ARC 2023.12.25.00 (Pro & Runtime)

(Autonomous Robot Control Software)
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Change Release Notes

We are pleased to announce the special holiday release of ARC version 2023.12.25.00. This update introduces new features and enhancements to improve your experience with the ARC framework. Here's what's new:

New Default Variables

  • $IsSpeaking: This variable is now set to true or false depending on whether the ARC internal speech synthesis framework is currently speaking.
  • $SpeakingText: This variable holds the text being spoken using the ARC internal speech synthesis framework.

Enhanced Speech Synthesis

  • SSML Script Commands: We've added new SSML script commands to our built-in Say() and SayEZB() functions and other variants. The new commands are saySSML(), saySSMLEZB(), saySSMLWait(), and saySSMLEZBWait(). With SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language), you can customize speech duration, pitch, voices, and more on the fly. Learn more about SSML here.

Error Handling and Compatibility

  • Haarcascade Files Loading Error: We've addressed an error related to loading haarcascade files that are not in the OpenCV v1 format. Although haar detection technology has somewhat been deprecated, we recognize the lack of worldwide support for this older image detection method and have made improvements to enhance compatibility and error reporting.

Thank you for choosing ARC. We hope you enjoy these updates and look forward to your feedback!


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PRO
USA
#1  

Thanks for the upgrade to ARC again.

PRO
Synthiam
#2  

You bet, EZAng! Happy holidays!

PRO
USA
#3   — Edited

Thank you-

Do you have an example on using the new default variables $IsSpeaking and $SpeakingText?

New Default Variables $IsSpeaking: This variable is now set to true or false depending on whether the ARC internal speech synthesis framework is currently speaking. $SpeakingText: This variable holds the text being spoken using the ARC internal speech synthesis framework.

PRO
Canada
#4  

Certainly! The new default variables $IsSpeaking and $SpeakingText can be used in various ways to enhance your robot's interactivity and responsiveness during speech synthesis. Here's an example of how you can use these variables in an EZ-Script:

# This script demonstrates how to use the $IsSpeaking and $SpeakingText variables

# Let's start by making the robot say something
Say("Hello, I am your friendly robot.")

# Now, we can check if the robot is speaking and what it is saying
if($IsSpeaking)
  print("The robot is currently speaking.")
  print("Speaking Text: " + $SpeakingText)
else
  print("The robot is not speaking right now.")
endif

# We can also create a loop that waits for the robot to finish speaking
:WaitForSpeechToEnd
if($IsSpeaking)
  Sleep(100) # Wait for 100 milliseconds before checking again
  goto(WaitForSpeechToEnd)
endif

print("The robot has finished speaking.")

In this script:

  • The Say() command is used to make the robot speak a predefined phrase.
  • The $IsSpeaking variable is checked to determine if the robot is currently speaking.
  • The $SpeakingText variable is used to retrieve and print the text that the robot is speaking.
  • A loop is created with a label :WaitForSpeechToEnd that continuously checks if the robot is still speaking. It uses the Sleep() command to pause briefly between checks.
  • Once the robot finishes speaking, the loop exits, and a message is printed to indicate that the speech has ended.

This example can be adapted and expanded upon to create more complex interactions, such as triggering actions or animations in sync with the speech or responding to user input during or after speech synthesis.


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