Alexa interaction with ESP32 chip

[rjrajbir]

I'm developing an IOT project on an ESP32. The ESP32 will need to interact on voice commands from the Alexa Echo. What's the best way to approach this? I found a library (named: FauxmoESP). Whit this library I can interact between the ESP32 and de Echo. My question her is. Is this a legitimate solution for bringing this ESP32 to market? If not. What's the best approach?

[i_amey]

Rajbir, if you want to facilitate the control of an ESP32 based device from external Alexa (Echo) device, then the ESP32 side application firmware doesn't need any special provision. As long as ESP32 connects to a cloud, the "works with Alexa" integration can happen completely with cloud-to-cloud communication. You may be able to find multiple online examples (similar to FauxmoESP) that demonstrate "Works with Alexa" functionality with ESP32 and various cloud services.

[bobtidey]

Piggybacking on an existing Alexa integration would work for a personal project but might look 'unprofessional' if you are marketing this a a product. If this didn't worry you then I don't know if there any legal implications.

One can use intermediary services like IFTTT but that complicates set up for the end user.

Developing and publishing an Alexa skill specifically for the device would brand the product. This is not as daunting as it sounds. The Amazon tool sets and examples make this very much a boiler-plate exercise. The skill in the Amazon cloud then interacts with the device using whatever protocol you want.