Audio + Power Saving Mode on Circuit Playground Express

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doylep
 
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Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:56 pm

Audio + Power Saving Mode on Circuit Playground Express

Post by doylep »

Hi there!

I'm trying to achieve both
1) audio playback from the built-in flash chip (low bit rate .wav is fine), and
2) low power/sleep when audio is not playing, preferably woken by an external pin (but I can wake up and check the pin if needed)

Playing audio with CircuitPython on the CPX is simple and straightforward, but it appears the 'alarm' module is still not supported on the CPX, so low power is a non-starter in CircuitPython.

Conversely, with Arduino, playing audio with Arduino on the SAMD21 chip is not officially supported, and the available libraries appear to be abandoned.

Is there another option to consider (either a library or language), or any examples that I've missed? Thanks for your help!
Patton

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Audio + Power Saving Mode on Circuit Playground Express

Post by mikeysklar »

Would it make sense to switch hardware? The Circuit Playground Bluefruit supports alarm and audio playback.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-cir ... es-2906350

https://docs.circuitpython.org/en/lates ... index.html

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doylep
 
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Re: Audio + Power Saving Mode on Circuit Playground Express

Post by doylep »

That is a possibility, but not ideal. I'll like to move to a custom board after prototyping on the CPX, but it looks like the nRF52840 is only available in BGA/dual row packages (with additional external components in the reference design) and 3x the chip cost.

I could switch to the RP2040, but that doesn't include a built-in amp or speaker so prototyping becomes difficult.

It looks like low-power modules are implemented in embedded Rust, but I don't see any audio components implemented yet for the samd21.

Patton

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: Audio + Power Saving Mode on Circuit Playground Express

Post by mikeysklar »

Just an FYI. The SAMD21 modules have been at unobtainium levels for some time. It is probably worth making things go with the RP2040 in one of these configurations for testing if you plan on using your own board chip setup in the near future.

https://learn.adafruit.com/mp3-playback-rp2040/

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FARROWX
 
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Re: Audio + Power Saving Mode on Circuit Playground Express

Post by FARROWX »

Playing audio with CircuitPython on the CPX is simple and straightforward, but it seems that the 'alarm' module is still not supported on the CPX, so low power consumption is not an option with CircuitPython. This is true

It also depends on the games played, for simracing it becomes much easier!

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