Gumstix has developed a variation on its recently announced Chatterbox for the Colibri iMX7 that is instead powered by a Raspberry Pi Compute Module (see info here). The Linux-powered audio board is similarly designed for developing Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) applications, but offers different features including MIPI-CSI and GPIO connectors.
Like the Chatterbox for the NXP i.MX7 based Colibri iMX7 module, the $116 RPi Compute Module version is designed for creating wake-word or push/hold button activated AVS voice services on devices including smart speakers, smart home and IoT devices, router and gateway devices, sound bars, and set-top boxes. The board complies with Amazon’s AVS Functional Design Guide, and ships with a pre-loaded Linux image.
It appears you can use the new board with either the original Raspberry Pi Compute Module or the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 (CM3). The $30, 67.6 x 31mm RPi CM3 computer-on-module has the same 1.2GHz quad-core -A53 SoC as the RPi 3 Model B SBC. (The new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ SBC boosts the SoC to 1.4GHz, upgrades to pre-certified, dual-band 802.11ac, and adds USB-based GbE with PoE support.)
The layout and specs are somewhat different on the new Chatterbox. Like the Colibri version, the RPi CM3 Chatterbox includes a 2.5-Watt speaker driver plus an omnidirectional, -42DB microphone. There’s a stereo audio codec, but unlike the Colibri model, there are no audio jacks.
Since there’s no Ethernet controller on the Compute Module, the board is missing the original model’s 10/100 Ethernet port. However, you get the same TI WiLink 8 module with WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1/BLE. There’s also a U.FL antenna connector.
As before, you get a USB 2.0 host port and micro-USB serial console, but there’s no micro-USB device port, microSD slot, or real-time clock. On the other hand, the new Chatterbox adds a 2-lane, 15-pin CSI-2 camera connector and a 20-pin GPIO connector. Other features include a 5V jack, 2x user pushbuttons, and 2x user LEDs.
The Chatterbox Pi for the Raspberry Pi Compute Module is available for $116.
www.gumstix.com
