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Amazon Echo


TheaterExtreme

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So Amazon posted up a whole tutorial on how to use raspberry pi and some addons to build what basically amounts to an echo:

https://github.com/amzn/alexa-avs-raspberry-pi

You can't trigger it by voice, but there are some addons you could install to get it to work. With that in mind, I wonder if this could be the catalyst for some cool new integrations! I think the biggest downside would be not having Amazon's microphone tech on board.

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1 hour ago, AnOutsider said:

So Amazon posted up a whole tutorial on how to use raspberry pi and some addons to build what basically amounts to an echo:

https://github.com/amzn/alexa-avs-raspberry-pi

You can't trigger it by voice, but there are some addons you could install to get it to work. With that in mind, I wonder if this could be the catalyst for some cool new integrations! I think the biggest downside would be not having Amazon's microphone tech on board.

I am building one literally as we speak to play around with :)  Only thing I don't have yet is the mic, but I am setting up the box.  I was also thinking a trigger button would be cool.  So instead of always listening, just a sample USB button to trigger listening.

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We use the echo with ChoppDog88's driver for C4 and it works great for lighting, TV channels, etc..

Echo music selection by voice is great, but I would like to use our surround speakers in the house when playing music so I ordered the echo dot and will get it tomorrow. 

 

Anyone have suggestions on the best way to connect the dot's audio to our C4 amp / speakers?

Here's the catch, I don’t want the echo's audio to always go through the C4 speakers, only when we ask it to connect.  We ask the echo questions all the time (what’s the weather,  set timers, etc..) and don’t want those responses over the C4 speakers, particularly when we have the TV on and that audio is going through the speakers.   I think switching between those audio sources would be too "choppy". 

Bluetooth connection would probably be the easiest… then we could just ask the dot to “connect” to the Bluetooth audio out to have music routed to the c4 speakers/amp when we want.   So the main question is how to connect the dot’s Bluetooth audio to C4 amp with auto-switching (so the amp automatically switches to the echo’s audio when the echo wants to connect via Bluetooth)?

The other method is just to connect to echo dot to the C4 amp via the wired 3.5mm audio out.   That would be an always on connection (audio always routed to the c4 speakers).   I think using this method, we would just use a different wake word for the dot when we want to play music through it  (i.e ask the regular echo for weather updates, but ask the dot to play music).  It's not a perfect solution, but we could probably get used to it.

Any suggestions from the group?

 

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Just an update.  Got the Dot up and running, works great.  I ended up using two instances of the driver, but you don't really need to.  If the dot and the echo are in listening proximity to each other, be prepared for both of them to "hear" you.   It's pretty sensitive, other than that, loving it.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On March 30, 2016 at 10:32 AM, Brent87 said:

We use the echo with ChoppDog88's driver for C4 and it works great for lighting, TV channels, etc..

Echo music selection by voice is great, but I would like to use our surround speakers in the house when playing music so I ordered the echo dot and will get it tomorrow. 

 

Anyone have suggestions on the best way to connect the dot's audio to our C4 amp / speakers?

 

 

Here's the catch, I don’t want the echo's audio to always go through the C4 speakers, only when we ask it to connect.  We ask the echo questions all the time (what’s the weather,  set timers, etc..) and don’t want those responses over the C4 speakers, particularly when we have the TV on and that audio is going through the speakers.   I think switching between those audio sources would be too "choppy". 

 

 

Bluetooth connection would probably be the easiest… then we could just ask the dot to “connect” to the Bluetooth audio out to have music routed to the c4 speakers/amp when we want.   So the main question is how to connect the dot’s Bluetooth audio to C4 amp with auto-switching (so the amp automatically switches to the echo’s audio when the echo wants to connect via Bluetooth)?

 

The other method is just to connect to echo dot to the C4 amp via the wired 3.5mm audio out.   That would be an always on connection (audio always routed to the c4 speakers).   I think using this method, we would just use a different wake word for the dot when we want to play music through it  (i.e ask the regular echo for weather updates, but ask the dot to play music).  It's not a perfect solution, but we could probably get used to it.

Any suggestions from the group?

 

 

 

Looking for input on a couple of items..  First of all I have using the Echo with C4 and for the most part it is working great.   I would like to start selecting favorite music stations from Pandora or Sirius to play on my C4 amp, but no matter what key works I use with the artist it always seems to play on the Echo device. For example "control four Coldplay"... Any advice?

 

Secondly, my Dot arrives tomorrow and am interested in the best setup to have this fully integrated as the speaker used to play music (not sports scores, etc).  I have read some of the previous post, but not sure I am connecting the details of the how? atlas within c4.

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  • 1 month later...

So amazon has updated the Smart Home command list for devices like the Hue.  They have also updated the number of allowable devices allowed.  Is it possible to update this driver to reflect the same??

here’s a list of the commands that work with smart home devices:

ON Commands:

  • Alexa, turn on <Device Name>
  • Alexa, start <Device Name>
  • Alexa, unlock <Device Name>
  • Alexa, open <Device Name>
  • Alexa, boot up <Device Name>
  • Alexa, run <Device Name>
  • Alexa, arm <Device Name>

OFF Commands:

  • Alexa, turn off <Device Name>
  • Alexa, stop <Device Name> (this one is tricky to get right)
  • Alexa, stop running <Device Name> (also very tricky)
  • Alexa, lock <Device Name>
  • Alexa, close <Device Name>
  • Alexa, shutdown <Device Name>
  • Alexa, shut <Device Name>
  • Alexa, disarm <Device Name>

DIM Commands:

  • Alexa, brighten <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, dim <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, raise <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, lower <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, set <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, turn up <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, turn down <Device Name> to <Position>

 

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19 hours ago, Dave w said:

So amazon has updated the Smart Home command list for devices like the Hue.  They have also updated the number of allowable devices allowed.  Is it possible to update this driver to reflect the same??

here’s a list of the commands that work with smart home devices:

ON Commands:

  • Alexa, turn on <Device Name>
  • Alexa, start <Device Name>
  • Alexa, unlock <Device Name>
  • Alexa, open <Device Name>
  • Alexa, boot up <Device Name>
  • Alexa, run <Device Name>
  • Alexa, arm <Device Name>

OFF Commands:

  • Alexa, turn off <Device Name>
  • Alexa, stop <Device Name> (this one is tricky to get right)
  • Alexa, stop running <Device Name> (also very tricky)
  • Alexa, lock <Device Name>
  • Alexa, close <Device Name>
  • Alexa, shutdown <Device Name>
  • Alexa, shut <Device Name>
  • Alexa, disarm <Device Name>

DIM Commands:

  • Alexa, brighten <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, dim <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, raise <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, lower <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, set <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, turn up <Device Name> to <Position>
  • Alexa, turn down <Device Name> to <Position>

 

This is awesome.. now opening and closing my garage makes way more sense that "Alexa turn Garage door ON"

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On May 26, 2016 at 0:44 AM, Johann Stroh said:

This is awesome.. now opening and closing my garage makes way more sense that "Alexa turn Garage door ON"

Except that every week or so Amazon changes what you can and cannot open / close. So some weeks I can use "close blinds"... Other weeks "blinds" becomes a reserved word for the Echo (relative to "close") and I either have to use "close bedroom blinds" or "turn blinds off". I have defined "bedroom blinds" to be identical to "blinds" which at least minimises the frustration as Amazon seems to always (so far) allow "close bedroom blinds".  As someone else pointed out previously, this is the problem with relying on something in the cloud where you do not control changes and updates!

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I think Alexa would go a long way if they allowed us to add a order in which we want the skills/smart home actions to be called... that way is skillset A is listed above skillset B.. and the both have a trigger for "blinds" it would use skillset A to run the command

But I do see how that would be very confusing for some users

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From some searching online it looks like you can now use percentages or fixed keywords like off/low/medium/high in the SET <device> TO <target> commands. Any plan to update the driver with this functionality and the new device limit?

It would be awesome if target keywords can be defined as anything we want but that is probably hoping for too much. The ability to say "set to low" or "set to high" is good enough for me.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm looking at installing this driver. Can someone please post a screenshot of their programming for any event. Just want to see how simple or complicated it will be for certain actions such as "Alexa turn on Kitchen lights". I would then want to program things such as "Alexa turn on Satellite in Family room" and so on. I'm adept at programming but just wanted to see one set of programming to get an idea of how its done.

 

Thanks in advance.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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