Alexa AI on Raspberry Pi

Alexa is the Amazon Echo voice service, and here I install it for free on a Raspberry Pi. This adds voice computing to the Pi, allowing it to speak the answers to spoken questions, and potentially to control IoT devices.
The setup follows Github instructions, and is inevitably somewhat involved. So if you just want to see me talking to a Raspberry Pi, skip ahead to about 15 minutes 10 seconds into the video.
The Alexa resources and instructions on Github are at: github.com/alexa
. . . and you create an Amazon Developer Account at: developer.amaz...
. . . and a security profile here: github.com/ale...
. . . and (when logged in to your Developer Account), you enable your security profile here: developer.amaz...
You may also like my musings on the development of omnipresent, voice-centric computing in this video: • Omnipresent Computing
More videos on computing-related topics can be found at: / explainingcomputers
You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: / explainingthefuture

[@artbecker5618]

This is a fun project, and I have already built 4 different AlexaPi devices, plus had to rebuild some of them several times (if it doesn't work the first time, you are indeed fortunate, as in that way you will end up learning more about it than you could by any other method). You can use a Pi 2, 3, or Zero, but the 3 works best. The earliest AlexaPi projects used a push button (and some optional status LEDs attached to the GPIO to show you what was happening). Eventually the AVS version was developed, and it works great. I found that a KZbin video by Caroline Dunn best explained the easiest way to make an AlexaPi. It is tempting to use the Raspberry Pi Preferences -- Audio Settings, to configure the microphone and/or speakers, but if you do this, especially at the wrong time, your AlexaPi won't work. The correct settings are best done by editing the .asoundrc file. It is way too easy to corrupt your AlexaPi settings through using Preferences. Once these setting get out of whack, it seems almost impossible to get them back into whack. There are a number of ways you can set up sound and voice, and you can go crazy trying to do it through Preferences. You can use a USB sound card, if you want to use the microphone on a web cam, or a USB handset (if you don't have speakers), or even for the mic & speakers. You can do audio in and out through the GPIO pins if you want. I have a webcam whose mic works better than the small mic dongle I also have. For my final working AlexaPi, I use a web cam mic through a USB sound card and amplified speakers through the Raspberry Pi jack. No matter what configuration you use, it really is best to tell the Raspberry Pi which device does what and where by editing the .asoundrc file (search KZbin or the RaspberryPi.org forums for AlexaPi sound corruption, or something similar). Once you edit .asoundrc, do not go back into Preferences and do anything to the audio settings, or you will corrupt things again. Officially, Alexa is only supported in the USA, UK and Germany, so unless you hack your AlexaPi, you can only get the correct time automatically for these locations. The good news is that hacking Alexa's time zone is relatively easy -- easiest using a Mac, but not that much more difficult using a Wndows PC. You just need to use CURL to trick the Alexa servers into using an unsupported time zone. You need to do this to get the correct local time, if you are outside the supported time zones. Again look on KZbin or do a Google search (I wouldn't advise asking Alexa). You can go even further and actually set an unauthorized location, but this is more complex. Example: You can more or less easily set your AlexaPi to tell the correct local time in Tokyo, but for anything else it's just as easy to ask for the weather in Tokyo, rather than trying to set the location as Tokyo. You can view your AlexaPi input and output, on a desktop PC by going to alexa.amazon.com but don't try to change your unauthorized time zone or location by simply changing the settings this way, as they won't work. You need to use CURL. You can use the Amazon Alexa app for other devices. This is also a good way to train Alexa to recognize how you speak. All the Amazon.com Fire tablets now have Alexa capability, though no AVS option; you have to press a button, then ask your queston. Your Android device almost certainly has "OK Google" capability. OK Google has the advantage of being able to remember your questions in order to hold a sort of conversation, whereas Alexa can only answer the current question, based on the current input. You can ask Google who the Presidet of the Unted States is, then ask how old is he, then ask who was his running mate, and so on. My favorite question for both Alexa and Google is, "Who ya gonna' call?" You can also ask why the chicken crossed the road. The question asked about automating the start-up procedure for the AlexaPi has a simple answer: It can't be done. The complex answer is that, it might be possible, but I haven't seen how, yet (which doesn't mean that it doesn't exist). So, what do you do if your AlexaPi crashes, or the power goes out, or you shut it down? The answer is that you have to manually do the three step configuraton, each and every time. That means three different Terminal tabs, or three different Terminal windows. Do not shut any down, nor shut down the browser, as all three & the browser have to be running. Where I live the power is unreliable, so I have become an expert on restarting the AlexaPi. My advice is to keep the three Terminal commands in a text file on the Raspberry Pi's desktop. Then just cut and past into Terminal tabs or windows. This also means that you might have problems taking Chris' advice to remove the keyboard, monitor and mouse and run headless. This might work if you use VNC, but won't work if you try to use SSH. There is a common argument that it is just easier to buy an Amazon Dot for $50, than to use a $35 Raspberry Pi, and go through all the various steps, and put up with the initial headaches. My answer to that argument is, "Well, duh!" Of course it is. But it is tremendous fun following Chris' advice to build your own. It will give you a wonderful sense of acomplishment, once you get it working. And you can always just pop out the SD card and put in a different one to have your Raspberry Pi do something else.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for this -- really useful input. :) Esp. interesting to know that it will work on a Pi Zero -- that will please others here.

[@artbecker5618]

Stephen Hill. Thank you for your kind words. I've done the AlexaPi start-up dozens of times, and it takes maybe two minutes. Steps one and three are simple enough. It is step two that is the difficut one to automate. As part of step two, your browser will open a window. But, there are three possible outcomes in doing this. The first is that your browser will say there is a security problem, and asks if you want to continue (as seen in Chris' video). The next is if you had a power outage, or improper shutdown of the previous session. You have to tell your browser to ignore that old session, not try to recover, and, instead, start a new session. The third possible outcome is if your browser session starts normally. I rarely see the third outcome. For the third step, I prefer to use the kitt_ai wake word agent. If you want to be able to chose which wake word agent to use on boot, you would have to set up the default and a timer, so that manually intervening during the time period would then use the other wake word agent, otherwise the default is used. I haven't searched recently to see if anyone has been able to automate the start-up. When I lived in the USA, I had maybe one power outage every 5 years. Where I am now, it is almost a miracle for a week to go by with no power outage(s). So I have plenty of practice restarting the AlexaPi. Amazon.com doesn't ship the Echo or Dot outside the USA, UK or Germany. Who knows if this will ever change? I'll be going back to the US for a visit, and will get some Dots to bring back. Then I'll retire the AlexaPi, meaning I'll simply put the SD card into storage, just in case I need it again. Chris did his usual great job of explaining computers. There are other KZbin videos that do this, and it seems like every one takes a different approach. There are lots of ways to make an AlexaPi. I haven't tried using a Bluetooth speaker with the AlexaPi. In theory, it shouldn't be that difficult. The main thing about the audio settings might need configuring in the .asoundrc file. You have to tell the Raspberry Pi where the input is, and where the output is. There are many ways to configure the .asoundrc file, using different formats. Below is just one way to do it, if you are using the Pi's audio jack, and a USB mic (or mic from a webcam). This is a hidden file located at /home/pi/ sudo nano /home/pi/ .asoundrc ========== pcm.!default { type asym playback.pcm { type hw card 0 device 0 } capture.pcm { type plug slave { pcm { type hw card 1 device 0 } } } } ========== Playback means speakers, and capture means microphone. Basically, card 0 means speakers connected to the Raspberry Pi audio jack, and card 1 for the mic means USB input. I assume that, if you use a USB sound card for both mic and speakers, then both devices would be set to card 1. Maybe this is where you could configure Bluetooth speakers, assuming that anything needs to be done, other than pair the devices. But, I haven't put any actual thought into this, as the file above works for my setup, and saved me after hours of aggravation and/or frustration. Once again, do not mess with setting audio preferences, through the Pi's main menu, which is the place that I assume most users would obviously go to, at first. It seems like such a simple solution. The only downside is that you can easily mess with it until it doesn't work any more. Preferences settings change the .asoundrc file automatically to something you might not want, so just go back and change the file to the example above. Remember, it is easy to manually test that your mic & speakers are working, after completing step two, as Chris shows in the video.

[@frakman1]

Art Becker. Thank you for your insight and advice. I certainly value and appreciate it. I spent many, many frustrating hours trying (and failing) to get this to work on the PiZero. The Pi 3, however, was a doddle. For the Pi Zero, I was using a USB microphone like the one in the video, and a separate USB combo audio/mic dongle for the audio out. Although I finally got the mic to work with the wake word, I couldn't get the Alexa app to work with the audio out. Do you have a working Pi Zero configuration file you could share? Thanks!

[@andreamitchell4758]

yeah i would like to see a tutorial on how to set this up on a pi zero with a config file , a setup that uses the GPIO for mic input and for audio out ,would be nice to have a build that just requires an OTG but no USB hub ,and also some RGB LEDS to GPIO

[@artbecker5618]

Frak N, there is the "oops" method of potentially fixing your problem. Try this first. Click on the speaker icon in the upper right of the main screen and increase the volume almost to the top. If the mute button has been selected, then fix that. If this works, then don't tell anybody about it. With the Pi Zero, I used a USB handset with both speaker and mic on the same USB device. I only had the 3.5" jack speakers, and no USB sound card, so had to use a USB handset for mic and speaker. Either with or without the separate mic, edit the .asoundrc file, shown in my reply above, and change "card 0" to "card 1" (leave the second "card 1" alone), then reboot. Without using the separate mic, did you try just the device you have that has both mic and speakers on it? There is nothing special or magic about the small mic dongle, shown in Chris' video. I found that the mic on an old web cam worked better for me than the USB mic dongle. The webcam mic had a 3.5MM plug, so I used the USB sound card that I couldn't find when trying the Pi Zero. Trying to configure one device is easier than trying to configure two devices. It might be possible, in your case, to configure the devices through the main screen Preference menu, then Audio Device Settings. Select C-Media etc, instead of BCM2835, then use Select Controls and check all of the Control Settings (mic and speakers), increase the volumes almost to the top, select Make Default, then OK, then reboot. If this throws everything out of whack, then you probably have to edit the .asoundrc file manually to get things back to normal. There are threads about fixing other Alexa Pi problems on the official forums at raspberrypi.org as well as some KZbin videos that address sound problems. Sound really can be the most difficult problem to fix, but eventually you will find something that works. Solving problems is part of the "fun" in making your own AlexaPi. There are ways to use GPIO, though you probably need some minor additional components, such as resistors, capacitors, and intergrated circuits. None of these are expensive. You can easily get them from Chinese sources, like AliExpress. To make LEDs work, you need to add that function to the software. The early AlexaPi instructions, that used a push button instead of wake word, showed how to do it, and it was fun watching the two LEDs show what stage your Alexa request was at. Once the AVS methods became available, buttons and LEDs went away. Still, if you go the GPIO route, you should be able to figure out how to integrate LEDs as well. There are lots of available pins on a Raspberry Pi.

[@giveaway4002]

*Me :* Alexa **Who is Christopher Barnatt?** *Alexa :* Greatest Technology You tuber.

[@nightwatch6100]

Greetings from the U. S. (more specifically, Texas [:y]). I can't stop watching your videos, they are just as fun as they are educational! Thank you!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for this. I'm glad you like my videos over in Texas. :)

[@datfatsesh245]

ExplainingComputers and I'm in Arizona, looks like you got some southwest American fans! You should be proud of that too, trust me, majority of people 'round these parts aren't anywhere near what I would call "tech savvy" keep up the SBC vids, I quite like them! :)

[@andrewmarshall1142]

Texas FTW. Also a big EC fan.

[@Alex1891]

Nevada here. Go Chris!

[@jr2629]

Watching this whilst having an Amazon Echo on your desk is a fun experience

[@ExplainingComputers]

Sorry!

[@Ruprect]

Thank you very much for this video, my son has a project at school - with Alexa, on Pi - And had some troubles with it, I'll go through your setup with him tomorrow - Then he'll be ready for his presentation wednesday.

[@Tangobaldy]

thanks for not saying " Alexa volume 10 play rock music. my alexa was doing your command better than me.

[@siddraj2002]

OMG the Logitech Soundman speaker ... can't forget that signature shape. It was my very first 4.1 speaker system :)

[@spikekent]

Very succinct presentation as always Christopher, thank you. I previously installed this on a Pi3 too and it works great.

How come that this guy doesn't have millions of subscribers, I always learn a ton!

[@GeorgeTJ]

Chris, if you get to find a way to write an executable script which will restart the service if an unfortunate power cut occurs, then this project will be a real winner! In the meantime, a HATlike the Pico UPS is the only way I can think of to prevent rendering ''Alexa'' unresponsive after a reboot. That will be a good ''workaround'', although it raises the cost significantly and with Pico, RPi, Mic and Speakers you will end up paying the asking price of an Amazon Dot... Thanks for the excellent videos and long live Nottingham! ;)

[@BrokeMansPC]

First again! Muawhaha! Also when is Asus Tinker Board with Kodi Video coming out?

[@ExplainingComputers]

Another Gold Medal to you then! :) On the Tinker Board, I am still waiting for them to release Kodi. I hear there is an update to the OS released now, so I will investigate that.

[@NicMG]

Thanks for the video man, always informative and useful.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Many thanks.

[@johandeklein5253]

amazing is that how small computers can be made these days. Enjoy watching your video's.

[@davepickering997]

Someone needs to tell Alexa, Fahrenheit is not measured in "Degrees" that is Centigrade only. However its a great video and I will try to do the same with my Pi.

[@briancrane7634]

Wonderful, fascinating!! I love the fiddly bits! Many thanks for showing all the steps! Most entertaining!

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@Felpstech]

Does It work with the alexa app normally? can you control your smarthome with it?

[@Yenkna_PCs]

Chris, you have to update the wake word every 120 days. Git hub said after it expires, just download the latest version and re-link.

[@PardonJulianAssangeNow]

Raspberry Spy.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Nice.

[@Ra000leo]

Spark Plug Good one

[@RPiSpy]

A Raspberry Pi Spy :)

[@Craigamonster]

1:44 It can hear us.

[@LoganT547]

You must be really ignorant. If you ever checked Alexa's privacy notice you'd know Amazon's Assistant devices aren't sending your every word to servers. They only send a few-second-long audio clip, the microphone is not sending audio to the servers and it will wait for you to say the wake word. Get a life and do your research before writing something stupid like this.

[@bellidoj]

I think you could install terminology. It is a terminal program from the enlightenment desktop that can be splited horizontal or vertically, keeping the child terms in the same path than the original. It is very handy for multiterm stuff like you show in this really cool video.

[@tonyweavers4292]

Another great video Chris thanks. Using these settings, will the Pi reboot to Alexa or do terminal windows need to be run on each reboot?

[@JoeGreene780]

Thank you so much for your hard work. Brilliant as always. My students are going to absolutely love this. I plan to set it up right in front of them during an open session of class. Thanks again.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks -- and this will I am sure make a great teaching session. A long setup, but the end result speaks for itself! :) And there are a lot if special/trick questions Alexa is primed for! It can also turn on most radio channels (which I did not show for copyright reasons).

[@evil_in_your_closet]

"...the result speaks for itself" - Pun intended? ;-)

[@gregb.1614]

This is a really useful and a simple explanation of how to do this. Definitely going to do this myself!!!

[@accessfm]

Great video as always... one thing though... what happens if you turn off the power to the pi? Do you have to restart the service by typing or is it fully automated to restart by itself? Greetings from Ireland!

[@ExplainingComputers]

You will have to restart the service after a reboot I'm afraid . . .

[@accessfm]

ExplainingComputers cheers... thought so... but it's not too bad. cool chatting to you... looking forward to the next video.

[@zachdemand4508]

You could always create a script to start the service at boot.

[@frakman1]

Not that easy. One of them is an interactive process requiring opening a browser and logging in etc. There really is no shortcut other than opening the three terminals and running those commands every time you reboot.

[@zachdemand4508]

Its easier than you might think. github.com/alexa/alexa-avs-sample-app/issues/127

[@barneman2742]

dude this was your best episodes

[@ExplainingComputers]

Many thanks. I was rather worried it has a lot of setup detail.

[@frakman1]

I disagree. Don't get me wrong, this is a fine episode indeed, but one that many, many others have made as well. The github instructions speak for themselves and are easy to follow. Frankly, I was surprised you joined the 'put Alexa on a Pi' band wagon. I enjoy the episodes where you wire electronic components to GPIO pins via a breadboard and make them do things with Python code. Keep up the good work!

[@iH85CH001]

I quite enjoyed this, I'm looking to build something similar to this for my car, and i can tether internet from my phone via bluetooth or wifi tethering, hook it to the radio for sound and power either from the radio or a car charging port that I just never take out, something like this. lots of work to do, basically will never get it done cuz im lazy but at least right now it sounds cool lmao.

[@Ken-hs5yu]

I'm new to your channel and Raspberry Pi ,but look forward to learning about all you show and will make the Dot one of my first try's. thanks for your sharing of knowledge and resources. On a side note, I was originally going to start with the Chip, but it is now the Chip pro and seems down sized. Will you be doing a comparison or review of the chip Pro? Thanks

[@ExplainingComputers]

Welcome! I may indeed look at the CHIP Pro -- on my list.

[@wtfmategaming]

Yet another project i will be building thanks to you. Great tutorial, can't wait to put my Rpi3 to work!

[@ExplainingComputers]

It is a very rewarding project to try. :)

[@cgarzs]

It's almost painful watching someone type out long directory names knowing all they have to press is tab after a few characters to complete it automatically lol. Anyway amazing vid. Yet another thing that's making me tell myself to finally get a Pi.

[@ExplainingComputers]

As I've noted below, I wanted to keep in step with the instructions on Github for those also following them -- so typed everything there. Clearly I could have navigated directories more efficiently and recalled text from the buffer.

[@cgarzs]

Ah yes I see the comment now. I should have searched tab 1st. That's fair enough. I've since noticed you had a similar problem on the robot from android ssh video since the name had an underscore. I was like "tab! tab!" there also lol. That RPi robot series has convinced me to subscribe. Your channel is fantastic =)

[@bluesquare23]

Your videos deserve more views.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks. :)

[@RollsRoyceFanatics]

Brilliant! Can't wait to set this up for my elderly father who has macular degeneration

[@stevehallam0850]

Glad to see you make tea in a pot, very civilised :-)

[@NorthernScrub]

If the directory you're trying to get to is relatively unique, you can use the tab key to autocomplete the directory name after typing one or two characters.

[@gigabot183]

57 degrees in london? People would be dying!

[@TheGenericNerd]

Dante Yagyu that's what I was thibkibg. they go through the trouble of making the AI voice British but they don't bother converting to celsius?

[@turboslag]

Imagine the personal data harvesting that Amazon will be benefiting from with this!

[@samsadkhan216]

Hello from Bangladesh ! I just found your channel and I am enjoying it very much.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Greetings from the UK! And welcome to the channel. :)

[@RocktCityTim]

All your base are belong to us! Welcome to the birth of the age of the Geth :O Cool video as always!

[@greatttttttttful]

Once we've configured this , Will we be able to just turn on our raspberry pi and start using Alexa without ever needing a HDMI display or do we need to run a code each time we turn on our pi in order to invoke Alexa? Great video !!!

[@ExplainingComputers]

You do need to run the code on each boot I'm afraid. It could be partially automated with scripts, but that does not get around the web login bit.

[@RexCaelestis]

Nice Marina Bay Sands wallpaper!

[@bco2302]

You are a hero to this planet

[@tubeDude48]

Chris, excellent ! Glad you made this. I have 4 Alexa's in my house...why not 1 of my Pi's !! 👍

[@geoserenity]

a wispa bar? you sir have good taste

[@FlorinIonitaAdrian]

Hello and congratulation for the channel! I`m from Romania and i watch every single video you post! My question is: Did u cut the video between the question and the alexa response? i saw several videos where there is a 2-3 second delay before alexa answears. Could the problem be the internet connection speed? Thanks in advance

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for this. There are no cuts in the Alexa sequence (well, I cut the pictures for visual variety, but the sequence plays out in real-time). I imagine Internet speed could make the pauses longer in some circumstances.

[@FlorinIonitaAdrian]

Thanks! I want to try this project on my magic mirror 2. Any thoughts on how to auto start the alexa service after reboot?

[@avibents1253]

Why not call it alexa pi

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@adarshsingh764]

Avi Bents or maybe Alexa home

[@beck3k]

Every time he says "Alexa" my Echo wakes up.

[@joshgill1969]

same (mines an echo dot)

[@ezioauditore7636]

why no pi-lexa

[@axi6ne8us]

I really appreciate you taking valuable time to do those videos. I am learning alot and your english accent is cool to listen too. Thanks again! Cheers

[@minineji7050]

Thank you very much. I have been addicted to your channel becuase of episodes like this. Very imformative and easy to follow! Thanks

[@nathanielmoore87]

Awesome vid!! Do you suppose you could use this to build an Alexa enabled car infotainment system? Current voice recognition in cars doesn't compare anywhere near Alexa? I've heard that Amazon is partnering with some car makers to integrate Alexa into automotive applications, but that will take awhile and there will still be no aftermarket option for those of us driving older or collectible classic cars.

[@ExplainingComputers]

What you suggest must be possible. Amazon is pretty open with its APIs, so allowing for such projects and innovation.

[@crazyfrisbee23]

great video ! very nice everything. i just wonder why you didn't used tab-completion in the terminal to not have to type out every file you ran or dir you cd'ed into! also i wonder which operating system is installed on the raspberry pi. i guess its default but would be nice to write in the description. thanks for doing this and keep up the great work :D

[@rushikeshbhor6375]

Would this work with a Bluetooth speaker?If so, what would the changes one need to make during the setup? Gr8 vid btw!!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Potentially, yes -- though I've not experimented with Bluetooth speakers on a Pi.

[@kenjboyd6233]

Thanks Chris, excellent as usual.

[@ianjenkinson3585]

Interestingly my Echo listened to your programme and 'Alexa' gave very similar but not identical answers to your questions. Plainly the weather in London answer was slightly different but, curiously, the Raspberry Pi was slightly different despite that both systems answered the same question. A few other questions were also slightly different. Do you know why ?

[@ExplainingComputers]

Very interesting. May the answers evolve over time, or are location dependent.

[@RPiSpy]

It is likely because the Alexa API services are slightly different to the system used on actual Alexa devices. This can also mean functionality that is available on the devices isn't available via the API.

[@antony_12]

Hi Chris, thank you for another interesting video. You can save a lot of time typing in terminal if you press "Tab" after you typed a few initial letters - it will autocomplete folder/file names. If you have 2 RPis with Alexa, will they talk to each other? :)

[@tompreaney]

Brill! Fantastic! What a really useful video. Great work.

[@PrintWorx3D]

me: alexa where where you born alexa:by the rassbery py

[@nikobellic570]

gotta make this and show it off to the kids. reckon they'll have some fun with alexa

[@dennissmithjr.5370]

That was really awsum professor, thanks for sharing. Will have to try this myself.

[@metalheadmalta]

A very well thought out video. Thanks Chris. I will try this ASAP. Could I be so bold as to ask you what you edit your videos with? Thanks so much. Chris (Grillo)

[@ExplainingComputers]

Hi Chris, thanks for this. I normally edit in Premiere Pro (CS5 to be exact -- before it became a subscription thing!). But I do now also work in DaVinci Resolve -- which is both great and free. I've various videos on it on the channel.

[@metalheadmalta]

Thanks... I follow your channels religiously... fascinating and so in tune with me.

[@G_Fresh_UK]

Best Video Yet..

[@djbare9]

Thank you for this, I had been wondering if there is support for the Raspberry Pi. I'd like to make a request for a future video, Alexa echo uses 8 microphones for noise filtering and directionality, perhaps a project that utilizes cheap breakout microphones to do the same thing?

[@Apricate.]

it actually has 7 microphones

[@Apricate.]

@DaemonJWS 3 months too late for that reply

[@Apricate.]

@DaemonJWS 19 hours too late for that reply. And I was within 4 minutes /:

[@kolkoki]

How did you blacked out your creditentials? By hand or you had an automatic process?

[@ExplainingComputers]

All by hand. I could have tracked the moving window in After Effects, but in the end it was all just hand keyframed. I wish I had not moved the window about so much! :)

[@evil_in_your_closet]

Maybe Planar Tracking in Mocha AE could have saved you some time there! It is a really awesome tracker, thats for sure.

[@GeekBoy03]

I think you need to do an update to this video. It seems Amazon has done quite a few changes which makes a lot this information no longer valid.

[@scienceblock]

I didn't know amazon Alexa has been around since 2014 :0

[@pijussimkevicius6149]

I love your videos they are sooooo good! and very educational too! greetings from lithuania!

[@xarain]

Love your desktop wallpaper!

[@mickelodiansurname9578]

@ExplainingComputers Chris, have you looked at MyCroft, or PiCroft? MB: For the uninitiated Mycroft is an open source home automation and voice assistant.

[@ljsystems5694]

at the moment i'm installing alexa pi on my RPi... Greetings from Germany (Munich) ;)

[@ExplainingComputers]

Greetings to you . . . and Alexa!

[@ElectroIoT]

Very nice Step By step Guide I will try it soon

[@CCBrobmistere]

Another awesome video! However I do suggest using tab complete when in the terminal to save you self some typing

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks! :) My dilemma here was how closely to follow the Amazon instructions in terms of the commands I typed and how. I could clearly have moved up and down directories as needed and executed the commands, but I was also aware that views may use this video in combination with the Amazon instructions, and hence I wanted to show the three final processes being typed in and run exactly as the Github page shows . . .

[@southsidedojo2]

I'm still claiming 2016 too! LOL Great video Chris and BTW she or it has to be better than SIRI I am pretty sure.

[@resrussia]

Thanks for an interesting Pi project. Keep up the good work.

[@steeveedee8478]

I approve of the Wispa bar!

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@connormonton9186]

With this I shall give Wudsworth LIFE !!!!

[@shadowr2d2]

This Was Very Interesting, & Very Educational As Well.. I Have Not Worked With A Raspberry Pi.. But I'm Learning More, & More.. I Was Wondering If.. You Can Install Jarvis Voice Command On A Raspberry Pi 3.. I Have Seen Your Other Video on The CHIP, & DIP.. So Would It Be Better On The CHIP.. Thank You Very Much.. Have A Merry Christmas..

[@ExplainingComputers]

The CHIP is not powerful enough to run this. Merry Xmas! :)

[@mike.a.irving8227]

Struggling with Wake Word. Having to wipe and start again. Great video, thanks!

[@shishu3986]

Great instructions! How did you catch the pi screen video?

[@CreepebrineMC]

4:41 🐟(FISH)!

[@georgemyoutube8078]

Creepebrine I

[@briianhebert]

Thanks for the video! Yet another cool thing to do with RaspPi :D

[@jimchance5006]

Wow, thanks for the great videos time and time again, I learn so much from this channel.

[@mahfuzanamullash5319]

Do you think raspberry pi zero can be used for this project?? Great video by the way,learned a lot.

[@mahfuzanamullash5319]

*rasberry pi zero W

[@ranger81de]

Great video tutorial. I wonder if there is a change of getting Alexa running on the pi without graphical user interface?

[@dachr2]

Why aren't you using the tab key to autocomplete instead manually typing eveything? Other than that interesting video! I got a RPi running with kodi on it.. I wonder if I could get Alexa to run on that in headless mode. Their Wiki has some documentation on how to do Authentication with Node.js on Linux.

[@seancapelle5909]

Great video! I got it up and running after only two little missteps on my part. I have the audio piped through HDMI, but it sounds a little crackly.

[@RavenSurfyoo]

ExplainingComputers superb stuff to try

[@yngvenystrand167]

Thanks a lot for this video! I don't have Alexa yet, but I will surely try it out on a Raspberry Pi! Just wondering, how would Alexa respond if you ask her if she is spying on you?

[@PenguinPenguinaskearly]

Amazing video! Didn't know this was possible, now I do. :)

[@greavous93]

Alexa, give the ol nips a pinch.... And the next time you go to Amazon the page will be covered with adult toys.... Alexa, get the hell out of my house.

[@IRgEEK]

Wow! *This* is awesome! However, the Echo Dot I have in this room wouldn't shut up while watching this video! :-)

[@piotrbukowski9407]

Hi. You inspired me to make AlexaPi (I'm living in Europe and I can't buy "original" one) and I have a question: of I just unplug keyboard, mouse and monitor while raspberry is turned off and I power it up will it work like in your video? (I mean - do I have to setup sth more to make this work that you haven't included in video?)

[@_noderay]

With the 2017-03-02 raspbian build you will likely run into a CPU bug where wakeWordAgent uses like 80% cpu. This has been narrowed down to "OpenBLAS" which is included in the latest build. I worked around this by getting it running on "DietPi".

[@DieterKuefner]

Excellent stuff and I did it! Thanks for showing the details. Now I'm interested in how to add skills to Alexa. Can you also make a video about this?

[@artifactingreality]

Instead of talk to you again you should say I hope to talk at you again. Good video.

[@simoncoyote707]

That's really cool, does it run on a normal windows laptop?

[@fzmxtg]

Looks brilliant, I'm going to give this a go, I have Kodi installed on my Raspberry Pi, can I get alexa to start Kodi ?

[@costinmarina]

Hi,Cristopher, nice video, and nice channel ! When you will readdress this topic, by showing us how to autostart this Alexa Pi installation? Thanks!

[@maicod]

Christopher thanks for the ever interesting videos ! Is the micro-SD card easily removable/insertable with a Pi 3B in this casing ?

[@ExplainingComputers]

Uhm. It is removable -- but not that easily with a Pi 3, as it just pushes in and out, whereas for a Pi 2 it was very easy due to the click in-out mechanism.

[@maicod]

yeah thats exactly the problem what I also have with the black rounded casing (the one you used in one of your I believe Pi2 videos). Also the Pi3 becomes very hot doing GPU/CPU intensive things, it reports 85 C (also feels HOT when touching with fingers) and I wonder if it can break inside a case or even become dangerous (fire risk?)

[@scyther1141]

I was totally stoked until alexa mentioned Bing

[@mefisto1212]

Greate video - as always. Thank you. But this kind of funcionality like asking for weather is useless - is it possible to drive GPIO's with Alexa API? That would be useful - think about intelligent home without any complicated infrastructure - just micro-computers, "executive elements" and voice service - that would be something - maybe intelligent home should be one of your direction's on discovering new applications for micro-computers?

[@ExplainingComputers]

Yes, GPIO control is I think possible via Alexa.

[@FOCUSwildkamera]

Your video was a great help to me. Thanks !

[@kikerosas784]

Lol got an Amazon echo ad before this video

[@ExplainingComputers]

The power of the smart web! :)

[@axi6ne8us]

Great video! ... will be getting a Pi ASAP :)

[@leecherlarry]

@Chris, did you end up keeping the Alexa installation, or did you, weeks after publication of the video, uninstall the software or format the SDcard?😁

[@ExplainingComputers]

I played with it for several weeks, and still have the installation on the SD card, though have not run it up for some time. But I plan to return to AI on the Pi -- both Alexa and Google Assistant. :)

[@leecherlarry]

kudos for not having formatted the SDcard, but I will do so after I am done with playing with AlexaPi. Right now I am finishing the installation following your very video, thanks a million for the super well made production. Looking forward to your adventures in GooglePi 😇 , have a wonderful week ttys Chris!

[@ExplainingComputers]

The fun bit here is setting it up and making it happen! :)

[@leecherlarry]

am still struggling 😁. "mvn : command not found"-common error, troubleshooting found, wishing myself better luck😂. Progressing's a bit fun and exciting, I agree!

[@leecherlarry]

apparently the wifi connection got lost. I rebooted, then reinstalled the "automated*.sh" and made sure that wifi signal was rock solid. now everything is working. wake word detection works well!

[@davilescano]

what a great video!! looking forward to give it a go! keep the good work up!

[@computergeek9319]

Nice video! Even though i've only watched 1 second

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)