Hardware: what to buy
The bark monitor listens on a small computer at home — you buy it once, it is yours. The short version: a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, any USB microphone and a microSD card, about CHF 60 total.
The parts
| Part | What to get | About |
|---|---|---|
| Computer | Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 (2 GB of RAM is enough) | ~CHF 40 |
| Microphone | Adafruit mini USB microphone (tested), or any USB microphone Linux lists | ~CHF 10 |
| Storage | microSD card, 16 GB | ~CHF 5 |
| Power | the official power supply for your Pi model | ~CHF 10 |
Tested on a Raspberry Pi 4 with 2 GB of RAM: the full Yamnet model needed a 2 GB swap file; the lite model is lighter.
Any USB microphone or USB sound card that Linux enumerates will work
(arecord -l should list it). Plug it in before starting the monitor.
Alternatives
You do not have to buy a Pi:
- An old laptop or mini PC with a microphone runs the monitor fine: install the Python package.
- Docker image — one image for mini PCs, NAS boxes and laptops: see the Docker documentation.