Operating Alex

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The controls for Alex are shown in photo-80, starting from the left-hand side of the board these are:-

• Remote
  The screw terminal connector labelled Remote. Making a connection between these two terminals acts like pressing the Play key, (they are wired in parallel) This allows Alex to be started by remote switches and pressure-pads etc.
• Play key
  The blue Play key starts Alex playing a recorded performance and also turns on the blue LEDs in the eyes both in immediate mode and when recording.
  If channels S1 to S4 are selected then the Play key controls the digital channels. Otherwise the Play key starts a performance.
• Slide-switch - Loop
  At the top the slide-switch marked Loop. If this is in the N position then Alex will play a recorded performance once and then stop.
  It must be in the N position to allow recording.
  If this is in the Y position then at the end of a performance Alex will wait for a time depending on the setting of the Position control and then play the performance again and again ... and again ......
• Slide-switch - Auto
  The other slide-switch is marked Auto and if it is set to position Y then as soon as power is connected Alex will start to play any recorded performance.
• Jumper
  In between the Play and Record keys is a Jumper which can be put in two positions E and D. The E position Enables recording and the D position Disables recording.
• Record key
  The Record key must be pressed and held down during a recording. Recorded sound and moves will be remembered whilst the power is off. If the Record key is held down at power-on then any recorded moves will be erased which will take about eight seconds. Recorded speech will not be erased. Recording a new message automatically erases the old message.
  Recording on Servo channel-1 or the Sound channel will set the maximum recording time for the other channels.
• Mic
  The microphone.
• Next key
  The Next key changes the current channel. The current channel will be indicated by the LEDs.
• Green LEDs
  The green LEDs indicate the current channel and, whilst recording, the elapsed time.
  • S - Sound channel
  • 1 - Servo channel 1 - usually the mouth is connected to channel 1
  • 2 - Servo channel 2 - usually the mouth is connected to channel 2
  • 3 - Servo channel 3 - usually the head nod servo is connected to channel 3
  • 4 - Servo channel 4 - usually the base rotate servo is connected to channel 4
  • S+1 - digital output channel 1 - usually eye 1 or left
  • S+2 - digital output channel 2 - usually eye 2 or right
  • S+3 - digital output channel 3
  • S+4 - digital output channel 4
• Red LED
  The Red LED indicates sound Recording is in progress.
• Position control
  The Position control as you have seen controls the position of the servos and the delay between performances in loop-play mode. Fully anticlockwise is the minimum delay of 0 seconds and fully clockwise is about 65 seconds. The control is only read at the end of a performance so turning it whilst Alex is pausing will have no effect until the end of the next performance. (If you can't wait 65 seconds pull out the plug.)
  If the Sound channel or digital channels are selected the Position control is inoperative.

Using the Animate-card it is possible to record eight separate control tracks, four of which control the servo position using the Position control, and four tracks of digital commands, two of which control the eyes and two of which are spare.
For a new performance the old moves should be erased by applying power with the record key held down. (see above)
The sound should be recorded first to avoid the noise from the servos.
The mouth movements on channel-1 should be recorded next, recording on channel-1 or the Sound channel sets the recording time to maximum. The length of a performance may be shortened by making shorter recordings on the other channels. The only way to lengthen a recording is to go back and re-record on channel-1 or the Sound channel.
If channel S is selected then pressing the Record key will initiate the recording of sound using the on-card microphone. Recording on channels-1 or S sets the recording time its maximum. If channels 1 - 4 are selected then after pressing the Record key, moves controlled by the Position control will be recorded on the current channel. When recording on channel-1, the recording will end when the Record key is released or the end of memory is reached whichever is soonest. The maximum length of a recording on channels 2 -4 is set by the length of the recording on channel 1. If the Record key is released early then it will mark the new end of recording. Each of the channels 2 to 4 may shorten the recording. The only way to lengthen a recording is to go back and re-record on channels 1 or S.

Examples

1. A Short recording
• Select channel 1 by pressing NEXT-channel-key until servo 1 LED is lit.
• Press and hold RECORD-key.
• Wiggle Move-position-control for 4 seconds.
  Servo 1 will move depending on position of MOVE-position-control.
  Other Servos will move following moves previously recorded.
• Release RECORD-key at the end of the 4 seconds to end recording.
• Select channel 2.
• Press and hold RECORD-key.
• Wiggle MOVE-position-control.
  The recording will end automatically after 4 seconds.
• Release RECORD-key.
• Select channel 3 etc.

2. A Full-Length recording

• Select channel 1 using the NEXT-channel-key.
• Press and hold RECORD-key.
• Wiggle MOVE-position-control.
  Servo 1 will move depending on position of MOVE-position-control.
  Other Servos will move following moves previously recorded.
  Recording will end when memory is full.
• Release RECORD-key.
• Select channel 2.
• Press and hold RECORD-key.
• Wiggle MOVE-position-control.
  Recording will end when memory is full.
• Release RECORD-key.
• Select channel 3
• etc.

For detailed instructions see the leaflet for the Animate-Card.

Remember there is an Eye-jumper at the back of the board which controls the operation of the eye LEDs.