Category Archives: Matt_Curry

Jasper Kits on hold…

These were for the community, and I have enjoyed designing and building these kits.  However, I am at a point now, where I do not have the time to properly maintain and build and ship them.  This is not necessarily a permanent decision, I may bring them back in the future given I have the time.

That being said, I do have a few left.  If you are interested please let me know now.  I will get an exact count soon, and update it here.  Once they are gone, I will not be building more.

With all that being said, I am still here to help with questions.  I am also still developing what I hope is a better user experience with my images.  (Version 1.6 out soon!)

If you have any questions; or would like one of the last kits, I would suggest speaking up now.  Not that I will disappear, but I will be unable to spend the time on them for a while starting soon.

I also wanted to say thank you again to the community members that are helping each other, and the new guys.  I do notice, and it is appreciated.

-M

Jasper Image V1.6 – Release Date!

I have recently had a large number of people wanting to know the exact release date for the v1.6 image. I will release it without the installer, and release the installer separately so it can be used on images that are not mine.

  • Release Date:
    February 15, 2017

I would highly suggest that if there is annoyance; or fix for the next release that it be reported ASAP to the room in our SLACK.

 

Thanks for your patience,

Matthew Curry

Google Disables Hangouts API…breaking many services.

I have seen much FUD around this, and I wanted to clarify so people are aware what Google’s Intentions are for Hangouts.  As I am a heavy user of the product, I was very surprised to see this.  It appears that Google will still keep Hangouts around, but for the ‘normal’ user demographic only.  They will be disabling their API on April 25.  This however, should not be a complete surprise.  Google has made it clear that with the arrival of their new products Allo and Duo that they are switching to an enterprise vision for many of their products.  However, they will NOT BE REMOVING IT COMPLETELY, as mentioned in the linked engadget.com article.

What does this mean for you? The ‘End User’, if just using the services at face value may not even see a difference.  However, services and sites that use the integration features will likely be affected.  They (google) have allowed for an exception, and that is if they site/service qualifies as an “Enterprise Communication Tool”, slack for example.  There won’t be many of those I expect.

Basically it comes down to this, they are ending the Hangouts API integration (publicly) on April 25th.

 

Hope that helps,

Matthew Curry

Jasper Image v1.6 – Coming Soon!

There are already several improvements to the image, and I have put out feelers for any fixes/updates/etc that I can do to make the user experience better.  I already have a few of the obvious ones, however please feel free to report them in the new slack room “image-v1-6”, or in the Forums at the following LINK.

I am already working on it being pre-installed in the future with a REST api on it.  Making it easy to integrate with anything!

I will be posting the release notes with the new updates with the new image, and here as a post.  So please keep an eye out.

 

Thanks,
Matt

Pre-Built Jasper Kits, Ready to go out of the box!

These kits will arrive and be ready to use the moment you power them up. They will be customized to the user, and an image will be provided so they can restore any time they like.

They will include the following:

  • RPI3 B+
  • 32GB Class 10 SD Card
  • US Robotics 9610 [USB Speaker/Mic]
  • Customized/Installed/Setup of Jasper by me personally
    • Install of Jasper and all dependencies
    • STT Setup
    • TTS Setup
  • Testing
    • Running overnight
    • With your settings if you wish
  • Copy of your personalized image for backup
    • In case you wish to restore to a “Known Good” state
  • Updates
    • Such as customized integrations and modules provided by me.
    • Updated Installer / Setup script COMING SOON.

If you are interested in one of these kits, feel free to contact me or start the process by purchasing one below:




New Community TTS Server! – Thanks Mycroft.ai!

It has been a little while; but the guys and gals at Mycroft.ai helped us (The Jasper Project) with a donated TTS (Text to Speech) server.  This has helped many of our users to get their projects working virtually out of the box.  Keep in mind Mycroft.ai does almost the same thing. We would almost be a competitor.  However, I do not see it that way.  We are open source and here to help each other out.

 

Thank you again to the guys at Mycroft.ai!

To those not familiar with them; here is a link to their Indigogo campaign.

Jasper Images Updated version 1.4 (aka Revision 4)

They are updating now; this includes a few fixes and features.

 

  • Jasper Tools Cron Installed (keeps them updated)
  • TTS Server Setup Out of the box!
  • STT Setup Out of the Box! (Just add key in profile.yml)
  • Jasper Start at Boot Cron Installed (allows for Jasper to start at boot)
  • Tested with several different variations of USB devices
    • USB Mic /Speaker Combinations
  • A ‘paired’ installer will be released soon!
    • This will allow the user to answer a few simple questions and have it running in seconds.

I apologize for the delays recently, I have had some personal issues come up.

NAOMI gets an Upgrade… A head…

NAOMI-HEAD

 

Hardware Shown:

  • High Resolution Raspberry PI Camera
    • Eventually I would like to try stereoscopic vision
  • PIR Motion Sensor
    • Used to ‘Wake’ NAOMI to motion in the room.
  • UltraSonic Range Sensor
    • She will track any motion
    • Once an Object/Person/Face is being tracked the Range Sensor will take measurement readings.
  • PWM HAT
    • Used to remove ‘Jitter’, and allow for other Servos
    • May try an “Arm”
  • Server Mount Allowing Pan/Tilt

N.A.O.M.I – v1 Build

This is the latest revision of NAOMI

Keep in mind, I am working to make this easily built with off-shelf (preferably cheap) parts.

Currently Running:

  • RPI2
  • Bluetooth Adapter
  • Pico Router (2″ Square)
    • Allows for Network Bridging (AKA Borrowing Wifi)
  • Wifi Adapter
  • USB Speakerphone
  • Camera (x2)
    • One IP
    • One USB (Can’t See it in Pic)
  • Zwave Home Automation Controller (usb)

Integrations (Currently In Use):

  • Jasper Framework
    • Evernote
    • Twitter
    • Wolfram Alpha
    • Facebook (Tested)
    • Gmail Notifier
  • Home-Assistant.io (testing)
    • Shows when people or devices leave or come on to the network.
    • Tracks family members
    • Tracks Internet Speed Performance over time
    • Tracks Weather
    • Controls Zwave/Zigbee Devices
      • Turn on/off lights, open doors, etc…