kalliope/Docs/settings.md

Kalliope settings

This part of the documentation explains the main configuration of Kalliope placed in the settings.md file.

Triggers configuration

default_trigger

The trigger is the module detecting the hotword that will wake up Kalliope. Common usage of hotword include Alexa on Amazon Echo, OK Google on some Android devices and Hey Siri on iPhones.

Specify the name of the trigger module you want to use.

default_trigger: "trigger_name"

Available triggers for Kalliope are:

• snowboy

triggers

The hotword (also called a wake word or trigger word) detector is the engine in charge of waking up Kalliope.

Each Trigger has it own configuration. This configuration is passed as argument following the syntax bellow

triggers:
  - trigger_name:
      parameter_name: "value"

E.g, the default Snowboy trigger configuration is

triggers:
  - snowboy:
      pmdl_file: "trigger/snowboy/resources/model.pmdl"

See the complete list of available triggers here.

Players configuration

default_player

The player is the module managing the sound in Kalliope.

Specify the name of the player module you want to use.

default_player: "player_name"

E.g

default_player: "mplayer"

players

The player is the engine in charge of running sounds in Kalliope.

Each Players has it own configuration. This configuration is passed as argument following the syntax bellow

players:
  - player_name:
      parameter_name: "value"

E.g

players:
  - mplayer: {}
  - pyalsaaudio:
     device: "default"
     convert_to_wav: True
  - pyaudioplayer:
     convert_to_wav: True
  - sounddeviceplayer:
     convert_to_wav: True

See the complete list of available players here.

When no parameters are required set an empty object:

players:
  - mplayer: {}

Sometime, parameters will be necessary to use an engine. See the complete list here to know which parameter are required. Core players are already packaged with the installation of Kalliope an can be used out of the box.

Note: Most cloud based TTS generate a file in MP3 format. Some players are not able to read this format and then a conversion to wav is needed.

Speech to text configuration

default_speech_to_text

A Speech To Text(STT) is an engine used to translate what you say into a text that can be processed by Kalliope core. By default, Kalliope uses google STT engine.

The following syntax is used to provide the engine name:

default_speech_to_text: "stt_name"

E.g

default_speech_to_text: "google"

Get the full list of SST engine here.

speech_to_text

Each STT has it own configuration. This configuration is passed as argument as shown bellow

speech_to_text:
  - stt_name:
      parameter_name: "value"

E.g:

speech_to_text:
  - google:
      language: "fr-FR"
  - bing

Some arguments are required, some others are optional, please refer to the STT documentation to know available parameters for each supported STT.

recognition_options

Represents a collection of speech recognition settings and functionality.

recognition_options:
  option_name: option_value
  option_name2: option_value2

E.g

recognition_options:
  energy_threshold: 3000

energy_threshold

Represents the energy level threshold for sounds. By default set to 4000. Values below this threshold are considered silence, and values above this threshold are considered speech. This is adjusted automatically if dynamic thresholds are enabled with adjust_for_ambient_noise_second parameter.

This threshold is associated with the perceived loudness of the sound, but it is a nonlinear relationship. The actual energy threshold you will need depends on your microphone sensitivity or audio data. Typical values for a silent room are 0 to 100, and typical values for speaking are between 150 and 3500. Ambient (non-speaking) noise has a significant impact on what values will work best.

If you're having trouble with the recognizer trying to recognize words even when you're not speaking, try tweaking this to a higher value. If you're having trouble with the recognizer not recognizing your words when you are speaking, try tweaking this to a lower value. For example, a sensitive microphone or microphones in louder rooms might have a ambient energy level of up to 4000.

recognition_options:
  energy_threshold: 4000

Note: The default value is 4000 if not set

adjust_for_ambient_noise_second

If defined, will adjusts the energy threshold dynamically by capturing the current ambient noise of the room during the number of second set in the parameter. When set, the energy_threshold parameter is overridden by the returned value of the noise calibration. This value should be at least 0.5 in order to get a representative sample of the ambient noise.

recognition_options:
  adjust_for_ambient_noise_second: 1

Note: The number of second here represents the time between kalliope's awakening and the moment when you can give her your order.

Text to speech configuration

default_text_to_speech

A Text To Speech is an engine used to translate written text into a speech, into an audio stream. By default, Kalliope use Pico2wave TTS engine.

The following syntax is used to provide the TTS engine name

default_text_to_speech: "tts_name"

Eg

default_text_to_speech: "pico2wave"

Get the full list of TTS engine here.

text_to_speech

Each TTS has it own configuration. This configuration is passed as argument following the syntax bellow

text_to_speech:
  - tts_name:
      parameter_name: "value"

E.g

text_to_speech:
  - pico2wave:
      language: "fr-FR"
  - googletts:
      language: "fr"

Some arguments are required, some other optional, please refer to the TTS documentation to know available parameters for each supported TTS.

Hooks

Hooking allow to bind actions to events based on the lifecycle of Kalliope. For example, it's useful to know when Kalliope has detected the hotword from the trigger engine and make her spell out loud that she's ready to listen your order.

To use a hook, attach the name of the hook to a synapse (or list of synapse) which exists in your brain.

Syntax:

hooks:
  hook_name1: synapse_name
  hook_name2:
    - synapse_name_1
    - synapse_name_2

E.g.

hooks:
  on_start: "on-start-synapse"

List of available hook

Hook name	Description
on_start	When kalliope is started. This hook will only be triggered once
on_waiting_for_trigger	When Kalliope waits for the hotword detection
on_triggered	When the hotword has been detected
on_start_listening	When the Speech to Text engine is listening for an order
on_stop_listening	When the Speech to Text engine stop listening for an order
on_order_found	When the pronounced order has been found in the brain
on_order_not_found	When the pronounced order has not been found in the brain
on_mute	When Kalliope switches from non muted to muted
on_unmute	When Kalliope switches from muted to non muted
on_start_speaking	When Kalliope starts speaking via the text to speech engine
on_stop_speaking	When Kalliope stops speaking

Example: You want to hear a random answer when the hotword has been triggered

settings.yml

hooks:
  on_triggered: "on-triggered-synapse"

brain.yml

- name: "on-triggered-synapse"
  signals: []
  neurons:
    - say:
        message:
          - "yes sir?"
          - "I'm listening"
          - "I'm listening to you"
          - "sir?"
          - "what can i do for you?"
          - "Speaking"
          - "how can i help you?"

Example: You want to know that your order has not been found

settings.yml

hooks:
  on_order_not_found: "order-not-found-synapse"

brain.yml

- name: "order-not-found-synapse"
    signals: []
    neurons:
      - say:
          message:
            - "I haven't understood"
            - "I don't know this order"
            - "Please renew your order"
            - "Would you please reword your order"
            - "Can ou please reformulate your order"
            - "I don't recognize that order"

Example: You are running Kalliope on a Rpi. You've made a script that turn on or off a led. You can call this script every time kalliope start or stop speaking

settings.yml

hooks:
  on_start_speaking: "turn-on-led"
  on_stop_speaking: "turn-off-led"

brain.yml

- name: "turn-on-led"
  signals: []   
  neurons:
    - script:
        path: "/path/to/script.sh on" 
        
- name: "turn-off-led"
  signals: []   
  neurons:
    - script:
        path: "/path/to/script.sh off"  

Note: You cannot use a neurotransmitter neuron inside a synapse called from a hook. You cannot use the "say" neuron inside the "on_start_speaking" or "on_stop_speaking" or it will create an infinite loop

Rest API

A Rest API can be activated in order to:

• List synapses
• Get synapse's detail
• Run a synapse

For the complete API ref see the REST API documentation

Settings examples:

rest_api:
  active: True
  port: 5000
  password_protected: True
  login: admin
  password: secret
  allowed_cors_origin: "*"

active

To enable the rest api server.

port

The listening port of the web server. Must be an integer in range 1024-65535.

password_protected

If True, the whole api will be password protected.

Login

Login used by the basic HTTP authentication. Must be provided if password_protected is True

Password

Password used by the basic HTTP authentication. Must be provided if password_protected is True

Cors request

If you want to allow request from external application, you'll need to enable the CORS requests settings by defining authorized origins. To do so, just indicated the origins that are allowed to leverage the API. The authorize values are:

False to forbid CORS request.

allowed_cors_origin: False

or either a string or a list:

allowed_cors_origin: "*"

(in case of "*", all origins are accepted). or

allowed_cors_origin:
  - 'http://mydomain.com/*'
  - 'http://localhost:4200/*'

Remember that an origin is composed of the scheme (http(s)), the port (eg: 80, 4200,…) and the domain (mydomain.com, localhost).

Resources directory

The resources directory is the path where Kalliope will try to load community modules like Neurons, STTs or TTSs. Set a valid path is required if you want to install community neuron. The path can be relative or absolute.

resource_directory:
  resource_name: "path"

E.g

resource_directory:
  neuron: "resources/neurons"
  stt: "resources/stt"
  tts: "resources/tts"
  trigger: "/full/path/to/trigger"

Global Variables

The Global Variables paths list where to load the global variables. Those variables can be reused in neuron parameters within double brackets.

E.g

var_files:
  - variables.yml
  - variables2.yml

Note: If a variable is defined in different files, the last file defines the value.

In the files the variables are defined by key/value:

variable: 60
baseURL: "http://blabla.com/"
password: "secret"

And use variables in your neurons:

  - name: "run-simple-sleep"
    signals:
      - order: "Wait for me "
    neurons:
      - uri:
          url: "{{baseURL}}get/1"        
          user: "admin"
          password: "{{password}}"

Note: Because YAML format does no allow double braces not surrounded by quotes: you must use the variable between double quotes.

A global variable can be a dictionary. Example:

contacts:
  nico: "1234"
  tibo: "5678"

And a synapse that use this dict:

- name: "test-var"
  signals:
    - order: "give me the number of {{ contact_to_search }}"
  neurons:
    - say:
        message:
        - "the number is {{ contacts[contact_to_search] }}"

Start options

Options that can be defined when kalliope starts.

Example config

start_options:
  muted: True

Next: configure the brain of Kalliope

Now your settings are ok, you can start creating the brain of your assistant.