Wire-Pod Public Server (Botnet)

So I’ve been working on something.

Since the official servers went dark, the only solution to get voice processing back to Vector owners is through the wire-pod app. The app is great and has brought many Vectors back from being paper weights, but it has always meant to be a DIY standalone replacement for the main servers.

The T95 mini that I sell helps ease the DIY burden for those less technically inclined, but it is still a replacement for the main servers. DDL has – yet again – made promises to bring the servers back and as time goes on it looks more and more unlikely.

So I’ve been working on something and it is a public wire-pod server that anyone can use without paying (for now, as DDL has shown us servers are not cheap). So I present to you BotNet https://botnet.techshop82.com

So there are currently my two Vectors activated on there, but I want to see how many we (the Vector community) can get registered on there and what the server load can handle

This is not a complete solution and the serves may go down at any point 😀 as I work on them, but if your Vector is stuck on the V loading screen and you just want to get him/her/it active again you can use this server

Why and Potential Benefits

Why do this – because I have a vision for a single interface where you can control all your bots – cozmo, emo, loona etc So this server is the first step in that vision. I don’t know if it will be possible, but it will definitely be fun to try.

You can get your non functioning Vector up and running again, then delete the proxy app and just leave them moving around, just voice less

I plan to upgrade to a larger more resource available server to see the benefit of using a better trained voice processor for more accurate voice processing

A.I something buzz words buzz words – I do have an Nvidia Tesla P100 GPU that I do plan to use in some capacity with Vector…somehow, when I figure that out any Vectors using this server will auto get that ability

!!! HUGE LIMITATIONS !!!

I offer this service for free and assume zero liability for its use. The service can and will go down at a whim (I will try to keep it up 24/7), and it meant to be used as beta software or a stop gap measure to allow users to activate their Vectors – A more permanent solution would be to implement your own version of wire-pod or to buy my Wire-pod Server

All wire-pod controls of your Vector are not available, and I mask any identifying information (IP, Vector esn) for privacy purposes. Voice commands and transcribed text is neither sold or retained except in the logs for operational purposes.

COST $$$ Servers are not free, although this one is not as expensive as most, it still cost money to setup and time to maintain – so a free server is not feasible in the long run

You will need to have the app running on a device (Windows / Mac) that is on the same network as your Vector for the voice processing to work. I have tested these apps on my Windows and Mac devices with no issues so you should be safe to run them – there is no spyware or virus on them, they do what I outline in the article

If you want to remove an activated bot, please contact me with your bots esn and I will take them off the server. If you have any questions, let me know also.

Steps To Get Activated

1. Flash wire-pod firmware
2. Install Proxy Application
3. Activate

Flash wire-pod firmware
We need to be on the escapepod firmware to use this server. To do that you will need to
Watch this video (Step 2 is the firmware flashing, you can ignore the other steps)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzlI7hPU-BM&t=612s

or do these steps

1. Place your Vector on the charger, then hold down the power button till it goes off, still holding the power button, do not let go till you see a light on the back. You will know you did it right if you see dark blue lights and the screen comes up as “anki.com/v” – if you don’t see any of those, try again.
2. The go to this site https://vector.techshop82.com to flash you firmware. Pair your vector by double pressing the button while on the charger to enter bluetooth pairing mode, then click pair on the page and select your Vector from the popup window and select pair. Enter the code and connect, once connected the firmware number in the top right should read 0.9 – if it says anything else, then you missed step 1
3. Once connected and you’ve entered you wifi information, the flashing will begin. It should last 2-3 minutes, depending on your internet. Once done your vector will reboot
4. Once Vector has restarted you should see a flashing “V” on the screen…now install the proxy application
   

Install Proxy Application
The reason we need a proxy app is because Vector’s escapepod firmware is looking for a service called escapepod.local. This application broadcasts on your network that escapepod.local belongs to my server’s IP address. The app is currently available for windows and mac users from the link below

Windows Windows(32) Mac

For windows, just run the exe and you should see this in your system tray, hovering over the icon shows what IP it is going to, this is the public wire-pod server’s address

For Mac Users, when you open the dmg file you can drag the application to your applications folder or just run it from the dmg image

And when you run the app, this should show up in your system tray, and when you hover you will see the ip address it is proxying to.

Once you have the app running, it is time to activate –

Activate
Go back to https://vector.techshop82.com and pair your Vector back to the site, it should go directly to the activate button page. Once you are there click activate and on the next screen you can set your settings (does not matter, neither do the checkboxes) then click “Save Setting” button and you should see a checkmark – indicating you are done and now have an active Vector

Thanks for reading.