I've been building a voice assistant on a Pi 5 called Bob, and I've just open-sourced it. The idea: it starts with no devices at all, and you add abilities by wiring something up and telling it.

"Hey Bob, I've connected an LED to GPIO 17. Make a skill that turns it on and off."

Bob writes the skill, reads back what it will do, and only installs it after you say yes, then tests it. Same for buttons, relays, I2C sensors, serial devices or web APIs.

How it's put together:

• Wake word runs offline on the Pi, nothing is sent until you say it.
• Conversation is Gemini Live (needs a free API key), so it's quick and can search the web.
• Settings page at bob.local:8080, updates itself and rolls back if an update fails.
• A Windows setup app writes the SD card with your Wi-Fi and key, so no commands needed. Mac/Linux is a one-line install.

What I learned the hard way: a Pi 3 is too slow for this, a USB speakerphone saves a lot of echo pain, and Bluetooth audio on the Pi is fragile.

Where I'd love help:

1. It's a fresh public release, so installs on other people's Pis and mics are exactly what hasn't been tested much. If you try it, tell me what breaks.
2. What skill would you build first? I'm collecting ideas for examples.
3. Contributors welcome, especially on wake-word accuracy and audio setup.

https://github.com/arancool3000/bob-assistant

the bottom 4 boxes

"connect Monday to ai chat" I can't exactly see a human actually typing that in(near the top left)."day-1 MCP partner" a bit suspicious. "works with Microsoft 365" again a bit strange. "most used ai assistant"...... nearly certain this is ai generated. or for example in the start guide,

https://preview.redd.it/t1vx70duoqkh1.png?width=1064&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c68f22bdc149cba89561ab36fcff217df3f758b

it is quite normal for ai to put emojis, and not really common for people. also in the start guide:

https://preview.redd.it/u5uqkayyoqkh1.png?width=654&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f060f2fac173c1568a282c5350abba3056fc1f6

hmm... not very professional...

https://preview.redd.it/2scnagj8pqkh1.png?width=2376&format=png&auto=webp&s=4008eb64823e7d0836d30284d5701165d3f105d9

and what is it with all of the dummy data(none of this I made. in fact, this is a brand new Monday.com account)? and the space and 3 extra exclamation marks look like they are there to make it seem like it was not ai generated, but I would say were just added so people wouldn't notice the strange inhuman sections...

1: Kindlehub

Kindlehub is probably the better of the two. it has tons of apps and games, an App Store where users can make and publish apps to grow the number of apps already there, has a free plan with way fewer limits and no app blocked, some unique features that make it stand out compared to rekindle, but a very small community and a practically dead chat.

Pros: most features are free(5 messages to ai per day instead of 0 on rekindle), cloud storage of 1mb(trust me, it is plenty on a kindle, and there is a compress button to save space when you run out), a much kinder community, feature requests and bug reports usually done within 7 days of being posted, the ability to make your own games and apps. Cons: small community(which will hopefully be fixed with this post :) ), a less intuitive user interface, and a laggy and slow navigation experience on older kindles. kindlehub.pro

2: Rekindle

Most of you have probably already heard of Rekindle. Rekindle is a website that basically turns your Kindle into a mini tablet, with apps, games, chat, and other features that make the Kindle experience much more interactive. It has a large community, so the chat is usually active and there are always people around to talk to or get help from.

Pros: large and active community, lots of games, simple and easy-to-use UI, lots of users and content.

Cons: some apps require a $2/month subscription, and some parts of the website can still be buggy.

Full disclosure: I made KindleHub. I wanted to compare it with Rekindle because both are trying to solve the same problem: making Kindles more capable. I'm interested in what the community thinks about both.