Pandorabots

Main Window Controls

1. Text Display
   Shows the conversation history. Your sent text and the Pandorabot responses appear here in order. Use this area while troubleshooting to confirm requests are being sent and responses are being returned.
2. Send Button
   Sends the contents of the Text Entry Field to the Pandorabot. This is the same action that happens when another skill calls ControlCommand() to send a phrase programmatically.
3. Text Entry Field
   Type what you want to say to the Pandorabot. Press the Send button to transmit it. This field is mainly for testing; during real robot operation you will typically feed phrases in automatically (for example, from a speech recognition skill).

Settings Fields

1. Pandorabot ID
   The unique ID of the bot hosted on Pandorabots. The skill ships with Synthiam’s default bot ID so you can use it immediately.
   
   Only change this if you created your own bot on Pandorabots and want ARC to talk to your bot instead. If you paste an invalid ID, the server may return errors or generic responses.
2. Username
   Your Synthiam username used by the skill for identification with the service. This can help keep sessions consistent so the bot can maintain conversational context.
   
   If you run multiple robots/projects and want separate conversation histories, use distinct usernames (or separate ARC user profiles/projects) so each project has its own session identity.
3. Response Variable
   The ARC variable that will be updated with the most recent bot response. This makes the response easy to use elsewhere in your project (for example, text-to-speech, screen display, decision logic, logging, etc.).
   
   Example usage after a response arrives:

   • Speak the response: Say(getVar($PandoraResponse))
   • Log it: Print("Pandora said: " + getVar($PandoraResponse))
   • Branch on keywords: If (Contains(getVar($PandoraResponse), "hello")) ...
4. Response Script
   This script runs automatically when a response is received. Use it to trigger robot actions immediately after the bot replies.
   
   Common uses:

   • Speak the response using a speech synthesis skill.
   • Parse the response to decide which animation, gesture, or sound to play.
   • Route the response to other controls (for example, chat display, logging, or a remote UI).

1. Capture a phrase
   Use a speech recognition skill (or another input method such as a mobile UI button, joystick button, or keyboard input) to produce text.
2. Send the phrase to this skill
   The phrase is passed into this skill using ControlCommand().
3. Receive a response
   The Pandorabots server returns a message, which is displayed in the conversation history and stored in your chosen Response Variable.
4. React to the response
   ARC runs your Response Script so your robot can speak, move, or execute logic in real time.

What this does

• "PandoraBot" is the name of the control instance in your ARC project. If your control has a different name, use that name here.
• "SetPhrase" is the command that tells the skill what text to send to the Pandorabots server.
• getVar($BingSpeech) is the recognized phrase produced by the speech recognition skill.

• Internet connection required
  This skill communicates with an online A.I. service, so ARC must have internet access while the skill is running.
• Network setup
  If your robot controller is providing WiFi access point mode, you may need to switch the EZ-B to Client Mode so it can join your router and reach the internet. See the EZ-B v4 WiFi Modes Activity: WiFi Modes Activity.
• Speech recognition not included
  This skill does not perform speech recognition by itself. Combine it with a speech recognition skill to create a conversational robot.

• No response / blank replies
  Confirm ARC has internet access. Then verify the Pandorabot ID is valid and that the service is reachable from your network (some school/corporate networks block certain endpoints).
• Responses don’t trigger actions
  Ensure your Response Script is configured, and confirm you are reading the correct Response Variable. Use a Print() in the Response Script to verify it is firing.