As Google smart devices slowly invaded my house over the last few years, I started getting interested in what it would take to get FRC team and event information on the Google Assistant. Why can I ask Google who won the Oscar for best actress in 2018, but I can’t ask it who won the Chairman’s finalist award at my local FRC events?
Well, now you can!
Alliance Captain allows you to ask your Google Assistant for information on your favorite FRC teams and events. It supports all Google Assistant surfaces, so you can get it on your Android phone, smart speakers, smart displays, and more.
Try asking it:
- Who won the Chairman’s Award at the 2016 Lake Superior regional?
- Who won the Northern Lights regional last year?
- What awards did KnightKrawler win in 2016?
- Who are The Cheesy Poofs?
Alliance Captain also supports contextual follow-up questions, so if you ask “who won Engineering Inspiration at the 10,000 Lakes regional?” you can then ask questions like “where are they from?” to find out more information about the winner.
If you haven’t used any third-party Google Assistant actions before, it is super easy! Unlike Alexa, you don’t need to install additional features, you just ask for them. You can invoke Alliance Captain by asking for it directly in a question (“ask Alliance Captain where KnightKrawler is from”) or you can open up dialog with the action with phrases like “talk to Alliance Captain.”
Alliance Captain is open source on GitHub, and contributions are welcome!