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Project Installation

Project Installation

The Project CA builds upon the material taught in the Multi-Agent Systems course. You will use some additional tools and software to develop your recipe recommendation agent in this project.

 

Set-Up

1: GitHub Classroom and Clone the Student Project

Hot Tip: GitHub has a great education package if you sign up with your student email https://education.github.com/pack#offers


2: Install MARBEL

Make sure to set these preferences. Without unchecking the runtime option, it will be hard if not impossible to run your agent in Debug Mode. Checking the logging options will enable saving log files automatically, which will be useful for analyzing your agent’s behavior (conversations) and is needed to collect the required conversation data. Also note your Logging Directory!

  • Import the MARBEL dialog manager project in Eclipse by selecting File → Import → MARBEL Agent Programming → Existing MARBEL Project, clicking Next, browsing to the agent folder dialog_mngr in which you cloned the project, and selecting the dialogmngr-pca2025-basic.mas2g file, clicking Open, and finally, clicking Finish.

Do not check the option Copy into workspace! If you import the project into Eclipse, you should be able to see on what branch you are working in your git repository and be able to make use of git functionality available in Eclipse.


3: Make Dialogflow agent

Dialogflow Setup Instructions

Follow these steps to get a JSON keyfile that you need for the project:

Making a Dialogflow Agent.


4: Make Virtual Environment

Environment Setup Instructions

Follow these steps to set up your environment for the project:


Step 1: Install Redis and PyAudio

  1. Install Redis unless you can run redis-server.exe:
    Follow the guide here to do the installation, just the install do not run stuff, just the first install paragraph:
    Install Redis

  2. Install PyAudio:
    Use the instructions provided on the PyPI page but do the pip install part in your conda environment.:
    PyAudio Installation Guide

  3. Install Espeak:
    Use the instructions provided here:
    Espeak Website or with Mac & Homebrew espeak


Step 2: Install Anaconda or Miniconda

  • If you don’t already have Conda installed, download and install either:


Step 3: Create the Conda Environment

  1. Locate the YAML File:
    The repository contains a pre-configured environment.yaml file for the project.

  2. Create the Environment:
    Open a terminal, navigate to the repository folder, and run:

    conda env create -f environment.yaml
  3. Activate the Environment:
    Once the environment is created, activate it with:

    conda activate PCA25

Step 4: Open the Repository in an IDE

  1. Find the Cloned Repository:
    Navigate to the repository folder on your computer.

  2. Use an IDE (Recommended):

    Hot Tip: JetBrains offers free professional licenses for students. Learn more and apply here:
    JetBrains Free Student Licenses

  3. Set Up the Interpreter in PyCharm:

    • Go to File > Settings > Project > Python Interpreter.

    • Set the interpreter to the Conda environment (PCA25) you created earlier.


Step 5: Verify the Setup

  • Check Environment Activation: Ensure the environment is activated before running the project.

    conda activate PCA25
  • Pasted Graphic 2-20250104-111141.png

Final Steps: Setting Up the Project in Your IDE

Step 1: Open the Terminal in the IDE

  1. Launch your IDE (e.g., PyCharm) and open the project folder.

  2. Open the terminal within the IDE (see pic above)


Step 2: Ensure the Conda Environment is Activated

  1. Check if your Conda environment (PCA25) is activated.
    You should see (PCA25) at the beginning of the terminal prompt. If not, activate it manually:


Step 3: Navigate to the Directory for social-interaction-cloud

  1. Change your directory to the social-interaction-cloud folder:

  2. Install the package using pip:

    • The . tells pip to install the package in the current directory (i.e., social-interaction-cloud).


Step 4: Return to the pca-agent-2025 Directory

  1. Navigate back to the pca-agent-2025 directory by moving one level up:


Step 5: Navigate to the sic_applications Directory

  1. Change your directory to the sic_applications folder:

  2. Install the package using pip:


Now, please go ahead and test your installation. You should be able to run the entire setup (see Run your Conversational Agent), just the MARBEL part. Do keep in mind that the basic agent does only very basic things, but you should expect to get a greeting.


 

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