Since Amazon surprised the world within the ‘smart speaker’ market with Echo and Alexa, there are now many manufacturers looking to enter the home with one of these devices. Rumors say that Apple prepares one with Siri, and today Google is trying with its Google Home powered by Assistant. However, today the community maker has a new, but above all cheap, option.
For the first time in history Google is launching a project for makers, a project that has the collaboration of nothing more and nothing less than Raspberry Pi, where the funny thing is that it is a ‘smart speaker’ that will compete directly with Google Home.
AIY, Google’s new initiative for the market maker
Google is creating an initiative known as AIY (Artificial Intelligence Yourself) and this project is the first that comes to light, which is based on a Raspberry Pi 3, Android Things and Google Assistant. This will allow us to have a device very similar to Google Home in functions, where the attractive part is that we will be able to manufacture it.
The tricky part will be to get the components, since these, with the exception of Raspberry Pi, are included for free in the latest edition of MagPi magazine, which is distributed in the United States and can be obtained in other regions of the world. World, but bringing the components for this project seems a bit difficult to get it out of that country.
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However, it is not impossible to get the components in addition to that the software is available for free on the Google developer website. The kit for this speaker consists of a Hardware Accessory on Top (HAT) board for voice software, a loudspeaker, a microphone and a button to activate the system, as well as cables and the case, which in this case is made of cardboard.
The project website explains step-by-step with illustrative images and the process of setting up and programming this device known as Voice Kit. The good news is that this also helps any Raspberry Pi enthusiast to add Google’s voice platform to their projects, and thus take advantage of Assistant on a wide variety of devices.
Raspberry Pi has sold more than 10 million devices worldwide, and this is one of the reasons why Google has chosen it as a platform for its new maker projects. As I mentioned, this is just the first project aimed at this market, but the company promises to launch more frequently so that its software, such as Android Things, begins to have greater participation in initiatives created by users.
