Speech Recognition on Linux

Speech recognition is an awesome thing to do, be it on Linux or any other platform. Sadly, of late, google has restricted its speech recognition APIs because of which speech recognition has become a tedious task for the developers to implement. I started exploring the alternatives for the same and found CMU pocketsphinx as a good alternative. The best part is, it can work offline !. Unfortunately, setting up the software wasn't a cake walk. I worked 10+ hours straight on this and when I was about to give up it finally started working.

So here I surmise the result of the amount of caffeine I had!!

1. So first things first, Download pocketsphinx package and its dependent libraries.

Download SphinxBase zip file from here
Download PocketSphinx zip file from here

SphinxBase - It comprise of all the libraries that are needed by PocketSphinx
PocketSphinx- He is the guy whom we are after!

2. Place them in a folder and extract them

unzip sphinxbase_master.zip
unzip pocketsphinx_master.zip

3. Install SphinxBase

1. cd sphinxbase_master and run the following commands
2. ./autogen.sh
3. In the logs, check if checking alsa/asoundlib.h usability... yes,  if its not yes, then run sudo apt-get install libasound2-dev and run ./autogen.sh again.
4. ./configure
5. make
6. sudo make install

4. Install pocketsphinx 

1. cd pocketsphinx_master and run the following commands
2. ./autogen.sh
3. ./configure
4. make clean all
5. make check
6. sudo make install

Everything went well till now?! Your system is awesome !!
Now for the big part, to check whether it is gonna work.

before that, open  ~/.bashrc, append the line export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/ to the bottom of the file, save, and close it!

5. Now, the finale!

Open a new terminal and run the below command!
/usr/local/bin/pocketsphinx_continuous -adcdev plughw:0,0 -agc none -inmic yes

No crash? working? Your system deserves a medal!

Okay now as you can see, you can say something and the program detects your words. Tinker around and have fun

Sample Output:

Error in compiling? Program crashes? please write your queries in the comment

Note: Sometimes it's inaccurate in detecting the actual words spoken, there are a lot of parameters involved as to why this happens,. But Hi, I have it all worked out to make it amazingly accurate. Curious? What's life without a suspense :-)! wait for my next post!

Meanwhile, I'm working on something really cool with this, keep checking the blog for more info. So until next time, adios!

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Cucumber - Testing Framework with C++ Part 1

Cucumber :

As per Wikipedia Cucumber is defined as follows :

Cucumber is a software tool that computer programmers use for testing other software. It runs automated acceptance tests written in a behavior-driven development (BDD) style. Cucumber is written in the Ruby programming language. Cucumber projects are available for other platforms beyond Ruby. Some use Ruby Cucumber with a bridge into the target language (e.g. cuke4php and cuke4lua). Others use the Gherkin parser but implement everything else in the target language. Cucumber allows the execution of feature documentation written in business-facing text. Capybara, which is a part of the Cucumber testing framework, is an example of a web based test automation software.

We will be dealing with practical implementation of cucumber for C++ code under Linux Environment.

You need to download the Cucumber first on your Linux system. Install using apt-get as follows :

$ sudo apt-get install cucumber

You need to have following prerequisite  :

• Boost 1.40 or later. Required libraries: thread, system, regex, date_time and program_options. Optional library for Boost Test driver: test.
  

• GTest 1.6 or later. Optional for the GTest driver. By default downloaded and built by CMake.
• CppSpec development branch. Optional for the CppSpec driver.
• GMock 1.6 or later. Optional for the internal test suite. By default downloaded and built by CMake.
• Qt 4 or 5. Optional for the CalcQt example.

Installing Boost libraries :

$ sudo apt-get install libboost-all-dev

Installing Gtest on linux:

Download Gtest from following git repository :

GTest Repository (See different downloading options on page)

Extract the downloaded file and go to googletest-master folder (if downloaded zip file) and execute following commands :

$ cmake CMakeLists.txt

$ make all

$ sudo make install

Installing CppSpec on linux:

• Download repository from CppSpec.
• Extract the directory and change to cppspec-master

Type following command :

$ cmake CMakeLists.txt

$ make all

$ sudo make install

to be continued ....

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Introduction to BeagleBoneBlack : Part 1

Introduction : PART 1

       There are lots of question rising in your mind that, what exactly is BeagleBone Black (BBB) ?

But before jumping to BBB you need to understand some facts and concepts.You might have gone through the many development board like boards designed for controller/processor like 8051, 8085, 80386, PIC controller boards, Atmel controller boards, etc. Some boards are given name as well like Ardino Boards. 

            As soon as technology is changing, the way of excessing the processor/controller is also changing. Enhancement in VLSI sector is now producing very highly capable SoC that can perform various tasks in one go. These chips has reduced the time, enhanced the productivity as well as due to multi-stage pipe-line, processing also become fast.

So if you are new to embedded domain then its a suggestion that you must have to be aware of at least 8051 controller and 8085 processor. This series of tutorial will be covering the way to deal with advanced processor that is far beyond 8-bit one, but still it is valuable if you have the knowledge of 8-bit.

                           In industry, either 8-bit processor/controller is famous or 32-bit. Its very rare that you will find the 16 bit controller/processor. Industry is based on the 32 bit processors, as they want speed with accuracy.

The king of 32 bit processor is ARM architecture. Many people is having illusion that ARM is building the ARM series processor, but the fact is that, ARM is designing the architecture. These architecture is then purchased by different SoC manufacturer like Freescale, Atmel etc.   

In next Introduction will see some difference in 8-bit and 32-bit and the evolution boards that are available for working for 32-bit processor. Also we will talk about OS, RTOS, Firmware, Bootloader, Toolchain,Compiling, Cross Compiles, IDE, BSP etc. There are lot of things to discuss. 

To Be Continue.....

       

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Best Tutorial For BeagleBoneBlack !

BeagleBone Black

This is official announcement from the team of www.electronicsrj.com to publish the tutorial and support for the Beagle bone black from the scratch.

Be tuned for further updates. Sooner sharing tutorials for Beagle Bone Black with details on different Development boards, comparison between various OS and non OS based boards.

Be ready to learn Embedded Linux with BeagleBoneBlack.

for any enquiry you can visit our contact page or can write us at support@elecrtonisrj.com

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How to get placement in embedded domain

Introduction of Engineering

According to Guinness book of World Records, Engineering is the toughest course in the Under Graduate level. Numerous of branches are available in Engineering. Here are few branches that are famous in 88% of institute in India.
1 Computer Science.
2 Information Technology.
3 Electronics And Telecommunication.
4 Civil Engineering.
5 Mechanical Engineering.
6 Electrical Engineering.
7 Electronics Engineering.

Introduction to Embedded

Now the question arises that which branch we should choose to get the perfect job.
This article is most important for those student who are already doing engineering or yet to start.
Electronics has become the most valuable branch in Engineering as electronics is the basic building block of every technology.
Embedded is having its literature meaning.Today we are working on different electronics gadgets, either it can be computer, laptop or camera. These electronics gadgets are smart and intelligent by there own. All these gadgets are Embedded.

Which Branch can go into Embedded Domain ?

Any student who is having keen technical interest in any of the Embedded device can make his/her future in Embedded domain but for students belonging to Electronics, Electronics and Telecommunication, Computer Science and Information Technology it is easy to enter and make their future in this domain.

What Embedded consist of ?

Embedded domain is divided in two part
1 Hardware
2 Software

Hardware

Hardware part consist of making different electronics circuit. It's like designing your own circuit which is having quality check without much power dissipation or loss of energy.
In hardware you need to check power factor of each and every component you are using. Along with this you must know how to make PCB (Printed Circuit Board) for that circuit.

Software

Even though advancement in technology made the ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), but still the requirement of software program is at peak.
In the software section, it's developers duty to write the proper program so that the device (Hardware) act according to desire result. Software program allow developer to make the desirable changes again and again according to need.

Hardware and Software Knowledge needed?

Getting job in Embedded Domain in hardware section is easy for the Electronics and ETC student as they learn all the basic electronics component that is being used in electronics circuit. For software section, you must have to be the proficient in any two language in which C language is must, after C you can learn C++ or JAVA.
These programming languages will help you in writing the code/program for the hardware.

Key words in Embedded Domain

Following are the few technologies you must be familiar with and must have good knowledge before entering the Embedded domain either in Hardware section or in Software Section.

• Porting
• Device Driver
• OS (operating system)
• Linux
• Compiler
• Linker
• C
• C++
• JAVA
• Interpreter
• Interrupt
• Polling
• Microcontroller
• RTOS
• Microprocessor

, etc.

Institute for Training in Embedded Domain

CADC is the best institute, as it is government institute, weight-age at the time of placement is more.
Listing few best private institute (Excellence is not by order)
1 Cranes Varsity, Bangalore
2 Vector, Hyderabad
3 Pune University
4 Bicard, Pune
5 Cetpa, Noida etc.

Embedded Companies in India

1 Intel
2 iGate
3 HCL
4 L & T infotech
5 VVDN
6 Freescale
7 Microchip
8 Truechip, etc.

For getting job in embedded domain you have to be proficient in any two languages along with good knowledge of Digital and Analog Electronics.
Embedded training institute will take approximately 45,000/- to 80,000/- as per the duration of course.
You must be knowing microprocessor and controller like AVR, ARM, RasberryPie etc.
Work hard to get job in Embedded Domain, once you will get selected in good company, your life will be settle.

Starting salary in Embedded domain vary from 12K to 25K per month for freshers and slowly will increment.

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