The Absolute list of Alexa Commands thus Far

If you need someone to talk to, Alexa is a good option. Always listening, Alexa will be open to the most of your suggestions. And now you can talk to Alexa anywhere using Amazon Echo, Dot, smartphone apps and even through the television with the FireStick (just remember to walk away from the light).

To wake Alexa, just say Alexa. You can change it to Amazon, Echo or Dot using the Amazon Alexa mobile app if you prefer. So if you just broke up with someone named Alexa, you could change it to Dot. If you have Amazon Tap or Amazon Fire TV, there is a button you will need to press to wake Alexa to make a request.

It is important to remember that every command begins with “Alexa,” unless you changed it to Dot to spare yourself the heartache of saying “Alexa” over and over again. Amazon Echo and Dot can understand natural language, so you don’t have to state the command correctly, as long as you speak clearly Alexa should be able to comprehend what question you want to ask.

Amazon Echo has been able to grow the number connected devices and third-party services to a pretty impressive amount. With new tools come new commands, which means that this list will always be a work in progress. We will always do our best to keep you current on all of the commands; these are the ones we have so far.

Basic Commands

• Request help: “Alexa, help.”
• Stop or pause: “Alexa, stop” or “Alexa, shut up.”
• Mute or unmute: “Alexa, quiet” o “Alexa, unmute.”
• Adjust volume: “Alexa, louder,” “Alexa set the volume to 7” or “Alexa, turn the volume up or down.”

Date and Time Commands

• Set the alarm: “Alexa, wake me up at 7 am” or “Alexa, adjust the alarm for 7 am.”
• Set a recurring alarm: “Alexa set a recurring alarm Monday through Friday at 7 am.”
• Set a timer: “Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes.”
• Set multiple timers: “Alexa, set another timer for 15 min.”
• Check timers: “Alexa, how much time is left on the second timer?”
• Request current time: “Alexa, what time is it?”
• Request current date: “Alexa, what is the date?”
• Ask for next alarm time: “Alexa, what time is my next alarm?”
• Snooze alarm: “Alexa, snooze.”
• Date request: “Alexa what day is Easter on this year?”

Media Commands

• Play music: “Alexa, play music.”
• Request a song or artist: “Alexa, play Stevie Wonder.”
• Request a song based on lyrics or artist: “Alexa, play me something from Earth, Wind & Fire” or “Alexa play the song that goes “let’s groove tonight.”
• Find out who sings a song: “Alexa, who sings the song “Happy” from the Despicable Me movie?”
• Locate the name of band members: “Alexa, who is in the band Fitz & the Tantrums?”
• Request album information: “Alexa, what year did Pete Yorn release Burrito?”
• Locate popular music from an artist: “Alexa, find the latest Pete Yorn album.”
• Sample music: “Alexa, sample songs by Coin.”
• Request song information: “Alexa, what song is this?”
• Manage music: “Alexa, play next song” or “Alexa, next.”
• Restart song: “Alexa restart.”
• Request to add a song to Prime Music library: “Alexa, add this song.”
• Play a Pandora station: “Alexa, play Stevie Wonder on Pandora.”
• Play a Spotify playlist: “Alexa, play Motown playlist on Spotify.”
• Play a station on TuneIn: “Alexa, play Alternative rock station on TuneIn.”
• Like or unlike songs on Pandora: “Alexa, thumbs up.” or “Alexa I don’t like this song.”
• Enroll in Amazon Music Unlimited trial: “Alexa, enroll me in Amazon Music Unlimited trial.”
• Set stop time: “Alexa, stop playing music in 30 minutes.”
• Request an audiobook: “Alexa, play Brave New World on Audible,” “Alexa, play Brave New World” or “Alexa, read Brave New World.”
• Request to resume an audiobook: “Alexa, continue my book.”
• Skip audiobook chapters: “Alexa, next chapter” or “Alexa, previous chapter.”
• Request a Kindle book be read to you: “Alexa, read me my Kindle book.”

News and Weather Commands

• Check headlines: “Alexa, what is the current news?”
• Check weather: “Alexa, what is today’s forecast?”, “Alexa, will it snow today?” or “Alexa, do I need to wear mittens today?”
• Request a weather forecast: “Alexa, what will the weather be like on Saturday?”
• Request traffic information: “Alexa, what is the current traffic like?”

Movies and Restaurants

• Find movies in nearby theaters: “Alexa, what movies are playing?” or “Alexa, what funny movies are playing this weekend?”
• Get movie details: “Alexa, tell me about Manchester by the Sea.”
• Find cast information about movies: “Alexa, who is in Manchester by the Sea?”
• Get IMDB Rating: “Alexa, what is the IDMB rating for Zoolander?”
• Find an actor’s latest work: “Alexa, what is the last movie Ryan Reynolds was in?”
• Find out who an actor is: “Alexa, who plays King Ned in Game of Thrones?”
• Find local restaurants: “Alexa, find a local pizza place.”
• Find distinct cuisines: “Alexa, which Thai restaurant is closest to me?”
• Request business information “Alexa, what hours is Thai Thai open?” or “Alexa, what is the address to the Pretty Puppy Doggy Daycare?”

Task, Calendar and To-Do List Commands

• Create a new task for a to-do list: “Alexa, add pick up Spike at the dog spa to my to-do list” or “Alexa make an appointment with my eye doctor.”
• Add a new to-do list item: “Alexa, create a to-do.”
• Check calendar entries: “Alexa, what is on my calendar for Tuesday?”
• Add a calendar entry: “Alexa, add Eye Appointment to my calendar for Thursday at 4:00 pm” or “Alexa, add an event to my calendar.”
• Build a shopping list: “Alexa, add sugar to my grocery list.” or “Alexa, I need to buy eggs.”
• Review shopping list: “Alexa, what is on my grocery list so far?”

Math Commands

• Basic measurements: “Alexa, how many teaspoons are in 1/8 cup?”
• Simple math: “Alexa what is 25 divided by 6?” or “Alexa, what is 30 times 2?”
• Advanced math: “Alexa, what is the square root of 4,576?”

Dictionary and Spelling Commands

• Define a word: “Alexa, what does superfluously mean?”
• Spell a word: “Alexa, how do you spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?”

Purchase Commands

• Reorder standard items: “Alexa, buy more laundry pods” or “Alexa, buy more laundry pods.”
• Track Amazon packages: “Alexa, when will my order arrive?” or “Alexa, follow my last order.”
• Order a device from Amazon: “Alexa, order an Echo” or “Alexa, order an Amazon FireStick.”
• Add an item to your cart: “Alexa, add cat treats to my order.”
• Request a Lift or Uber: “Alexa, ask Uber for a ride” or “Alexa, call for a Lyft ride.”
• Buy the music you are listening to: “Alexa, buy this song” or “Alexa, buy this album.”
• Buy new music: “Alexa, purchase new music from POP ETC.”
• Purchase a song or album: “Alexa, buy First from Cold War Kids.”
• Check for sales: “Alexa, what are your current deals?”

Sports Commands

• Check final scores: “Alexa, what was the final score in the Browns game?”
• Ask if a team won: “Alexa, did the Blue Jackets win?”
• Ask when the next game is: “Alexa when is the next Penguins game?”
• Get updates on your teams: “Alexa, give me my sports update.”
• Check on your fantasy teams using the Yahoo Fantasy Football skill: “Alexa, ask Yahoo Fantasy Football where I rank this week.” or “Alexa ask Yahoo Fantasy Football if the Jets have a bi-week.”

Voicecast Commands

• Send current content to a Fire tablet: “Alexa, send that to my Fire tablet.”
• Post current content to another user: “Alexa, send this to Austin’s tablet.”

Smart Home Commands

Alexa has one of the most robust smart home platforms, with integrations from Samsung SmartThings, Wink, WeMo, Philips Hue and many others. While some may require skills to be enabled, others don’t. These are some of the most common commands for smart home integrations, but there are a lot more out there.

• Temperature settings: “Alexa, set the temperature to 75 degrees.”
• Adjust temperature: “Alexa, lower the temperature by 2 degrees.”
• Manage lights: “Alexa, turn the lights in the kitchen off” or “Alexa, turn the lights in the master bedroom on.”
• Lock doors: “Alexa, lock all of the doors” or “Alexa, lock the front door.”
• Close the garage door: “Alexa, ask Garageio to close the garage door.”
• Access IFTTT recipes: “Alexa, trigger shopping list.”
• Activate a scene: “Alexa, turn on Party Time.”*
• Pair a Bluetooth device: “Alexa, pair” or “Alexa, pair to Bluetooth.”
• Use a Bluetooth device: “Alexa, connect to my phone.”
• Stop using a Bluetooth device: “Alexa, disconnect my tablet.”
• Use Geneva skill to manage GE appliances: “Alexa, ask Geneva to start the dryer” or “Alexa, ask Geneva to turn the stove off.”
• Use TrackR Lost my Phone skill: “Alexa, ask TrackR to find my phone.”
• Use Harmony hub to control the television: “Alexa, turn Hulu on” or “Alexa, shut down the TV.”

*Activate a scene is limited to Insteon, Lutron, Philips Hue, Control4, Wink, and SmartThings.

Search Commands

• Request Wikipedia information: “Alexa, Wikipedia: Hemmingway Cats.”
• Ask Alexa to read your Wikipedia request: “Alexa, tell me more.”
• General questions: “Alexa, which ocean is the warmest?”
• Ask for a quote: “Alexa, find me a Hemmingway quote.”

Skill Commands

• Enable a skill: “Alexa, enable The Magic Door.”
• Disable a skill: “Alexa, disable FitBit.”

User Commands

• Change accounts: “Alexa, switch accounts.”
• Ask what profile is active: “Alexa, which profile is this?”

Easter Eggs

Alexa loves Easter Eggs and so do we, and luckily there are a lot of them to love. We have added some of our favorites funny ones below; we think you will enjoy the replies as much as we do.

• “Alexa, your mother was a hamster.”
• “Alexa, I want the truth.”
• “Alexa, what is the answer to rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock?
• “Alexa, beam me up.”
• “Alexa, what is your quest?”
• “Alexa, may the force be with you.”
• “Alexa, open the pod bay doors.”
• “Alexa, do you know the muffin man?”
• “Alexa, tell me a joke.”
• “Alexa, do you know Siri?”
• “Alexa, Tea, Earl Grey. Hot.”
• “Alexa, what is the first rule of fight club?”
• “Alexa, I am your father.”
• “Alexa, I want to play global thermonuclear war.”

Flash Briefing

The Flash Briefing is one of the most useful options Alexa has to offer. It is a customizable new update that Alexa can read to you, or send to a device for you to read. It allows you to choose news sources and then order them based on your preferences.

It comes with several news channels already added, so the first thing you will want to do is to build your own list. There are two ways to add feeds to your briefing. These are the steps to adjusting your feed using alexa.amazon.com or the Amazon Alexa app:

• Click on Settings and select Flash Briefing

• Click on Get more FlashBriefing content.

• Search for the feed you want to add.
• Click the link for the feed.
• Click Enable Skill this will add it to your news feed.

You can also use the Skills command to add news feeds to your Flash Briefing:

• Click on Skills
• Click on Categories then click on News
• Select the name of a skill and click Enable Skill to activate it.

If you have a feed you want to remove, you can do so by following these steps:

• Click on Settings.
• Select Flash Briefing.
• Choose which feeds you want to remove and use the toggle switch to disable them.

You can also reorder your feeds using the Settings and Flash Briefing options. Once you have your Flash Briefing set up you just need to use the command “Alexa, what is my Flash Briefing” to review the news of the day.

Keep checking back, as we will update this article to make sure you have the most up to date list of Alexa commands.  Until next time, Alexa out!

 

 

 

The post The Absolute list of Alexa Commands thus Far appeared first on Home Security List.

source https://www.homesecuritylist.com/absolute-list-alexa-commands-thus-far/

The Absolute List of All Current Google Home Commands

If you aren’t familiar with Google Home, it’s a smart home voice command center. Recently introduced in November 2016 Google Home is a smart home speaker that allows you to control your smart home devices by voice. It uses Google Assistant to manage everything from your daily tasks list to turning on and off the lights in your home. And if you find yourself with nothing to do, it will even play trivia games with you.

Simple voice commands will allow the Google Assistant to know what you want. After testing the current commands, we have put together all of the known Google Home controls. These are the ones we know will work with Google Assistant as of today.

Before you can communicate with Google Home, you have to wake it up. Just a simple “OK Google” or “Hey Google” should do the trick. Once you have awakened Google Assistant, you can talk to it using a conversational tone to give commands. For instance, if you are trying to find a YouTube video with kittens, you can just say “OK Google, I want to watch a video with kittens.” and it will find one for you, and it won’t even judge your taste in videos.

You can use the commands below (edited to your unique requests of course) to communicate with Google Assistant.

Basic Commands

• Request help: “OK Google, help.”
• Volume adjustments: “Louder,” “OK Google, turn it up” or my favorite one “Turn it up to 11.”
• Stop an action: “OK Google, Stop,” “Pause” or “Be Quiet.”

Action Commands

• Add an item to a shopping list: “OK Google, add milk to my shopping list.”
• Check what is on a shopping list: “OK Google, what is on my shopping list?”
• Recipes: “OK Google, how do I make Coq Au Vin?”
• Alarm: “OK Google set the alarm for 7:00 am.”
• Snooze alarm: “OK Google, snooze alarm.”
• Cancel alarm: “OK Google, cancel alarm for 7:00 am.”
• Current location: “OK Google, where am I?”
• Current Time: “OK Google, what time is it?”
• Translations: “OK Google, how do I say where is the hotel in Italian?”
• International time: “OK Google, what time is it in Florence, Italy?”
• Roll the dice: “OK Google, roll a die” or “OK Google, roll a 6-sided die.”
• Flip a coin: “OK Google, flip a coin.”
• Equations: “OK Google, how much is 5% of 235?”
• Measurements: “OK Google, how many tablespoons equal 1/8 cup?”
• Set a timer: “OK Google, set a timer for 60 minutes.”
• Stop timer: “OK Google, halt the timer for 60 minutes.”
• Check timer: “OK Google, how much time is left on my timer?”
• Daily updates (you set these based on your preferences, it can include weather, traffic, and news): “OK Google, Good Morning.”
• Request a Lyft: “OK Google, order a Lyft.”
• Tune an Instrument: “OK Google, tune my instrument.” (you should specify how you want it tuned, you will also need to say “note” after you say what note you want Google home to play “OK Google, play an A flat note”)

Search Commands

• Words: “OK Google, what does superfluous mean?”
• Spelling: “OK Google, how do you spell unnecessary?”
• Things: “OK Google, what is an aquifer?”
• Facts: “OK Google, who invented antibiotics?”
• Inventors: “OK Google, who invented the lightning rod?”
• Authors: “OK Google, who wrote Of Mice and Men?”
• Quotes: “OK Google, give me a quote from Helen Keller.”
• Medical Information: “OK Google, what is does it mean to be near-sighted?”
• Animal sound: “OK Google, what sound does a whale make?”
• Place: “OK Google, what country is Brussels in?”
• Businesses: “OK Google, is there a UPS store near me?”
• Business information: “OK Google, how late is the UPS store open?”
• Distance: “OK Google, how far is the UPS store from here?”
• Restaurants: “OK Google, is there a Panera near me?”
• Calories: “OK Google, how many calories are in a blueberry bagel?”
• Stocks: “OK Google, how is my Apple stock doing?”
• Weather: “OK Google, will I need a jacket today?” or “OK Google, will it rain today?”
• Traffic: “OK Google, how is the traffic on my way to the gym?”

News, Sports and Entertainment Commands

• News Updates: “OK Google, what is in the news today?”
• Sports Updates: “OK Google, which teams are in the NFL playoffs?”
• Sports Scores: “OK Google, what was the final score of the Cavaliers game?”
• Sports Team Information: “OK Google, who is the starting quarterback for the Bengals?
• Movie Releases: “OK Google, what new movies came out this week?”
• Movie Casts: “OK Google who starred in As Good as it Gets?
• Television Shows by Network: “OK Google what shows are on A&E?

Music, Video and Television Commands

• Request Music: “OK, Google, play some rock music.” or “OK Google, play some classical music.”
• Ask a particular artist or song: “OK Google, play Dave Matthews.” or “OK Google, play The Warehouse.”
• Request a song using lyrics: “OK Google, play that song that goes “Wanna pack your bags, something small.”
• Ask to play a song from your Google Play playlist or album: “OK Google, play my workout playlist” or “OK Google, play album Under the Table and Dreaming.”
• Ask what song is playing: “OK Google, what song is playing now?” or “OK Google what album are you playing?”
• Ask for details: “OK Google when was this album released?”
• Rewind or Fast Forward: “OK Google, fast forward by ten seconds.”
• Choose speaker option: “OK Google, play Come with Me Now on speaker five.”
• Play videos using Chromecast on YouTube: “OK Google, play The Daily Show on TV1.”
• Review lists on YouTube: “OK Google, show me what is popular on YouTube on TV1.”
• Access a movie on Netflix with Chromecast: “OK Google, play The Dark Knight on TV1.”
• Play Spotify: “OK Google, play Muse on Spotify.”
• Play Pandora: “OK Google, play Drake.”
• Like or Dislike a song on Pandora: “OK Google, like this song.”
• Play music using YouTube Music: “OK Google, play St. Motel on YouTube.”
• Play stations on TuneIn: “OK Google, play the alternative station on TuneIn.”

Google Home

Currently Google Home only works with a limited amount of smart home devices.  SmartThings, Philips Hue, Nest, IFTTT, and Chromecast are now integrated with Google Home, which can make interactions limited. But Google Home is also still in its infancy. You can expect new integrations regularly. These are the current Smart Home commands:

• Manage Nest thermostat: “OK Google, turn the temperature to 72 degrees.”
• Make Small Adjustments to Nest: “OK Google, lower the temperature by two degrees.”
• Turn on/off  Philips Hue lights: “OK Google, turn the living room lights off.”
• Adjust Hue colors: “OK Google, turn the lights blue.”
• Dim Hue lights: “OK Google, dim the lights to 30 percent.
• Create custom phrases for IFTTT: “OK Google, let’s rock and roll.”

Third-party Integrations

Google has recently added “Actions for Google Assistant,” these third-party options are similar to Amazon’s Alexa. However, you do not have to activate them; they are already enabled. You can find all of the Actions on the Google Home app. Just go to More settings>Services to get a full list of interactions and commands, here are a few to get you started:

• Product Hunt: “OK Google, talk to Product Hunt.”
• Tender: “OK Google, can I talk to Tender to learn to make a mojito?
• Domino’s: “OK Google, can I talk to Domino’s to place an order?
• Todoist: “OK Google, what is my next task on Todoist?
• Best Dad Jokes: “OK Google, talk to Best Dad Jokes.”

Easter Eggs

Because you always need some random silliness…

• “OK Google, it’s not my birthday.”
• “OK Google, are you feeling lucky?”
• “OK Google, make me laugh.”
• “OK Google, beatbox.”
• “OK Google, sing me a song.”
• “OK Google, which movie do you like best, Star Trek or Star Wars?
• “OK Google, who is the fairest of them all?”
• “OK Google, surprise me.”
• “OK Google, set phasers to kill.”
• “OK Google, Hodor.”
• “OK Google, read a poem.”
• “OK Google, where is Waldo?”
• “OK Google, do a barrel roll.”

Tired of saying “Hey” or “OK Google”? Try “OK Boo Boo” it’s more fun, and Google Home will respond to the command. If you have a Google Pixel phone, you should be able to get these fun Easter eggs on your smartphone as well.

We will update this list to make sure you are always aware of the latest updates and new commands. Google Home is just getting started; there is a lot to look forward to in the future.

 

The post The Absolute List of All Current Google Home Commands appeared first on Home Security List.

source https://www.homesecuritylist.com/absolute-list-current-google-home-commands/

How to Make Your Home Automation System in Under $40 [DIY Project]

While there are tons of smart home devices available in the market, the truth is that you’ll need a big budget to invest in a sophisticated home automation setup off the shelf. For instance, a standard LIFX Smart Bulb costs $59, and considering an average home has at least 12-15 light points, you’ll need to spend a staggering $885 on bulbs.

And that’s not it. If you wish to combine that with an additional temperature sensor or motion sensor, you’ll also have to buy a central automation controller, which could take the total cost to around $1000. Don’t believe the math? Have a look at the below screenshot from Amazon for the above home automation setup:

But what if I told you that it’s possible to build a DIY home automation system at a fractional cost, like, as low as $40? Won’t that be awesome? Of course, creating such a setup requires a fair bit of technical expertise, but for people who are willing to climb up the learning curve, the ROI is exponentially high.  

What You’ll Get:

By the end of the tutorial, you’ll be able to build an affordable, scalable and intuitive home automation system that has realistic home automation use-cases, and which can be controlled easily from your iOS/Android device.

Using the DIY home automation setup, you’ll be able be monitor room temperature, track motion, dim lights/fans, and turn on any electrical device from your computer or smartphone. To give you an idea of how the user interface would look, take a look at the screenshot below (it’s exactly the kind of interface you’ll get, if you follow the tutorial).

Stuff You’ll Need for the project:

 

Here’s a list of all the items that you’ll need to purchase for creating a home automation setup. All the items can easily be purchased from Amazon (the links have been attached):

• 1x NodeMCU board (Price: $8).
• 1x Relay (Price: $6)
• 1x TMP36 Temperature sensor (Price: $ 2)
• 1x HC-SR501 PIR Sensor (Price: $2)
• 9-12V 1.0A DC Adapter (Price: $6)
• 3.3V/5V power supply module (Price: $6)
• 1x Breadboard (Price: $5)
• Jumper/electric wires (Price: $1)
• Bidirectional logic-level shifter (Price: $1)
• 1x bulb/appliance that you want to control (Price: $2)

Crunching the above numbers, the cost of running your home automation pilot project comes down to around $39. That’s freaking awesome, considering a typical automation system costs a lot more, and can’t be custom-made to suit your individual needs.

[DISCLAIMER: Please note that the NodeMCU based system solves a basic home automation use-case (controlling devices and monitoring environment), and it’s NOT a replacement/alternative to mass market automation products.

Of course, we can build up on the basic use-case, and create more intricate setups, like IFTTT integration or inter-node communication, but they’re out of the scope for this article. We will be adding more advanced DIY home automation tutorials in the future.

Setting up the Hardware

Once you have all the above mentioned hardware parts, the next step is to connect them. Now, instead of showing you the exact circuit diagram of the final circuit, I thought it would be a better idea to gradually build it, so that you have a better understanding of how to connect additional components in the future.

First, we start by connecting a single relay with our NodeMCU controller. Here’s the circuit diagram for it:

As you can see from the above diagram, I powered up the NodeMCU from a 3.3V/5V power module. Now you might be wondering why I’m using an external 3.3V/5V power supply, when I can get the power directly from NodeMCU. Well, I know some of you might have already guessed it, here’s exactly why I went for an external power supply:  

1. The relay needs 5V input signal and has a high current drawing tendency, especially while switching.
2. Since we would be connecting a temperature and motion sensor at later point, it makes sense to have a dedicated power supply for them.
3. The external power module can be powered from a general-purpose 12V, 1.0A DC adapter, and can provide two different voltage levels (5.0V and 3.3V) for powering the circuitry (convenient for expanding the scope).

Next, I connected the IN pin of the SMD relay to a bi-directional level shifter, instead of connecting it directly to D7 pin of NodeMCU. Again, the reason for this choice is simple. As the relay operates on 5V, we would need to level shift the HIGH signal (3.3V) coming from NodeMCU to relay’s HIGH (5.0V).

Lastly, I have connected the relay in series with my bulb/electrical appliance, so that it acts as a switch (or circuit breaker!). Here’s a more simplified diagram of the connected relay circuit:

 

Now, there are three terminals on the relay: NO (Normally Open), Normally Connected (NC) and Common (C). As shown in the diagram, the C terminal of the relay would be connected to live wire on the power supply, while the NO terminal would get directly connected to the bulb. In case you’re wondering why I have connected them in such a manner, take a look at the pictorial representation of how these terminals work:

As you can see, the NC terminal is connected to the C terminal when the circuit is open, while the NO terminal gets connected to the C terminal, only when the circuit gets closed. Since we need to turn on the bulb when D7 pin gets high, we need to use the NO terminal.

Connecting it to an IoT Cloud service

Now that we are done with setting up the hardware, the next step is to connect the circuit with an IoT cloud service. But how do we do that? After all, in order to connect to any cloud service, we would need to be first connected to the Internet, right?

Well, here’s exactly where the magic of NodeMCU unveils. The nifty little microcontroller comes with an ESP8266 onboard, which means it can communicate through Wi-Fi and operate on the TCP/IP stack. That means we already have a Network layer for our setup, so we can go ahead and run our application on it.

For the setup, we would be using a drag-and-drop IoT builder service from a startup called myDevices. The platform is extremely easy-to-use (when compared to other IoT cloud platforms), and absolutely FREE for makers.

In order to connect with Cayenne, we would need to create an account and obtain the unique identifier for our device. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to https://cayenne.mydevices.com/cayenne/login and click on SIGN UP.
2. Sign up on the platform using your email id and password. Once you’re logged in, you should be able to a screen like this:
   
   
   
   
3. Click on Arduino→ Next → Arduino Uno → Wi-Fi shield. Once you select the option, a popup should open up with the code. Copy the code and paste it in a notepad file. [Note: Leave the window open. Do not close it. We will come back to it after running our code on NodeMCU.]

Uploading the code

Prerequisite: Arduino IDE and NodeMCU drivers

Now, the next step is to upload the code on your NodeMCU. In order to do that, you’ll first need to download Arduino IDE on your machine. You can download it, here.  After downloading the IDE, based on the system that you’re using, you would need to install the drivers for NodeMCU. You can download the needed drivers from here.

Once you have installed the IDE and drivers, open the Arduino IDE on your machine and do the following:

1. Click on Sketch→ Include Library → Manage Libraries → Search for “Cayenne”. Install the library. (Don’t download the CayenneMQTT library. You don’t need it, for this tutorial.)
2. Now, click on File→ New, and copy the code from the popup, here. In the code, there would be a line, which reads something like this:
   
   // Cayenne authentication token. This should be obtained from the Cayenne Dashboard.
char token[] = "xyzxyzxyz";
// Your network name and password.
char ssid[] = "NetworkSSID";
char password[] = "NetworkPassword";Set the ssid variable to your Wi-Fi network’s SSID and enter the password for the network. Save the file.
3. Next, go to Tools → Boards→ Board Manager → Search for “NodeMCU”. Install the “esp8266” board family on your IDE.
4. Once the installation completes, go to Tools → Board → NodeMCU. Keep CPU frequency as 80 Mhz, Flash size as 4M, and upload speed as 115200 (You can change these variables based on your model, but the above configurations should work).
5. Next, go ahead and select the port in Tools → Port. It should ideally be the last option, with the name “USB-TTL”.
6. Once you’ve selected the board, click on Sketch → Upload to upload the code on your NodeMCU. It should take a few seconds for the code to be uploaded on NodeMCU.

 

After you have uploaded the code on NodeMCU, click on Tools → Serial Monitor, it should open up a window, like this one:

If you can see an output that reads something like this: “Connect Success… Ready”

Congratulations! You have successfully connected your NodeMCU to cloud. You can go ahead and go back to the Cayenne dashboard window in the browser. You should now be able to see a screen, like this:

Running the setup on your smartphone

Now that you have connected the setup to cloud, you can go ahead and download the Cayenne app on your iOS or Android device.

1. Open the app and sign into your account. You would get a single option on the Devices screen, labelled “Arduino Uno”. Click on it.
2. You’ll be navigated to a blank screen. Click on the “Add” button icon on the top.
3. Go to Actuators → Relay. It should open up a window like this one:
   
   

Select the following:

I/O → Digital

Pin → D13 (I know we have connected it to D7 pin on NodeMCU, but the cloud platform thinks we are using an Arduino. And here’s how the mapping works:

Device Widget → Button

Invert Logic → Off

Choose Icon → Light

Once you have configured the relay, click “Add”. Wait for a few seconds, as it might take a while. Once done, it should display a message that reads something like “Relay successfully added to your project”. Woah! You just connected your relay with smartphone.

Now go to your dashboard, and tap the switch. You should now be able to turn light on/off from your smartphone. Pretty cool, right?

Adding sensors

You can go a step further and add temperature and motion sensor to your automation setup. Here’s how I managed to hook up a TMP36 temperature sensor and PIR motion sensor with NodeMCU:

You can go ahead and just connect the parts as shown above. I have used breadboard for prototyping, but once you have tested it, you can solder the components on a PCB board. For mapping the data pins of NodeMCU with Cayenne digital pins, you can refer the PIN definition diagram given above.

For instance, D1 on NodeMCU → GPIO5 on Arduino, and that’s why you need to select D5 when configuring PIR sensor. Similarly D2 on NodeMCU → GPIO4, so you need to select D4 for temperature sensor. You can add theses sensors from the app itself, just like you added the relay to your project. It’s a fairly straight-forward process, with no coding involved.

[Note: While configuring TMP36 temperature sensor, you’ll get an additional option, whether you wish to use Virtual pin or Analog Pin. Select Analog Pin→ A0.]

Setting triggers and notifications

Cayenne also allows you to set triggers and notifications, which means you can get instant notifications when the PIR motion sensor detects movement, or the temperature sensor measures a reading high above the threshold.

While the above setup was all about active control, you can use triggers to gain passive control over the system, or monitor activity in the background.

In order to set a trigger, go to Cayenne→ Triggers. In the If <Trigger> then <Notify > tab, tap on Trigger. Click on if (+) icon. Once you’re on the screen, it should give you all the possible options. For instance, you can select Motion Sensor and then have it configured for motion events (1-> Motion, 0-> No Motion).

You can even click on the ”Test” icon at top, to simulate the event, and know whether the trigger works. For now, the system supports only email notifications, but hopefully, we would be able to do a lot more in the future.

Over to you

I hope the guide helped you in kicking start with a basic home automation setup. Please note that above tutorial provides just boilerplate code for creating something awesome, and we expect you to take it a step further. For instance, you can use IFTTT’s Maker channel to connect your home automation setup with thousands of other platforms, including Amazon Echo, Nest, SmartThings, LIFX, Philips Hue, and much more.

Also, in case you feel stuck or have an opinion that you would like to share with us, please feel free to give a shout in the comments section below. We’d love to help.  

The post How to Make Your Home Automation System in Under $40 [DIY Project] appeared first on Home Security List.

source https://www.homesecuritylist.com/make-home-automation-system-40-diy-project/

How to Turn Your Raspberry Pi into Amazon Echo (Alexa)

Amazon’s nifty little AI-powered voice-assistant, Alexa, that can process contextual queries in human voice has taken the world by storm. It’s been barely two years since Amazon launched its powerful voice service, and the company has already sold 5 million devices, and positioned itself as the ultimate home automation gadget.

The primary reason behind the widespread popularity of AVS (Amazon Voice Service) is the powerful platform that it provides to collaborators for developing interactive voice apps. Perhaps, that’s the reason why Amazon’s Alexa conquered CES 2017, and how from Ford to Martian, from LG to Whirlpool, nearly every conceptual design had in-built Alexa integration.

As you can now control a wide array of home automation devices using just your voice, it makes sense for every smart home enthusiast to buy Alexa. However, I’m a big-time DIY person, and I thought it would be really exciting to see if it’s possible to install Alexa on my Raspberry Pi.

While I expected the setup to be a complicated process, it turned out that the setup was fairly straightforward, In fact, I was able to complete the whole setup in less than an hour. It also cost significantly lesser than Echo (almost nothing), as I hooked up peripherals that I already had at my workplace.

Introduction

In this article, I’m going to walk you through how you can turn your Raspberry Pi into Amazon Echo. The setup requires a fair bit of technical expertise, since you’ll be running commands on Linux terminal and editing shell scripts on Raspberry Pi.

However, by the end of the guide, you will have a fully functional Amazon Echo device that can respond to your voice commands and take actions. You’ll be able to do unit conversions, check weather, get sport updates, listen to podcasts and tons of other things.

But that’s not even the best part.

Once you’re through the entire setup, you’ll be able to alter Alexa’s settings through your iPhone or Android device, just like you’ll be able to do that on a real Echo. That means you will be able to create smart skills that allow you to control connected devices, like LIFX or Nest Thermostat, with your voice. If that’s not enough, you will even be able to call a cab, order a pizza or know what’s the next item on your to-do list just by asking Alexa.

Here’s how the end setup looks like….

(Note: The PlayStation Eye camera is used for capturing the voice.)

For the project, I used all the components that I could find lying around my desk. Of course, you could get a good quality microphone, instead of a PlayStation Eye camera. I’ve connected my portable speaker through 3.5 mm port (you could use a better one!), and I’m using wireless bluetooth keyboard and mouse to program my Pi.

The whole setup cost me less than $59 (Raspberry Pi Model 3: $39 + Portable Speaker: $8 + PlayStation Eye Camera: $7). I’ve not included the cost of wireless mouse and keyboard, as you don’t require them to send voice commands (they are needed just for programming Pi).

Here’s all the stuff you’ll need for the project:

• Raspberry Pi 3 (recommended) or any older version of Raspberry Pi. You can even use Raspberry Pi Zero, but you’ll need to buy an additional USB Wi-Fi adapter, for older models of Pi.
• 8 GB SD Card with Raspbian (Jessie) installed
• Micro-USB cable (for powering Pi)
• 3.5 mm Bluetooth or plugged-in speaker (for hearing Alexa’s voice)
• An USB microphone for sending voice commands. However, for this demo, I have used the cheap $8 PlayStation Eye Camera, as it was laying around my desk.
• Keyboard, display and mouse (for running the setup)

How to Install Alexa Voice Service on Raspberry Pi

Step 1:  Setup your Raspberry Pi

The first step is to connect setup your Raspberry Pi and get it up and running. In case you haven’t already installed Raspbian on your Pi, you can go ahead and download the latest version, here. Once you have downloaded the image file, the next step is to burn the image file on your SD card. Here’s the guide you can follow to successfully create a bootable SD card with Raspbian installed.

After installing Raspbian, the next step is to connect your keyboard and mouse with Raspberry Pi. If you’re using a USB keyboard/mouse, it should be a fairly straight-forward process. However, if you’re using a wireless bluetooth mouse/keyboard set, you’ll need to pair that up with Raspberry Pi. Again, if you’re using Model 3, you don’t need to buy an external bluetooth dongle, but in case you’re using older versions, you may need to get a compatible Bluetooth adapter to get things going. Lastly, you’ll need to connect your Pi to a HDMI display, so that you’re able to see the output.

[Tip: In case you don’t want to spend money on buying an external display, mouse or keyboard, you can even connect to your Raspberry Pi using VNC (Virtual Network Computing). Here’s a guide on how to setup VNC on your Pi. ]

Once you have your Pi up and running, the next step is to configure the speakers and microphone. For that, connect your portable speaker to the 3.5 mm jack on your Raspberry Pi, and select “Analog” by right-clicking on the speaker menu on the top-right corner.

Next, connect your microphone (in my case– camera) to USB port of your Raspberry Pi, and run the following command on Terminal: alsamixer. You’ll be able to see a similar screen. Adjust the volume and sensitivity of your microphone, using arrow keys. Once you’re done, run the command sudo alsactl store to save the changed configurations.

Next, run the following sudo nano /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf  on Pi’s Terminal. It will open up an Editor window. Navigate below to the line that reads:

defaults.ctl.card 0 defaults.pcm.card 0

Change the above line to:

defaults.ctl.card 1 defaults.pcm.card 1

The above command should successfully set your speaker (connected via line-in) and microphone (connected via USB) as default.

Step 2:  Register for Amazon Developer Account

Before proceeding with the installation, you’ll need to register for a free Amazon Developer Account, so that you can link your DIY Echo with Alexa Voice Service (AVS). Once you have registered, you should be able to login and see a similar dashboard:

1. Once you’re on the dashboard, click on Alexa in the navigation menu. It’ll give you two options– Alexa Skills Set and Alexa Voice Service. Click on “Alexa Voice Service”.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click on “Register a Product Type”. It will ask whether you wish to register a device or an application. Click on Device.
   
   
3. After that, you’ll be asked to give your device a Type ID and Name. You can give it any name. For the example, we chose to name it Raspberry Pi.
   
   
   
   
4. Next, you’ll be asked whether you wish to create a new security profile. Click Next.
   
   
5. Make a note of your Client ID and Client Secret key from the below screen. You don’t need to make a note of the Security Profile ID.
   
6. Click on the “Web Settings” in the adjacent tab and once you’re on the tab, click on the “Edit” button on top-right. After you click on “Edit”, you’ll be able to add “Allowed Origins” and “Allowed Return URLs” for the the security profile.
   Click on “Add Another”, next to Allowed Origins, and type in: https://localhost:3000
   
   Click on “Add Another”, next to Allowed Return URLs, and type in:

   https://localhost:3000/authresponse. Once you’re done, click on “Next”.
   
   

7. Once you’re through that, you’ll be on the “Device Details” screen. It really doesn’t matter what you enter, here. So, pick an image for your device, choose a category, type in the description, set the expected timeline, enter the number of devices you wish to commercialize, and select “No” for children product.
   
   Click on “Next” when you’re done.
   
   
8. In the final step, you’ll be asked to add Amazon Music to the setup. However, the service does not really work on Raspberry Pi as of now, so click on “No” to finish the setup.

Step 3:  Install Alexa on Your Raspberry Pi

Now that you have a working Amazon Developer account and profile for an Alexa-powered device, it’s time to go ahead and install the voice service on your Raspberry Pi.

1. Open the Terminal on your Raspberry Pi and type: cd Desktop.
2. Type in git clone https://github.com/alexa/alexa-avs-sample-app.git and hit Enter. The command will fetch the code files from Amazon’s repository and download them on your Desktop.
3. Once that’s done, type cd ~/Desktop/alexa-avs-sample-app and hit Enter.
4. Type in nano automated_install.sh and press Enter.
5. It will pull up a text editor, that will look something like this:
   
   
   
   Enter the ProductID (the Type ID that you gave for the device in the first step), ClientID and ClientSecret (the keys from the security profile). You can use the arrow keys to navigate through the editor. Once you’re done, Type Ctrl + X to save and exit.
6. It should bring you back to the terminal window. Type in . automated_install.sh and hit Enter.
7. It should open up a prompt window, where you will be asked questions on the type of installation. Type “Y” for each question (the default configuration), or you may even choose to answer them as you wish. Once you’ve answered all the questions, grab a cup of coffee, and leave the computer alone. The setup will take at least 30-45 minutes to complete.
8. In the end, if you can see that the log trace reads, something like this:Congratulations!  You have successfully installed Alexa on your Raspberry Pi. But wait, the setup has not yet finished. You need to now run the companion service, followed by triggering the client and wake service.

Step 4:  Run Alexa Companion Service

Just like every application needs a server to communicate with, you need to first setup Alexa Companion service. The companion service acts as a gateway between Amazon’s servers and your personalized Echo device.

You can start the companion service by typing in the following command:

cd ~/Desktop/alexa-avs-sample-app/samples/companionService && npm start

It should start the companion service, and you should be able to see the message, which will read something like this: “Listening on Port 3000”

That means, you have successfully started the companion service, and it’s now listening to incoming requests. Leave the window open [WARNING: Do not close the window, as we want the server to be running, when we start our client service.], and proceed further.

Step 5:  Run the sample app and authenticate your account

The next step is to start the client service, which can send requests to your companion service.  In order to do that, open second Terminal window (File > New Window), and type in the following command:

cd ~/Desktop/alexa-avs-sample-app/samples/javaclient && mvn exec:exec

When you enter the command, a dialog box will pop up, asking you to authenticate your device. Click on Yes. It should open a browser window [Tip: In case the window does not appear, copy the link in the dialog box and open it in the browser].

In the meanwhile, a second popup will open in the Java app, asking you to click “Ok”, if you have already signed into Amazon. DO NOT click on “Ok”, yet.  

First, login into your Amazon account, and click on “Allow” when AVS asks for your permission. If the setup goes right and you have entered the right credentials (ProductID, ClientID and ClientSecret key), you’ll be able to see the following screen, which reads “device tokens ready”:

Once you see the above screen, close the browser and click on the “Ok” pop-up box in the Java app. Now, your Raspberry Pi has the necessary tokens to communicate with Amazon’s server and process your voice commands. You can test that by manually pressing the Listen button on the client application and saying “Hi” to Alexa.

But, wait, that’s not how Alexa works. Shouldn’t you be able to call her from anywhere? Well, there’s one final step left to get there ….

Step 6:  Trigger the wake word agent

Now that we have the client and server running, we need to create a daemon service that actively listens to user commands and triggers the client service, when they call for “Alexa”.

The wake word agent is already installed on your Raspberry Pi, as part of the initial setup, so you just need to invoke it. There are two options for wake word software, Sensory and KITT.AI. While both of them are available for free, Sensory expires after 90 days.

But, since we are running the setup for experimental purpose, let’s use Sensory. Open a new terminal window and type in the following command:

cd ~/Desktop/alexa-avs-sample-app/samples/wakeWordAgent/src && ./wakeWordAgent -e sensory

That’s it. Once you enter the above command, the wake word engine will start running, You can go ahead and try it out by saying “Alexa”. You should be able to hear a beep, indicating that it’s listening to your question. Try asking her something, like, “How’s the weather?”, “What’s in the news?”, or even “How far is Mars from Earth?”

Debugging Issues

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, you just end up getting stuck at an error, and have no idea where to go. But here are some of the most common errors and workarounds for setting up Alexa voice service for your Raspberry Pi:

1. Error page on authentication

   If you’re getting an authentication error when you try to give permissions to your client from the browser, it’s likely that you have entered the wrong combination of Product ID, ClientID and ClientSecret. Double check it with what you have on your AVS account. Make sure your Product ID is the Device ID for your Raspberry Pi and NOT your Security Profile ID.

2. Build failure on mvn exec:exec

   If you’re getting build failure error when you execute mvn exec:exec for your client application, it’s possible that not all dependencies listed in the POM file have been downloaded on your machine. The obvious reason for this is that your setup skipped downloading some files (Network error?), or you’re trying to install the service on Ubuntu or any other version of Linux (that is currently not supported).

3. java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException

   The error usually occurs, when you send a voice command to Alexa, but it takes too long to complete. It’s mostly a network issue, and the best trick, which has worked for most people, is to just restart Pi, network or Alexa client. It’s really not a setup issue, but a communication problem with the sever. For more information, visit the following thread.

4. Unable to find definition ‘cards.bcm2835.pcm.surround51.0:CARD=0’

   The error occurs when you’ve improperly configured your microphone or sound card. Depending on the device that you’re using, you might need to set it up with your Raspberry Pi. Read the following thread for more information.

5. Make sure AVS client is running

   The above error occurs, if you accidentally closed your client or server window, while triggering the wake agent service. Make sure that you have three terminal windows open while you’re running the setup.

Taking it Forward

As part of the tutorial, we have provided the boilerplate code for getting Amazon Echo up and running on your Raspberry Pi. If you’re interested in taking the project a step further, you can go ahead and make the set up a little more sophisticated.

To give you some ideas, you can write a bash script that automatically runs the alexa service every time your Raspberry Pi starts up, so that you don’t have to manually run commands on Terminal every time.

Further, you can even go ahead and try to integrate the iOS or Android companion app with AVS, so that you can run customized skills and see how third-party integrations work on the platform.

Did it work out for you?

Stuck? Having fun? Built something awesome? I’m excited to know how was your experience installing Alexa on Raspberry Pi. Please feel free to share your comments, feedback or suggestions in the comments section below.

The post How to Turn Your Raspberry Pi into Amazon Echo (Alexa) appeared first on Home Security List.

source https://www.homesecuritylist.com/turn-raspberry-pi-amazon-echo-alexa/