Eximus Smart speaker, open source, expandable and presentable

Voice Assistant Contest
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I present you with the Eximus smart speaker. A complete system built from components, and utilising the established mounting ecosystem of the Echo Dot 3. Circuitry is based on existing successful development boards such as the ESP-S3-BOX-3 and the ESP32-S3-Korvo-1 v5.0. This project aims to be at least on par with with an Amazon Echo Dot v3, while keeping the cost to a reasonable level (aiming for ~£30), without compromising the project goals

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Function diagram:

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The AFE library from the Espressif IDF will be investigated to port to Platformio

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The schematic is currently in drafting phase (more will come once I’m back at a workstation in 1 week), it will be made available on GitHub, and will deliver the following functionality:
3 mic array, to facilitate detection of intent
Neopixel ring to provide visual feedback
Listenable quality audio playback with decent base and volume
Use USB-C port for data connection and power.
Lux level sensor, to allow dimming of the light in darkened rooms
Hardware mute button, to disable the ADC and illuminated a RED LED
Removal of unnecessary defaults, such as USB-serial and battery power.

Any unused/shareable GPIO and busses will be exposed to the end user for hackability.

The enclosure will be compatible Amazon echo dot v3 mounting systems, and have an aesthetic based on it too, by utilising speaker fabric to cover a 3d printed acoustic chamber/ enclosure

This project will utilise the work of my previous post, but this thread aims to be a complete (component level) solution, with minimal compromises, instead of using readily available devkits (that the other thread was for), while still allowing end user modification to create add-ons such as sensors.

Project details can be found on GitHub the Schematic and board layouts are in early development, and will continue to be fleshed out over the coming weeks

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Very interested in this project. Is your aim to produce something that you can sell? or is this intended to be a maker only type project?

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The goal would be to make the PCB files available for the public to get manufactured and start a small production run that I could post from the UK, with connecting screws and fabric pre cut for the enclosure (maybe even 3d printed parts too). If there is enough demand I will then contact suppliers for distributing globally. In short I’m aiming to make this as accessible as possible to all users, of all skill levels.

The enclosures would initially be intended for 3d printing at home, but could be out sourced to external fab shops already established, or maybe even the same suppliers could possibly stock the enclosure as a complete kit. (Though that may have to be directly shipped from china, or via Etsy, as I’m not sure how many patents the case design would be infringing upon)

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How hard would it be to take an existing speaker like the Echo Dot 3 or Google Nest Mini and just replace the brains? Or even better, reflash the firmware?