Madelyn’s Alexa-Pi Project

Overview

In this project, the Raspberry Pi is being used to create an Amazon echo. The Amazon Echo is a device with voice control that you can do many things with, such as, set reminders, search on the internet, and play music. The actual Amazon Echo is about is $80-$100, but with the Raspberry Pi, you can cut that cost in half. Making a project with a Raspberry Pi can be very exciting and makes you feel smart knowing you created something yourself by coding.

Parts Used

Tutorials Used

I used and tried many blogs and tutorials to create this project

1. https://lifehacker.com/the-simplest-way-to-build-a-raspberry-pi-powered-amazon-1794218212
2. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/diy-amazon-alexa-raspberry-pi/
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWzTdv5HbVU
4. https://howchoo.com/g/zjrhmjc4mwi/build-your-own-raspberry-pi-amazon-echo

The tutorial I used to load NOOBS:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0lA9FuZIjo

Programming the Pi

When I first started the project, nothing was working. I had to load NOOBS onto the SD card because mine did not come preloaded for some reason. After I figured out how to load it onto the card, I finally got it up and running. Then, I had to create an Amazon Developer account which was pretty simple. Then came the coding part. This seemed very simple but after I finished the tutorials I realized something was not right. I deleted everything and started over about five times. Trying the first tutorial twice and the other tutorials once. None of them worked until I tried to the last one. I typed in all the coding and I finally heard “Hello.” When I heard that I got so excited because of how frustrated I was with the first three tutorials.

Final Thought

All in all, the project was simple. The coding was easy to follow. The only tricky and frustrating parts of this project was loading the NOOBS and when the tutorials didn’t work. But when I finally got it to work it was exciting and fun to play around with.

I recommend this project for beginners because it is simple and easy to follow. The only thing I would change is the tutorials I used. I am not sure went wrong with the first tutorials but for some reason they did not work for me. I’m just glad the final tutorial I used worked and I definitely recommend that tutorial for people needing to figure it out.