there is a purely mechanical device for generating an engine noise wich runs off a rotating servo.

When I was a kid it was a popular thing to do to put playing cards on your forks with a clothes peg that 'rattled' on the spokes as your wheel rotated. Simple and effective.

Keep the ideas coming though but don't forget the attractions of simplicity.

 

[afb]

I am watching your communications with interest gents and am looking forward to seeing what will be the products of these experiments.I have a few JJC "Sounds Amazing" units as well as a fishing boat with a very effective Graupner unit controlled from a single channel that includes speed dependant diesel engine sound with false start capabilities and stop/start as required, horn, bell and even seagulls. From a single channel that is quite impresive.

However just a couple of point to consider in your thinking:

1) Many boats nowadays contain sophisticated electronics to a value of well above that of a cheap laptop, my own steamer contains a steam plant at a value of over a thousand pounds, so the cost of processors is not as extreme as it may initially sound.

2) There is a very small model tug in my club that produces an absolutely superb diesel engine sound which follows the engine speed better than any electronic device could and it is produced by nothing more than an out of alignement gearbox. The point is keep it simple and don't loose sight of the easy ways to do things rather than sophisticated and expensive electronics that don't even do the job as well. In this months Marine Modelling International Magazine there is a purely mechanical device for generating an engine noise wich runs off a rotating servo.

When I was a kid it was a popular thing to do to put playing cards on your forks with a clothes peg that 'rattled' on the spokes as your wheel rotated. Simple and effective.

Keep the ideas coming though but don't forget the attractions of simplicity.

Hi Bunk

Thank you for your input. I take your point about the value of some models being very high. I suppose when I tot up the total cost of the sort of really basic models I make, ready to use (less TX) they exceed the £100 mark, but the cost of all the individual parts don't sound frightening in themselves.

Also, I'm mainly into fast boats, so risk of damage/sinking is much higher - though of course that sort of boat doesn't really merit carrying a plethora of expensive special effects anyway. My sound unit/speaker is easily fitted/removed so high speed performance is not compromised, but I can still have a bit of fun chugging around being thoroughly noisy.

Yes, one of our club members had a good engine sound caused by a knocking coupling, so I know where you are coming from. (I always used a discarded cigarette packet on my bicycle spokes by the way)

Here is a pic of my (unfinished) Huntsman - still awaiting a ply deck and cabin top etc - but once it was functional I got more interested in knocking up electronic gizmos than actually finishing it. One day . . . . .

Best wishes

Alan

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[Trevortheweather]

Hi again, Thanks for the comments BB & Alan and glad you liked the video. I appreciate what you say about the cost and simplicity of any solution but as you may have gathered I'm into experimentation and stretching the current boundaries (even got myself on TV once for an invention of mine but that's another ongoing story).

I'm not planning on sinking any PCs (unless they're in a submarine of course) but I strongly believe we will see more simple and 'cheap' wi-fi oriented devices on the market soon and we could adapt these for our modelling uses. In the meantime I shall plug away with my ideas and keep you posted on any progress I make and I'd be interested to hear from others about ideas they have.

All the best

 

[afb]

Hi Trevor

I spotted these telemetry modules that might be a way forward for you

Technobots Ltd Wireless Communications

Nail one of them one a shore-bound PC and the other goes in your boat and talks to a £5 PICAXE chip attached to your servos, ESC, sound unit etc - send huge amounts of controlling data, play sounds from direct from your PC even and equally read back data from the boat like battery condition, GPS position (?) which you plot in real time . . . . . . . . . but so much to do and so little time

Alan

 

[Trevortheweather]

Nice one Alan,

I had actually got this site in my favourites but not searched it thoroughly yet but certainly looks promising because as you say all the potential functionality required is there.

However, to save expense in these hard times I think my next venture is likely to be into FPV (first person video) as I already have all the equipment needed to experiment with it i.e. video glasses, miniature camera + transmitter. Now need to find a suitable boat to put them in so probably a nice tug would be good.

Have used it in a plane before with limited success as the camera used was not a good quality one but have upgraded that and the TX recently so will post the results on YouTube when I get there.

Probably need to start a new thread for these new topics any suggestions Alan or BB as to which one we use?

Best Regards