Presented ad GDGDevFest Nord Italy, in Milan on 12 november 2016. A talk about BOTS and how to create a bot that works on multiple platform.: telegram, facebook and alexa. During the day and before the talk, the presents were able to interact with the bot.

1. Story Of a Cerberus
Bot
Andrea De Gaetano - @dega1999

2. My Typical Work Day
#Java #j2ee #j2se #spring #swing #maven
#android #gradle
#security

3. After Work
I play a lot with:
#raspberrypi #arduino #esp8266 #iot #maker
#nodejs #python
#security
http://pestohacks.blogspot.com

4. What is a Cerberus Bot?
Sharing my experience on bot development
Talking about:
• Early 2000’s bots
• Why does bots matters?
• Bots Models/Architectures
• IndaqoBot: Telegram
• Bot Software Stack
• Firebase
• Improvements
• One Core , Multiple Heads: Facebook Messenger, Alexa?
• …And google assistant?

5. In the early 2000’s: IRC Bots
- File Sharing
- Guardians of Channels
- AntiSpam
- Ban unauthorized
- Secretary
- …

6. In 2016
Amazon
Apple
Facebook
Google
Microsoft
…

7. 1st Impression
Why Should I use a Text based interface
instead a GUI?

8. Alexa, had my attention

9. Figuring out…
My Idea was changing

10. User Advantages
Integration in known software: integrated in app or service
known.. facebook messenger, skype, siri.
Users already know them: No learning curve, they can
rapidly start to talk with a bot with no need to learn a new
user interface.
No installation/space needed on the device: no need to
install anything on their device. No need to upgrade.

11. User Advantages
Natural Interaction: everyone knows how to text and
speak.
Attractive also for old people. A perfect bot is hard to
distinguish from a real person.
Same uniform experience across devices/platforms

12. Developer Advantages
• Userbase Potential: part of a known app (like facebook
messenger) improves the link between the real user
and the owner of the bot.
• Learn new data from users through continous
interaction
• One language for many platforms: web, web-mobile,
desktop, mobile .
• No need to bother with accounts,login, oauth,
tecnologies problems and so on!

13. Bots Models
• Generative
• Retrieval-Based
• Pattern Based

14. Generative Model

15. Retrieval Based Model
• The chatbot uses the message and context of
conversation for selecting the best response from a
predefined list of bot messages.
• The context can include current position in the dialog
tree, all previous messages in the conversation,
previously saved variables (e.g. username).

16. Pattern Based Model
• The bot have a list of the supported questions/
commands it support.
• Easy.
• Stupid.
• Eg. Alexa Skills

17. @IndaqoBot
• Pattern based
• 2 command supported:
• brief
• ready
• work only with Telegram

18. Start a new Telegram Bot

19. Bot Stack

20. Bot Stack
Web Dyno:
use node-telegram-bot-api
talk with telegram server
accept http requests: commands

21. Bot Stack
Web Worker
Task scheduled every hour:
• Send a broadcast message to
registered users
• Call Web Dyno to change mission

22. Keep bot state across reboots
Store Users Results: text and
images*
Never used before: easy
Structure Data

24. Storing user images

25. Storing user images

26. Storing user images
Sad Solution: all images are converted to base64

27. #code

28. #code TODO
Scalability
Chat Injections
Change Model
Facebook Integration

29. Road to Facebook Messenger integration
•Tested another bot with a raspberry pi 3, duckdns.org
and letsencrypt certificate. All free! :D
•You need to register a new application on Facebook,
generate a token and some other boring steps
•If the server doesn’t answer for some time, Facebook
disable the bot.
•From the @IndaqoBot code, just 2 new endpoints:
•one for the authentication between Facebook and
the server
•one to receive messages
•Need Facebook approval to publish it

30. Facebook Messenger integration

31. Alexa
#code

32. Advices for a Cerberus Bot
•Separate logic from presentation: endpoint code must be minimal
•Create library for your code, reusable from any platform
•Write Unit Test for your libraries
•Use a storage solution to keep bot state, like firebase
•Use constants
•Use localization
•Understand the limit of each bot platform: number of simultaneous
messages, user interactions and so on
•Be prepared to scale Fast!

33. Google Assistant

34. Twitter: @dega1999
Thanks you!