Flashboard

Flashboard is a dashboard for robot operators. It includes a dynamic control creation system and integrated vision runners. Through the robot, by creating a simple class, it is possible to control complex GUI controls on the Flashboard. Those controls are created based on code written on the robot. The integrated vision system uses the Dynamic Vision System. It is possible to load filters from the robot, or from files on the computer. Analysis data is sent back to the robot.

Dashboard

1. Camera View: View images from robot camera
2. Controller View: View data relating to controllers
3. Data View: View non-editable data. Usually sensor or mode data.
4. Input View: View editable data. ComboBoxes, Input Fields and Buttons.
5. Standard Connection: Indicates the controls connection status.
6. Camera Connection: Indicates the camera connection status.
7. View Mode: Vision view mode selector:
   1. Normal: Normal camera view
   2. Post Processing: Post vision analysis view. Shows analysis results.
   3. Threshold: Vision binary image.
8. Processing Selector: Selector for loaded vision filters. Can be remotly changed as well as locally.
9. Vision Run: CheckBox for vision running. Can be remotly changed as well as locally.
10. Color Filter Editor: Editor for the color filter of the selected processing, if one exists.
11. Toolbar:
    1. File: Currently empty.
    2. Vision: Controlling vision.
       1. Load Parameters: Opens a loading window for vision parameters in "data/saves" folder.
       2. Save Parameters: Opens a saving window for vision parameters to "data/saves" folder.
    3. Monitoring: Tracking data from the robot.
       1. Show Log: Opens a remote logs window.
       2. Show Motor Tester: Opens a motor data tracking window.
       3. Show PDP: Opens a PDP data tracking window.
    4. Tools: Work In Progress...
    5. Help:
       1. Show Properties: Opens a properties editor and creator windows.

Vision

View Mode in Post-Processing:

The line indicates the center of the frame. The dot indicates the analysis center.

View Mode in Threshold:

Loading Window

The loading window shows existing files in "data/saves" folder and allows to select a vision parameters file from them to load. It is possible to manually enter an absolute file path to the path field, but it is not recommanded.

Save Window

The saving window saves vision parameters into the "data/saves" folder. The current parameter is the one to be saved. You can select existing files to override, or change the name of the current file in the path field. It is possible to manually enter an absolute file path to the path field, but it is not recommanded.

Log Window

The log window contains data for each log-type sendable. Data is received from the moment of attaching the SendableLog object to the Flashboard. Each different log has a tab of its own. FlashLib adds the default log as a SendableLog to Flashboard by default.

Motor Tester Window

The motor tester window can show data from multiple Tester objects. It is necessarty to select the tester to show from the ComboBox. Once one is selected, its motor data will immediately be shown in the table bellow. Data is updated in real time.

There are 4 columns:

• Name: the name assigned to the motor for identification
• BrakeMode: indicates whether the motor is in brake mode or coast mode. True for brake mode, false for coast mode.
• Speed: indicates the current speed value of the motor. Usually the value is a Percent VBus data, that depends on what the "get" method of the FlashSpeedController returns.
• Voltage: indicates the current voltage drop of the motor. Requires the existance of a voltage source.
• Current: indicates the current consumption of the motor. Requires the existance of a current source.

PDP Window

The PDP window can show data from multiple PDPs. It is necessarty to select the PDP to show from the ComboBox. Once one is selected, data about it is shown. PDP data includes total current, voltage, tempature and current of each channel. Data is updated in real time. When using roboRIO platforms, PDP 0 is loaded by default.

Properties Window

There are two properties windows which allow to edit Flashboard properties:

• Edit Properties: Allows to edit the values of the existing properties.
• Create Properties: Allows to create new properties.

The currently avaliable properties used by flashboard are:

• vision.default: File of the default vision parameters to load when Flashboard runs. File must be an XML file in "data/saves".
• host.robot: Host name for the robot to connect to. For example: roborio-3388-frc.local.
• comm.protocol: Communication protocol with the robot:
  • tcp: TCP protocol
  • udp: UDP protocol
• comm.port.local: Local port for standard robot communications. Default is 5800.
• comm.port.remote: Remote port for standard robot communications. Default is 5801.
• cam.port.local: Local port for camera robot communications. Default is 5802.
• cam.port.remote: Remote port for camera robot communications. Default is 5803.

Those properties are saved under "data/dash.xml".