Getting to know the EveryWord™ developer kit - ArkX Labs

November 13, 2022

Getting to know the EveryWord™ developer kit

The EveryWord™ AVS developer kit is a full, self-contained voice processing unit that can be used as a stand-alone user interface for a cloud voice assistant, such as Amazon Alexa, or as a voice AFE (Audio Front End) for a separate system.

The top side of the EveryWord™ module includes a center “Mic Control” button and six microphone ports distributed along the surface. The USB, power and audio connectors can be found on the side and back of the device as shown in the figure below.

 

 

The following is a description of the connectors available to the end user:

 

Connector

Description

USB-A

Used to connect the Ethernet dongle for wired network access to the EveryWord™ module. This is a USB master so it can accept a USB hub or other USB devices

microUSB-B

Console UART port. Connect to a host computer with a serial terminal program (such as TeraTerm or PuTTY).

5V power jack

Connect the included 5V|3.6A power supply to this jack. Please note: The power supply MUST be connected for the loudspeaker outputs to work. 

Loudspeaker stereo outputs

Two pairs of +/- connectors for two passive loudspeakers. One suitable loudspeaker is included in the kit.

3.5mm Line-out audio jack

Used as output of line-level analog audio. Suitable for connecting external self-powered loudspeakers or any audio device with a “Line-in” port.

Action Button

Required by Amazon. As an alternative to saying “Alexa”, one may depress this button for the length of your question to Alexa. It is connected to GPIO2 of the SoM.

USB-C

This port is primarily used to download a new software image into the MMC flash memory. It can act as a power supply, but only partially (the loudspeaker outputs are not powered by the USB-C). By default, this is a USB peripheral and it should be connected to a USB master like a desktop/laptop computer. It can be used to make EWM appear as a usbAudio device to a computer. It is also USB OTG, so when used as a master it can have only one device.

Mic Control Button

This is a push-on/push-off button for the microphones on the device. In the ‘Off’ state, the LEDs will turn RED. This button disconnects the power from all the microphones at the hardware level, as required by Amazon.

Mic Ports (6x)

EveryWord™ listens to the user’s voice through these ports using the active microphones selected by the mic array configuration. By default, microphones D, A, C and E—the four farthest from the 5V power jack—are active

 

The EveryWord™ developer kit includes the following components:

  • EveryWord™ Module (EWM)
  • Micca Covo-S loudspeaker5V|3.6A
  • Power supply (AC/DC adapter)
  • Power supply AC cord
  • Speaker Wire
  • 2 extra Jumpers

More information about the EveryWord™ developer kit from ArkX Labs

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