Raspberry Pi-powered Alarm Clock with Alexa Integration
1 - Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
1 - Adafruit 0.56" 4-Digit 7-Segment Display w/I2C Backpack (any color)
1 - USB Microphone (very small so it can fit within alarm clock box): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IR8R7WQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
1 - Speaker so Alexa can talk back to you! Any speaker with a 3.5mm audio jack output will do, I use this: 808 CANZ Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Silver (https://www.amazon.com/808-CANZ-Bluetooth-Wireless-Speaker/dp/B00EFS120A)
2 - Push buttons, 1 for displaying temperature on 7-segment display, 1 for activating Alexa. I used these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094GP7SQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Also, a soldering iron, some solder, and some wires will be needed for setting up the 7-segment display and soldering the buttons. If a soldering iron is unavailable, my mixtape is a viable alternative for producing the high tempertures needed to solder.
I use VNC Viewer and Server to connect to and work on my Raspberry Pi (so I don't need a mouse, keyboard, or monitor to get work done!) VNC Connect (Viewer and Server) come pre-installed on the Raspbian OS, so you only need to download VNC Connect/Viewer for your computer if you want to control your Pi this way! Download available here: https://www.realvnc.com/en/raspberrypi/
The Alexa client can be downloaded and installed by following the steps here: https://github.com/alexa/alexa-avs-sample-app I have it running on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B with the wake word engine off. You will need to create an Amazon Developer account to get authorization to use Amazon Voice Services for Alexa.
The python library for controlling the 7-segment display can be found here: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Python_LED_Backpack This library must be in the same folder as the script that runs the 7-Segment Display in order for it to work.
The 7-segment display used is a Adafruit 0.56" 4-Digit 7-Segment Display w/I2C Backpack - Yellow (any color will work obviously) This can be found here (or from nearly any electronics dealer): https://www.adafruit.com/product/879
/etc/rc.local has command to run AlarmClockStartup.sh which starts the clock display (and eventually Alexa also, but this is currently not working...if only someone with a bunch of Linux experience could help me...cough cough Andy...)
Inspiration and a lot of helpful information for this project came from Nick Triantafillou's guide to building an Alexa powered alarm clock, which can be found here: https://www.hackster.io/xelfer/time-machine-a079fa?ref=user&ref_id=42755&offset=0
More files and info to come...