Integrating an ESP32 device with Amazon Alexa

Voice assistants provide another type of user interface in human-machine interaction, which is called a Voice User Interface (VUI). A user gives a voice command and a machine replies with a spoken response, in addition to any associated action if configured. Although there are many other enabling technologies, modern voice assistant systems basically make use of speech recognition, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and speech synthesis.

Amazon’s voice assistant solution is Alexa Voice Service (AVS), and in this example, we will integrate ESP32 with AVS in a smart home skill. An Alexa skill is basically a voice application. The Amazon Alexa mobile application is the platform to enable skills and use Alexa-enabled devices in our Alexa accounts. If you don’t already have this application on your mobile device, it is time to install it for this example.

The blueprint architecture for a smart home skill looks like this...