Pandorabot Actorbot Setup

Restless Studio Pandorabot V4 and later can be integrated with an Actorbot from Sine Wave to provide a realistic 3D animated bot avatar. To do so requires combining scripts from both the Actorbot and Pandorabot, add-on integration scripts, configuration notecards, and desired animations into a reconfigured Actorbot base prim.

Steps required to setup an integrated Actorbot/Pandorabot:

1. Purchase the Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On
2. Create a "Scripted Agent" Second Life account
3. Create an Actorbot account at http://www.sinewaverobots.com
4. Create as many Actorbots as you need
5. Delete Actorbot Dance Script from Actorbot base prim
6. Copy animations, scripts, & notecards into Actorbot prim
7. Edit configuration notecards
8. Recompile and reset scripts
9. Start the Actorbot(s)

Additional Actorbot/Pandorabot integration can be performed via the “Advanced settings” of the Actorbot at the Sine Wave website. This and details of the steps above will be covered below.

PURCHASE PANDORABOT ACTORBOT ADD-ONS (step 1)

Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On packages can be purchased on the Second Life Marketplace. Search the marketplace for “Pandorabot Actorbot”. You will need one Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On for each Actorbot you wish to enhance. Unpack the boxed product and copy the items to your inventory. They will be in a new folder “Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On”. You can delete the box once the items have been copied to your inventory.

NOTE: If you already own a Pandorabot V4 or later you can purchase the Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On Lite.

CREATE A SECOND LIFE “ALT” ACCOUNT (step 2)

Visit http://secondlife.com/ , click the “Join Now” button and follow the same procedure you used to create your original Second Life account only with a different user name and setting the Scripted Agent Status to bot. If you wish to fix your newly created alt up a bit before deploying as an Actorbot, login to Second Life as your alt and modify appearance, clothing, etc as desired.

You may also wish to create a few clothing folders with everything you want your Actorbot wearing (including attachments like hair, shoes, facelight, …). Create these in the system “Clothing” folder as subfolders. Later you will be able to program your Actorbot to change outfits. You may prefer to defer this portion of the setup until after you have played around with your Actorbot a little.

CREATE AN ACTORBOT ACCOUNT (step 3)

Visit http://www.sinewaverobots.com/ and click “Sign up”. On the first page enter your primary Second Life avatar name (not the alt account you created in step 2). Next choose a Sine Wave Actorbot user name and password. Agree to the Terms of Service and click “Sign Up”.

CREATE ACTORBOT(S) (step 4)

Once you have completed the account activation process, create a new Actorbot by logging into your Sine Wave account and clicking “NEW ACTORBOT”. This time the “Avatar name” should be one of the alt accounts you created in step 2. If your alt was created with the new Second Life username and no last name then use “Resident” as the last name. Login to Second Life with your primary account (the account with which you created your Sine Wave account, not the alt accounts) and activate your Actorbot inworld at Sine Wave Island . A tutorial video on the activation process is available at the Sine Wave website . Once you have received the Actorbot Base Prim from Sine Wave Island select a location for your Actorbot and rez the prim there.

PREPARE THE ACTORBOT BASE PRIM (step 5)

The Actorbot base prim you received when you activated your Actorbot inworld contains a dance script template that doesn't really do much. The Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On provides significantly enhanced animation capabilities. Delete the Sine Wave dance script and edit the base prim description field:

Right click the Actorbot base prim and select “Edit”.
In the General tab:

• Replace the Description field with the name of the alt account you wish to use for this Actorbot

In the Contents tab:

• Delete the Actorbot Dance Script

POPULATE THE ACTORBOT BASE PRIM (step 6)

Drag the following from your Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On folder in your inventory into the base prim contents:

• Actorabot
• Actorabot_Config
• pandorabot
• Configuration
• webservices
• Demonstration Pandorabot at Restless Studio
• _Pandorabots Info
• Pandorabots User Guide
• Pandorabots Owner Manual
• Greeter
• Copyright

If you want your Actorbot to dance and/or utilize stand animations, drag whatever and as many animations as you like into the base prim contents. In order for the preconfigured dance and stand commands to function properly the dances must contain the string “dance” in their name and the stands must contain the string “stand” in their name. In both instances the strings “dance” and “stand” are case insensitive.

EDIT CONFIGURATION NOTECARDS (step 7)

There should now be two configuration notecards in the Actorbot base prim – Actorabot_Config, the Actorabot script configuration card, and Configuration, the Pandorabot configuration notecard. The Actorabot_Config notecard can be edited to configure the default settings for the chat channel, duration of each animation, dance only mode, and stand only mode. The factory defaults should suffice for most deployments – chat channel 25, animation duration of 120 seconds, both dance and stand mode.

Consult the Pandorabots Owner Manual for the extensive Pandorabot configuration defaults that can be set by editing the Pandorabot Configuration notecard. When running a Pandorabot in an Actorbot the following settings are recommended:
        FIRST_NAME = Your bot's first name
        LAST_NAME = Your bot's last name
        TEXT_ENABLED = FALSE
        OWNER_SHUTDOWN_ONLY = TRUE
        HOVER_ENABLED = FALSE

RECOMPILE AND RESET THE SCRIPTS (step 8)

Once you have finished editing the notecards, while still editing the Actorbot base prim, select from the viewer menu:
       Tools → Recompile Scripts in Selection → Mono
When this completes, click “Done” closing the recompile window. While still in edit mode select from the viewer menu:
       Tools → Reset Scripts in Selection
You should see the following messages in local chat:
        The target has been set up successfully.
        Pandorabot ready to chat!
You can now close the base prim edit window.

START THE ACTORBOT(S) (step 9)

Return to the Sine Wave website and login. Click on “MY ACTORBOTS” and click on the Actorbot you want to start. Prior to starting the Actorbot you may wish to configure it with the Actorabot Starter template. To do so, click on “Advanced settings” then click on “Import Template”. Check the box next to the “Actorabot Starter” template by Missy Restless and click “Ok”. This configures your Actorbot to respond to a few IM commands. If someone sends an Instant Message to your Actorbot the following will occur:

    “Help” → the Actorbot will IM back a help message
    “Dance” → the Actorbot will enter dance only mode
    “Stand” → the Actorbot will enter stand only mode
    “Both” → the Actorbot will enter combined stand/dance mode

Once you have configured the advanced settings you can start the Actorbot. Simply click “Start the Actorbot”. Repeat for any other Actorbots you wish to start. Return to Second Life and verify that your Actorbot has logged in and is responding to chat, dancing, standing, or whatever you have it configured to do. To verify the Actorbot is functioning as a Pandorabot, while standing within 20 meters of your Actorbot say in local chat “what is phi ?” and the bot should respond with the Wikipedia summary paragraph from the article on Phi. Note, if you have previously configured NAME_ENABLED = TRUE then you will have to say “<first name of bot>, what is phi ?”. To verify the advanced settings took effect, IM your bot and say “Help”.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On Manual, Pandorabots Owner Manual, and Pandorabots User Guide are available in PDF format at http://www.scribd.com/missyrestless

View and interact with the Restless Studio Actorabot integrated Pandorabots at:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gualdo/210/226/42/
and
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gualdo/204/224/43 (mature).

Watch a short video of a dancing Pandorabot Actorbot.

Have fun and email missyrestless@gmail.com with any questions, comments, suggestions, requests for custom configurations.

View other Restless Studio creations in the Second Life Marketplace at http://tinyurl.com/2bq6o3p