Over the summer season, Pixar launched its newest movie: Elio. By Pixar requirements, the viewers and significant reception have been fairly mediocre. However the theatrical launch did comprise a post-credit scene that’s fashionable on social media. That scene reveals a lizard urgent the button for a lizard emoji on a smartphone. Over and time and again, with the telephone saying “lizard” every time. It needs to be annoying, however it’s one way or the other charming — in all probability as a result of the lizard has such a cheerful expression on its face. Glen Akins needed to really feel that pleasure for himself, so he constructed this single-purpose soundboard.
A typical soundboard incorporates an entire array of buttons to set off the playback of pre-recorded sound samples, which is beneficial for podcasters and radio hosts that must reuse audio clips regularly. This works like that, besides it solely has a single button and one sound pattern: “lizard.” By urgent the button repeatedly, Akins can stay the expertise of the lizard from Elio. We’re certain that everybody round Akins appreciates that, too.
It is a actually easy construct that solely requires a handful of parts. The primary is an Adafruit QT Py RP2040 growth board, which may be very small. The second is an Adafruit Audio BFF, which is an audio board that matches the scale of the QT Py. It has a microSD card slot for audio samples, a built-in DAC, and an amplifier. The 2 boards join collectively via header pins for straightforward meeting. The one different digital parts are a giant button and a small speaker.
These match right into a easy 3D-printed enclosure with a speaker grill and the button positioned prominently on prime, the place it’s straightforward to entry in emergency situations.
The code, programmed in CircuitPython, can be quite simple. It simply waits for a button press after which triggers the playback of a random audio file on the microSD card. When the one audio file current is “lizard,” that’s all that can play. However one might add extra samples if that turns into just a little too monotonous. With some button debouncing and the flexibility to start out the playback of a brand new pattern earlier than the present pattern finishes, Akins was finished with the programming.
We advise utilizing the undertaking information offered by Akins to construct certainly one of these for a niece or nephew. Their mother and father are certain to thanks!
