Add External Indicator for System Status Monitoring

[TylerFlar]

Objective

As a pilot, it would be beneficial to see what the system is doing in the field while powered on. Currently, the only way to check the system’s status is by turning off the computer and accessing the logs from the USB stick. It would be helpful to have some external indicators that provide information about the system's current state—such as whether it is operational, if an error has occurred, or if something is stuck. These indicators should go beyond a simple "is the computer on" status, but they don’t need to be overly detailed. If an error does occur, it likely indicates a more significant issue, and the computer will need to be turned off to read the logs at that point.

Requirements

• The visual indicator MUST be no larger than 1 inch in width or height.
• The visual indicator SHOULD work on 5V or 3.3V power voltage and 3.3V logic.
• The visual indicator interface layer MUST be currently unused (e.g., not I2C bus 1 as the GPS is on that).
• The visual indicator SHOULD be wired via DuPont connectors and jumper wires.
• The connection MUST be configured in the hardware_config.json file similar to the GPS.
• The visual indicator MUST be an optional attachment.
• The field device software MUST still be runnable on any Ubuntu 24.04 computer with simulated hardware.

Tasks

1. State Analysis

   • Investigate the code to determine what state information should be encoded and displayed to the user.

2. Component Selection

   • Find an appropriate visual indicator (e.g., 7-segment display, LED array, etc.).

3. Proposal Development

   • Create a proposal document including:
     • The visual indicator chosen
     • The states that will be displayed on the indicator
     • The planned wiring configuration

4. Implementation

   • Once parts are received, implement the visual indicator.

5. Testing and Documentation

   • Update test cases to include the new visual indicator.
   • Revise documentation to reflect the changes.

Deliverables

• Pull Request: Submit a pull request to the dev branch with code and updated documentation of visual indicator statuses.
• Hardware Connection: Connect the visual indicator hardware to the UP 7000 in Sealab.

[TylerFlar]

After some thought, all that needs to be shown is whether or not the GPS and Ping Finder reached their successful states. Showing more info would probably be confusing and we arent going to see the visual indicator after the drone takes off anyways. So simply having two bulbs wired to GPIO pins could be enough.