YouTuber, Jack Of All Tech, in his new DIY project, combines a Raspberry Pi, ChatGPT, and Home Assistant to build a robot that almost feels human. It is voice-controlled and has an interface that's styled like a companion. With a dash of character, this build goes a level above a typical smart home setup.
The robot runs Home Assistant Supervised on Raspberry Pi OS Lite, giving it complete access to hardware controls and third-party integrations. The use of ChatGPT API allows for natural conversations. ElevenLabs API adds to this through realistic text-to-speech output. This combination lets the robot respond with intelligence and speak in a voice that’s human-like. The face of the robot is displayed on a 3.5" TFT SPI screen and is controlled by a Python Flask app. A Flask-based REST API handles the display states such as idle, speaking, or thinking.
All the components, including the Raspberry Pi, display, microphone, speaker, and cooling fan, are housed in a 3D-printed shell which was designed using Fusion 360. The assembly process involves magnets, making hardware access easy (without screws). Though the robot is no commercial product, it serves as an example of what becomes possible with open-source platforms and AI tools.
