New release of App Inventor appliance file (151105_001) and FTC Driver Station App!

[Tom Eng]

Hi Folks

We have a new version of the FTC App Inventor appliance available.

Please remember, if you use this newer appliance, then you need to upgrade your FTC Driver Station app to version 1.25 (available through Google Play or on the FTC App Inventor download page). Similarly, if you upgrade your FTC Driver Station app to version 1.25, then you should upgrade your App Inventor appliance file to the newest file from November 5, 2015.

The file and APKs can be downloaded at the FTC App Inventor download page:

http://frc-events.usfirst.org/2015/ftcimages

The release notes with a description of the changes can be found in the new "readme.txt" file that is available on the download page. I've also included a copy of the release notes at the end of this post.

Lastly, there is a public document with a list of all of the FTC components, events, method, and properties:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

Tom

************************************************** *****************
Release Notes 151105_001
************************************************** *****************

* Pulled mit-cml/appinventor-sources master on 2015/11/04.
* Pulled mit-cml/appinventor-sources ucr on 2015/11/04.
* Includes .aar files from ftctechnh/ftc_app release 15.11.04.001.

Fixed bugs:

* Wifi direct status stays disconnected even after activating a configuration file.

Added components:

* FtcElapsedTime
* Added blocks

* FtcColorSensor
- I2cAddress
The I2C address of the color sensor. Not all color sensors support this feature.
- MAX_NEW_I2C_ADDRESS
The constant for MAX_NEW_I2C_ADDRESS. (read only)
- MIN_NEW_I2C_ADDRESS
The constant for MIN_NEW_I2C_ADDRESS. (read only)
* FtcDcMotorController
- number GetDifferentialControlLoopCoefficientP(number motor)
Get the differential control loop coefficient p, if supported by the controller.
- number GetDifferentialControlLoopCoefficientI(number motor)
Get the differential control loop coefficient i, if supported by the controller.
- number GetDifferentialControlLoopCoefficientD(number motor)
Get the differential control loop coefficient d, if supported by the controller.
- number GetGearRatio(number motor)
Get the gear ratio, if supported by the controller.
- SetDifferentialControlLoopCoefficients(number motor, number p, number i, number d)
Set the differential control loop coefficients, if supported by the controller.
- SetGearRatio(number motor, number ratio)
Set the gear ratio (from -1.0 to 1.0), if supported by the controller.
- SetMotorPowerForGroup(list listOfFtcDcMotors, number power)
Set the power for a group of motors, if supported by the controller.
- BatteryVoltage
Get the battery voltage, if supported by the controller. (read only)
* FtcElapsedTime
- Log(text label)
Log a message stating how long the timer has been running.
- Reset()
Reset the start time to now.
- text ToString()
Return text stating the number of seconds that have passed.
- StartTime
Get the relative start time. (read only)
- Time
Get the number of seconds since the start time, with nanosecond accuracy. (read only)
* FtcGyroSensor
- Calibrate()
Calibrate the gyro. Not all gyro sensors support this feature. For the Modern Robotics device this will reset the Z axis heading.
- boolean IsCalibrating()
Is the gyro performing a calibration operation? Not all gyro sensors support this feature.
- ResetZAxisIntegrator()
Set the integrated Z axis to zero. Not all gyro sensors support this feature.
- Heading
The integrated Z axis as a cartesian or cardinal heading, as a numeric value between 0 and 360. Not all gyro sensors support this feature. (read only)
- HeadingMode_CARDINAL
The constant for HeadingMode_CARDINAL.
- HeadingMode_CARTESION
The constant for HeadingMode_CARTESIAN.
- HeadingMode
The heading mode. Valid values are HeadingMode_CARTESIAN or HeadingMode_CARDINAL. Not all gyro sensors support this feature.
- RawX
The gyro's raw X value. Not all gyro sensors support this feature.
- RawY
The gyro's raw Y value. Not all gyro sensors support this feature.
- RawZ
- The gyro's raw Z value. Not all gyro sensors support this feature.

* FtcLinearOpMode
- Time
The number of seconds this op mode had been running when the RunOpMode event was triggered. (read only)
- FtcOpMode
Time
The number of seconds this op mode had been running when the Loop event was triggered. (read only)
* FtcRobotController
- LogDevices()
Log information about hardware devices.
* FtcServoController
- SetServoPositionAndSpeed(number channel, number position, number speed)
Set a position and a speed for a servo. The speed parameter is ignored if it is not supported by the controller.
* FtcTouchSensor
- Status
The status, if supported by the touch sensor. (read only)
* FtcTouchSensorMultiplexer
- Status
The status, if supported by the touch sensor multiplexer. (read only)


Renamed blocks (the following blocks were renamed...)

FtcColorSensor
ColorToHSV to ConvertColorToHSV
HSVToColor to ConvertHSVToColor
HSVToColorWithAlpha to ConvertHSVToColorWithAlpha
RGBToHSV to ConvertRGBToHSV
ARGB to CreateARGB
RGB to CreateRGB
Alpha to ExtractAlpha
Red to ExtractRed
Green to ExtractGreen
Blue to ExtractBlue
Hue to ExtractHue
Saturation to ExtractSaturation
Value to ExtractValue

FtcDcMotor
ChannelMode to Mode

************************************************** *****************

[ghsrobotics]

Fixed bugs:

* Wifi direct status stays disconnected even after activating a configuration file.

Awesome! This was constantly bugging us today, it would register opmode changes while "disconnected" but wouldn't work at all when "enabled." We'll test it out on Monday.

Thanks,
Paul
GHS Robotics

[bassamali01]

With new MIT Inventor, will we be able to open our files of prior version.

[Comrade 17]

With new MIT Inventor, will we be able to open our files of prior version.

You will need to export your projects from the previous App Inventor. (BTW - You should be exporting your projects on a regular basis in order back them up.)

Once you have your projects as .aia files, you can import them into the new App Inventor.

If your projects use any of the blocks that were renamed in this release, they will automatically be renamed when you import the project.

[Robofun8027]

Downloaded the new application file. Now I can no longer get the program to open. Just getting the timed out from google crome. I was running the fix with just the NAT network connection. Went back through tutorial and still not working. Is there a new IP address to load into the network settings.

[Tom Eng]

Hi Robofun88027.

The IP address on the Virtual Machine should be the same. Did you attempt to reconfigure/reimplement the fix to run with the NAT connection and the new appliance file?

Tom

[Robofun8027]

Tom,

Yes I did try the NAT only fix and using local host:8888. I still got a timeout. I will go back to the original post and ensure I have the network settings correct.

[schaferbw]

Downloaded the new application file. Now I can no longer get the program to open. Just getting the timed out from google crome. I was running the fix with just the NAT network connection. Went back through tutorial and still not working. Is there a new IP address to load into the network settings.

I've had this problem with both the previous versions and the newest version. The IP address hasn't changed. There appears to be a timing problem with the initialization of the App Inventor appliance. If your running on a laptop that is not connected to its charger, it helps to plug it in so it runs at its maximum speed. Even when a laptop is plugged in, however, it will sometimes require shutting down the appliance and the Virtual Box and starting over more than once. It sometimes seems to help to shut down the computer completely first. This is very frustrating but once the App Inventor appliance is running without the time-out problem it is very stable -- even across putting a laptop to sleep or hibernating it and then resuming.

...Bruce

[Robofun8027]

I managed to get it working. You apparently can't load the application file unless there is a virtual network setup in the preferences. So I loaded it and disabled it. I went in and added the port forwarding which at first did not work, but with the VM running the app file. I went into the network settings to find that the rule I had set up was not there. After setting it up again, it worked. Thank you.

[Robofun8027]

Tom,

Does this latest application file fix the issue with the op mode not changing? We have been struggling with this for a while now. We had a simple motor program running last week and now the only response we get is "robot is stopped". The phones are communicating but the op mode is not changing. I know this because of the telemetry data not showing up on the driver station. Just the generic gamepad data. We have unistalled/reinstalled everything at least twice and tried new cell phones. I'm starting to think this may be a hardware issue, but have no way to tell.