Syncing and Updating Robot Skills

Learn how ARC synchronizes robot skills and updates.

What is a Robot Skill?

A Robot Skill is a pre-programmed functionality that you can add to your robot through Synthiam ARC. Skills allow your robot to perform specific tasks, such as controlling servos, recognizing objects, or even playing sounds. For more details, visit the Robot Skills Overview.

How Does ARC Sync Robot Skills?

When ARC starts, it checks if an active internet connection is available. If connected, ARC communicates with Synthiam's servers to:

  • Retrieve a list of all available robot skills.
  • Check for updates to any installed robot skills.
  • Download and apply updates to ensure the latest versions of the skills are installed.

This synchronization ensures that your robot has access to the latest features and improvements.

Steps to Ensure ARC Syncs Properly

  1. Ensure your computer is connected to the internet.
  2. Launch ARC.
  3. Wait for the sync process to complete. This usually takes a few seconds.
  4. Check the Robot Skills Manager in ARC to confirm the updates.

Forcing a Robot Skill Update

If you need to force ARC to update its robot skill list manually, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure ARC is not running. Close ARC if it is open.
  2. Verify that you have an active internet connection by opening a web page (i.e., synthiam.com) with your web browser.
  3. Navigate to your C:\ProgramData\ARC folder.
  4. Delete the file named AvailablePluginsList.txt.
  5. Restart ARC.

What this does: The AvailablePluginsList.txt file contains the list of available robot skills. ARC updates this list periodically when it has an internet connection and no other instances of ARC are running. By deleting this file, you force ARC to download the latest robot skill list the next time it starts.