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Retro Echo - Pi Zero Assistant

This is Amazon's Alexa running on a Raspberry Pi Zero built into a mid-century modern intercom for your desk.

chris-broughtonChris Broughton
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  • Description
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  • Files 0
  • Components 6
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  • Logs 0
  • Instructions 11
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Team (1)

  • chris-broughtonChris Broughton

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  • Novaspirit Tech's guide
  • Sam Machin's $10 Echo
  • YouTube Video
completed project
hardware
raspberry pi Zero amazon Alexa Echo voice assistant reto

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This project is submitted for

  • Adafruit Pi Zero Contest

This project was created on 03/14/2016 and last updated 7 years ago.

Description

Since Amazon has opened their Alexa Voice Service for developers I really wanted to have a less expensive virtual assistant for my desk. Since we can use the Pi Zero this brings the cost down to about $25 instead of $180 for a full Echo. This was based on the work of Sam Machin, <a href="http://sammachin.com/the-10-echo/" target="_blank">http://sammachin.com/the-10-echo/</a>, and Don from Novaspirit Tech, <a href="https://youtu.be/frH9HaQTFL8" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/frH9HaQTFL8</a>.

Components

  • 1 × Raspberry Pi Zero $5 mini computer
  • 1 × USB Sound Card $6 from Amazon like this http://www.amzn.com/B00IRVQ0F8
  • 1 × USB WiFi Adapter $8 from Amazon like this http://www.amzn.com/B00KA5XVOW
  • 1 × OTG adapter (at least two ports) $5 from Amazon like this http://www.amzn.com/B00OZDUTMM
  • 1 × Momentary Switch

View all 6 components

Build Instructions
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  • 1
    Step 1

    Plug your devices into your Pi, image your SD card with the latest Rasbian, set it up on WiFi, and get it's IP address, we'll need this in a bit. There are many good guides on how to do this including; https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/noobs-setup/ and https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-3-network-setup/finding-your-pis-ip-address.

  • 2
    Step 2

    Now that you have your IP we will connect to your PI so we can download Novaspirit's GitHub repository. There are a few options so pick one that works for you. Either through Putty and SSH to your IP https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/ssh/windows.md, console cable https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-5-using-a-console-cable/overview, or by plugging in a mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

  • 3
    Step 3

    Once connected install Git through apt-get with;

    sudo apt-get install git
    Follow any prompts and you should have git installed.

View all 11 instructions

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