This particular project was centered around a 20 year old client and her mother whom wanted a chatbot doll. The client has both down syndrome and autism and the doll would be used to boost communication and overall openness within the client.
different requirements/specifications:
The doll was animated using a raspberry pi4. Additions to the raspberry Pi4 include a microphone and a speaker both connected through USB port. Lastly, the power source is a portable charger which can be charged through an opening made in the back of the doll.
The code has many different steps. these steps can be broken down into three parts.
Listening phase starts the doll starting to record as soon as delivery of a response is finished. Once recording started, the user has 8 seconds to reply to the doll. this number was obtained through research along with trial and error. Once the time is up, the audio file is converted into a txt file and this phase is complete.
The computing phase starts by submiting a txt file of a response to a paid chatgpt AI. This AI was trained to work wioth our specific client and can be further improved when more training data is given. This AI recieves the txt file and outputs a response txt, afterwards this phase is complete.
The Delivery phase begins with the conversion of a txt file into an audio file. Once converted, the raspberry pi4 will play the audio through the speaker. This phase ends when the audio is complete.
A case was 3D printed to keep the PI4 and all of the electronics safely without interference of the client. The case was then added to the back of the doll and the doll was stitched up.
The solution below shows the Chatbot doll in action with me as the user.