A major milestone has been reached! The computer team has made noteworthy progress in enhancing our speech recognition and animation system, and have combined their work with the mechanical and electrical team using real production hardware! Here’s a quick rundown on what they’ve been up to.

Using advanced signal processing, our show controller automatically detects the timestamps of consonants in the spoken word audio for each parrot. implementation of the control system. This involves integrating physical servo motors, a central processor, and various mechanical systems crucial for the functionality of the final product.

To validate the system, the team ran the speech processing algorithm on the actual show control hardware. This allows us to test audio playback, motion controls, and motor synchronization outside of just simulations. This testing led to a great value-add as well: Our computer team also introduced randomized animation sequences to the show software, which provides a unique experience for every show, ensuring that our feathered friends are as lifelike as their inspiration. Of course, we will continue to refine both the speech recognition and animation systems as our final product takes shape, and we can’t wait to share more of our manufacturing journey ahead!