At first, I implemented the Jasper voice platform but with it having limitations, I switched to the Google Assistant SDK, when it was released, which had far better voice recognition and responses.

Also, I integrated SiriControl with the Google Assistant so that for all physical actions and commands, both Siri and Google can be used to call them. SiriControl is a python framework which allows the retrieval of user-initiated commands from Siri.

And then the face recognition 👋 :

To add a human touch, I used RGB LED eyes which change colour according to the Google Assistant events so that the user can understand the current state such as speaking, listening, loading etc. This was done by my RGB LED library which allows smooth colour transitions. I created this library because at the time I couldn’t find one online. 😄

For the home automation aspect , I used 433MHz transmitters and receivers to record and replay back remote codes. Along with the web app, this process turns out to be much cheaper than buying smart bulbs and sockets, with the Raspberry Pi acting as the hub.

Overtime, as my idea became clearer, I wanted a simpler, friendlier design which lead to the following:

I also created a web app, using the lightweight web server Lighttpd, which is shown in the video, with a range of features including: