Controlling your breadboard LEDs through Alexa

I am so into IoT these days. But the rate of experiments I do are small. Mainly because of travel, being stuck with something, failed experiments, blah blah blah...

But so far the journey is enjoyable. Today I thought why not show-off a bit. So here is a small wifi chip (wemos d1 mini) which is flashed with something called tasmota. (An amazing software). There are two LEDs connected to a resistor (330 ohm) (in series).

In the interest of DIY and brevity I won't detail how I did this through long and many-step instructions. But here is a gist of what I did. You may follow the images and video shared at the end of post.

1. Downloaded the latest release of Tasmota binary called sonoff.bin from the github repo
2. Flashed it onto the d1 mini using software called esptool.py (Other alternatives available).
3. Configured tasmota to connect to my home wifi router
4. Selected the appropriate device tasmota has to emulate. (Generic module).
5. Configured two GPIO pins as "relays" (on tasmota)
6. Configured friendly names and,
6.1 Enabled hue emulation (important) on tasmota
7. Ask Alexa to "discover devices"
8. Had fun...

Checkout the video and images too. (end of post).

So whats cool here?

Most people are not seasoned enough to understand this much less appreciate it. This is why I encourage DIY. So I am going to just "dive in"...you should too...

1. I didn't have to use a raspberry pi...(on an earlier exercise - I did use one such device).
2. No coding or IDEs required. (Get started with a simple Arduino project. You'll know what I mean...).
3. Except for voice recognition (viz Alexa's job) everything is intra-network. (Try something on Google Home to see what I mean - I don't have a Google Home device yet ;) ). (It only matters if you are worried about data privacy).

Conclusions

I have demonstrated the principle of switch automation - automation of your house appliances or light switches...

"Alexa, turn on bed room light" or "Alexa, TURN OFF THE DAMN TV"...the possibilities are endless.

It may not be your cup of tea. But that still doesn't physically limit you from trying...

So...Learn...Ask about stuff...Get frustrated trying...Get things done...Have fun.

PS: Perhaps Google Home might evolve into something better...I am waiting for that day... :)
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