Hey, I'm in the process to test using the Blue Dot app with the ROV, yet I'm believe I'm having some connectivity issues in my setup. I'm having some trouble using the android app to connect to the python scripts on the raspberry pi. I finished the assembly of the blue dot rov model C v1.1, I was able to plug in the LiPo battery and everything boots up as expected (I hope?). On the raspberry pi's end-- I can confirm with a ps aux | grep python command that there are python scripts running in startup (RPiCamServer,TelemetryServer,ControlServer), yet when I bring up the Blue Dot app on my android phone I get the "Don't Panic! Make sure your ROV is connected and restart the app.". However, I do note that it displays Cell Voltage and the camera tilt value is changing every now and then (the servo motor once in a while will tilt the camera mount forward a bit). I can't seem to move any of the motors nor see the camera feed from the raspberry pi. Any insight?
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Android App not fully connecting to Archimedes- I can see Cell Voltage, but nothing else.
Android App not fully connecting to Archimedes- I can see Cell Voltage, but nothing else.
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Hey Luis! Sorry it’s late, but I just pushed an update to Google play that includes a fix for devices up to Android 10. If you download the new update, you should be able to see the feed from the app. It turns out the app’s manifest file was missing a permission that wasn’t needed until Android 9. Try it out, and let us know if it works for you!
Aha! I had to tilt the phone for the Arm Motors button to show up. I tried testing sending commands to the motors and it worked! The only thing that hasn't showed up is the camera feed, but I was able to tilt my phone and the camera mount also tilted. This is very exciting, thanks Costas! Now we need to figure out why we don't see the video feed, I'll be working on water testing this weekend.
Hey Luis! Thanks for the reply! -When you click the unlock camera button, are you able to control the camera tilt by tilting your device? That’s very strange about the motor arm button, there definitely should be one. It’s actually different from channel 1, and should be next to the camera switch. If you can’t see it, try rotating the screen, it might pop up. If it doesn’t and you’re okay with waiting a couple of days, I can push an app update to make sure it appears! -My bad, that command should have been “sudo nano crontab -e” -Okay that’s good. It Means the ROV is definitely working properly! I’m looking into why it won’t show up on your app. I think it may be a permission issue on the newer android devices. I think it should be an easy fix in the apps code, but I’m going to try this on an android 10 device before I push this as an update. If this is what I think it is, it should take a few days for google to publish the update (sorry for the wait!!!) In the meantime, once we get the arm motor issue sorted out, you should be able to put your device in split screen to view the feed on your browser while controlling with the app.
Hey! Thanks for the feedback, here's my responses:
-Yeah on the app there two buttons: "unlock camera" and "channel 1", I haven't seen an arm motor button, but I'm guessing that might be analogous to channel 1?
-I did a >sudo crontab -e command on a terminal window and didn't see the “@reboot python3 /home/pi/Archimedes2/ControlServer.py" line, I might be missing an argument? When I run that command I just get an empty file that describes different types of crontab jobs you can do.. I'm not familiar with the crontab command so its possible I might be missing something..
- Aha! So I was able to go to that webpage and see the video stream from the camera, why its not showing up on the app I'm not sure. Red light on the camera is turned on.
I'm using a Samsung S10 running android version 10.
Hey Luis! A couple of ideas. I’m sure you noticed this, but I just want to make sure that you’re clicking the “unlock camera” and “arm motors” buttons before trying to move them. If you are, then maybe we can try to run the ControlServer script in a python environment in raspberry pi end. To do this, open up the crontab (sudo crontab -e) and scroll down to the line that says “@reboot python3 /home/pi/Archimedes2/ControlServer.py” Comment that line out. Restart the Raspberry Pi, and open up a terminal. Then open up a python environment, and run ControlServer.py manually. While it’s running, open your android device. Make sure you quit the blue dot app (not just exit, the app needs to be stopped). Then, connect your Android device to the sub’s WiFi signal. Open up the app, flip the “arm motors” button, and try moving them again. If the app is connecting to the python socket, the raspberry pi terminal should print throttle and camera tilt values, which should change as you move the controls. Something like “50, 30, -30, 80” If you are seeing these, we’ve ruled out software issues, and I’d recommend double checking the motor driver wires are connected to the correct pins. Camera feed: First, check that the red light on the camera turns on after the ROV boots up. It should stay on. If it doesn’t, your ribbon cable might be in backwards, or might not be fully connected. If the red light is on, then the ROV is capturing video. In that case, open up your android’s web browser and visiting this address: http://raspberrypi:8000/stream.mjpg You should see the video feed at that address, which should confirm the ROV is working properly. Also, what model android device and what version is it running? I’ll make sure I look into this on my end. I hope this helps! -Costas