The On Board Call is a hand-held gesture-controlled device that performs synthesised imitations of wildlife calls. These include the sounds of birds, frogs, fish, and the like. Wildlife calls are diverse and often complex, the Call focuses on short pitched sounds and so is better for bird calls than, say, a lion roaring. The device uses the On Board PCB v2 with an ESP8266 microprocessor, an accelerometer for parameter control, a force sensitive resistor for amplitude, a rotary encoder for adjusting settings, and an amp board and built-in loudspeaker for sounding. The software uses the Mozzi audio library and an evolving set of algorithms derived from analysing spectral analysis of wildlife sounds. The Call is designed for mobile use, so it can be taken in-field to various ecological environments for close listening and imitation or used as an instrument for performance.
