Installing Google Assistant on a MATRIX Voice Raspberry Pi – Step‑by‑Step Guide

In our previous tutorial, we built a robot controllable via Amazon Alexa using MATRIX Voice on a Raspberry Pi. Now we’ll show you how to integrate Google Assistant with the same hardware.

MATRIX Voice Google Assistant Demo Video

(Video link pending)

MATRIX Voice Google Assistant Overview

Required Components

• MATRIX Voice / Creator
• Raspberry Pi 3 (click to purchase)
• Speaker (click to purchase)
• Micro SD Card (click to purchase)
• Active Internet Connection

Prerequisites

Before you begin, familiarize yourself with the key hardware and software. A quick review of the Raspberry Pi and MATRIX Voice will help you follow the steps smoothly.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a credit‑card‑sized, low‑power computer that can run a full Linux distribution. It’s widely used in robotics, home automation, and hobbyist projects.

MATRIX Voice

The MATRIX Voice board features an 8‑channel MEMS microphone array, 18 RGBW LEDs, 64 GPIO pins, a Xilinx Spartan‑6 FPGA, and 64 Mbit SDRAM. An ESP32‑based variant adds Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth connectivity, making network integration effortless.

MATRIX Voice Google Assistant Tutorial

Step 1: Set Up the Raspberry Pi

1. Download the latest Raspberry Pi OS image and flash it onto your micro SD card.
2. Insert the card, connect power (minimum 2.5 A), and boot the Pi.
3. Open a terminal and set a password for the default user: sudo passwd pi.
4. Connect to Wi‑Fi or Ethernet. Verify an IP address is assigned.
5. Update the system: sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y.

Step 2: Add MATRIX Repositories

curl https://apt.matrix.one/doc/apt-key.gpg | sudo apt-key add –
 echo "deb https://apt.matrix.one/raspbian $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/matrixlabs.list
 sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 3: Install MATRIX Software and Kernel Modules

sudo apt install matrixio-creator-init raspberrypi-kernel-headers raspberrypi-kernel git
 sudo reboot
 sudo apt install matrixio-kernel-modules
 sudo reboot

Step 4: Create a Google Developer Project

1. Visit the Actions Console and click Add/import project.
2. Enter a project name and click Create Project.
3. In the Cloud Platform Console, enable the Google Assistant API for your project.
4. Navigate to Activity Controls and enable:
   • Web & App Activity (include Chrome browsing history)
   • Device Information
   • Voice & Audio Activity

Step 5: Register the Device

1. In the Actions Console, select your project and go to Connected properties.
2. Under the Device Models tab, click Register Model and fill in the required details.
3. After registration, download the credentials.json file and place it in /home/pi on your Raspberry Pi. Do not rename the file.

Step 6: Set Up a Python Virtual Environment and Install the SDK

cd /home/pi
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3-dev python3-venv portaudio19-dev libffi-dev libssl-dev
python3 -m venv env
source env/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
pip install --upgrade google-assistant-library google-assistant-sdk[samples] google-auth-oauthlib[tool]

Generate the OAuth credentials:

google-oauthlib-tool \
  --scope https://www.googleapis.com/auth/assistant-sdk-prototype \
  --save --headless --client-secrets /path/to/credentials.json

Follow the on‑screen URL to authorize the application. Copy the URL, open it in a browser, sign in with your Google account, and grant the requested permissions.

Once authorized, the setup is complete. Your MATRIX Voice board will now respond to Google Assistant voice commands.

For further details, consult the official Google Assistant SDK documentation.

MATRIX VOICE GOOGLE ASSISTANT – MATRIX VOICE PROJECT