Now Available: Use the New Espressif Development Kit for Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) to Accelerate the Development of Your Alexa-Connected Devices
We continue to make it easier and more cost effective to connect devices to Alexa. Last summer, we announced the new Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) Module with Espressif Chipset, letting you connect your devices to Alexa for as low as $4 per device. Starting today, you can use the ESP32-PICO-V3-ZERO-DevKit, a new development kit for Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) by Espressif, to accelerate the development of your Alexa-connected device and get to market faster. With ACK, you can expand your device's capabilities with Alexa and offer it to the millions of Alexa customers without worrying about managing cloud services, Alexa skills, or complex networking and security firmware. Purchase a development kit and start prototyping your next ACK-based device today.
You can use the new Espressif development kit and ACK development tools to accelerate your product development process, reducing the time needed to prototype your product's Alexa voice and mobile app experience to just hours. You can use the ACK developer console and tools to convert an ACK development kit into a physical prototype so that you can choose and test your product’s Alexa capabilities and overall customer experience.
The Espressif development kit for Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) comes with a development board fitted with an integrated ACK module with Espressif chipset. This ACK module adds Wi-Fi connectivity and all the software needed to connect your device with Alexa and the ACK managed services. To get started, you will also need an Arduino Zero development board (sold separately). Alternatively, you can port the ACK Device SDK to a host microcontroller unit (HMCU) of your choice, or select one of the pre-ported HMCU development kits. Once you have the development kit and HMCU, you can complete the guide to set up and register a development device with Alexa. You can then run a sample application on your development device and control your prototype with the Alexa app. To get started, you can obtain the Espressif development kit for ACK here.
ACK-based devices can take advantage of the capabilities of the Smart Home Skill API. The Smart Home Skill API contains Alexa capability interfaces that your ACK-based device can support. The Espressif development kit for ACK is compatible with the new ACK Device SDK 4, expanding support for new features such as as Alexa.ThermostatController and Alexa.TemperatureSensor, enabling Alexa control for devices like smart thermostats and cooking appliances. It also supports the DeviceUsage.Estimation and DeviceUsage.Meter capabilities, enabling your device to report energy consumption in the Alexa app. For the complete list of smart home interfaces that ACK supports and how to enable the capabilities for your ACK device, see Supported Alexa smart home capabilities.
When you add the Amazon-managed ACK module to your device, your customers get Alexa control by voice and by touch in the Alexa app, Wi-Fi simple setup, and automatic reordering of consumables your product needs to keep running at its best. The ACK module stays up to date automatically with silent, over-the-air firmware updates, and ACK’s managed cloud service meets the cloud reliability requirements of both Works with Alexa and Certified for Humans certification.
You can prototype your product using the ACK development kit, module, and device SDK, and move to mass manufacturing when you’re ready. To get started, purchase an ACK development kit and visit our documentation guide to start prototyping your ACK-based product.