Sinric

What is your project about?

Allows users to control their development boards such as Arduino, WEMOS D1 Mini using Amazon Alexa for Free. Users can create switches, light bulbs or any other device using Sinric.com and connect their development board to a Amazon Eco system without a hassle.

Why did you decide to make it?

Right now, people are emulating their Arduino or ESP modules as a Wemos Belkin switch or Phillip's hue bulb to control via voice using Amazon Alexa.

1. This is not right

2. Even though this works up to some level there are lot of issues with this approach. One being UDP broadcast not working due to router is blocking the UDP request or xml format changes due to different firmware versions.

https://github.com/kakopappa/arduino-esp8266-alexa-multiple-wemo-switch/issues

3. It supports only turn on/off requests. Users cannot do anything more than that.

4. I believe using the smart home skill is the right thing to do.

How does it work?

1. Users sign up for Sinric.com account

2. Create a switch or a light bulb. eg: "bedroom"

3. Get the API key displayed in the dashboard.

4. Connect to Sinric using this template.

https://github.com/kakopappa/sinric/blob/master/arduino_examples/switch_example.ino

5. Install Sinric smart home device skill and link

6. Scan for devices. Now "bedroom lights" is added.

7. When you ask Alexa to turn on "bedroom", it sends a request to Sinric.com, and Sinric forward that request to correct user's connected Arduino or WeMos device.