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Creating a Guest Science Application

This readme assumes you have followed the Guest Science Developer Guide.

It also assumes that freeflyer_android is checked out in $ANDROID_PATH, freeflyer is checked out in $SOURCE_PATH, and you are building in $BUILD_PATH.

Astrobee has two major libraries for Guest Science developers: the Astrobee API and the Guest Science Library. It is important for a Guest Scientist to understand what these libraries do. Please see the About sections in the astrobee api readme and guest science readme documentation for understanding.

This readme teaches you how to import our libraries into a new or existing Guest Science project. All developers should follow the setup and build the Astrobee API sections. After these sections, the Java only developers should follow the Java only section and the emulator and HLP board developers should follow the Android section.

After importing our libraries, please look at our examples for guidance on how to develop a Guest Science Application. Unfortunately, at this time all of our examples are under construction except for one Android example. This example is called test_simple_trajectory and it can be found in the gs_examples directory.

If you are creating a new Guest Science Application and are looking for a place to put it, we have created a guest_science_projects folder for you to use. Please note, you don't have to use this directory and can store your project anywhere on your computer.

Setup

In every terminal you use, be sure to set up your environment. If you forgot how to do this, follow the Setting up your Environment section of the freeflyer/simulation/sim_overview.md.

Build the Astrobee API

Generating ARS ROS Messages (ff_msgs)

Ensure rosjava is installed:

you@machine:~ $ sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-rosjava

Build the ff_msgs jar

you@machine:~ $ cd $BUILD_PATH
you@machine:native $ make rebuild_cache
you@machine:native $ make ff_msgs_generate_messages_java_gradle

Letting gradle access ARS messages

The astrobee_api project is configured to look at the local maven repository to access the ff_msgs jar. The default location for this repository is: $HOME/.m2/repository. If you are building this project on the same machine that you build flight software on, the easiest thing to do is symlink the rosjava generated files into the right location:

you@machine:~ $ mkdir -p $HOME/.m2
you@machine:.m2 $ cd $HOME/.m2
you@machine:.m2 $ ln -s $BUILD_PATH/devel/share/maven repository

Otherwise you will have to copy the contents of the maven directory out of devel/shared into $HOME/.m2/repository.

Building the JAR Files

you@machine:~ $ cd $ANDROID_PATH/astrobee_api
you@machine:astrobee_api $ ./gradlew build

Java Only

Coming soon!!!

Converting the Java Only Code to an APK

Coming soon!!!

Android

Please refer to Android Studio documentation if you need help creating a new Android project. When you setup your project, make sure to use API 25 (Nougat 7.1.1).

Building the Guest Science Library

!!! DISCLAIMER !!! We are still working on a way to import the GS library without having to do the following. Sorry for any inconvenience.

  • Open Android Studio and click Open an existing Android Studio project
  • Navigate to the root dictory of the guest_science project (this directory)
  • Click OK
  • In the menu bar, click Build and select Build APK

Renaming the Guest Science Library

The GS library created in the last section has a generic name. In order to avoid conflict with other custom libraries, please rename it.

you@machine:~$ cd $ANDROID_PATH/guest_science/library/build/outputs/aar
you@machine:guest_science/library/build/outputs/aar$ mv library-debug.aar guest_science_library.aar

Importing the Astrobee API

You will be using the command line to import the Astrobee API. Please set PROJECT_ROOT to be the root folder of your project.

you@machine:~$ cd $PROJECT_ROOT
you@machine:~$ cp $ANDROID_PATH/astrobee_api/api/build/libs/api-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar app/libs
you@machine:~$ cp $ANDROID_PATH/astrobee_api/ros/build/libs/ros-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar app/libs
you@machine:~$ cp $BUILD_PATH/devel/share/maven/org/ros/rosjava_messages/ff_msgs/0.0.0/ff_msgs-0.0.0.jar app/libs

Note If the app/libs folder doesn't exist, you will have to create it.

Adding the Guest Science Library to Your Android Studio Project

Please open your project in Android Studio and then do the following:

  • In the menu bar, click File > New > New Module
  • Select Import .JAR/.AAR Package and click Next
  • Navigate to $ANDROID_PATH/guest_science/library/build/outputs/aar
  • Select the guest_science_library.aar and click OK
  • Click Finish
  • Navigate to the 'Project' section of the Android Studio window
  • If the Gradle Scripts portion is not expanded, click on the sideway triangle to the left of Gradle Scripts
  • Double click on build.gradle (Module: app)
  • In the dependencies section, please add the line `compile project(":guest_science_library")'

Telling Gradle about ROS and the Astrobee API

Please open the project (top level) build.gradle file with either Android Studio or the text editor of your choose. Edit your allprojects section to include maven. It should look similar to this:

  allprojects {
      repositories {
          maven {
              url "https://github.com/rosjava/rosjava_mvn_repo/raw/master"
          }
          jcenter()
      }
  }

Please note, you will need an internet connection so that Androind studio can pull the rosjava libraries it needs.

Next open your app module build.gradle. In the dependencies section, check that the following line exists:

  compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])

If it doesn't, please add it.

Start Service

The GS library contains a class called StartGuestScienceService. This class is a Android service that will run in the background and takes care of the communication between the GS manager and the GS apk. You will need to extend this class and override some of the functions.

The GS manager needs to know about the service you created that extended the start GS service class. Thus when you add your service to the Android manifest file, you will also need to add meta data specifying that this is the service you want started when the GS manager goes to start your apk. Please see below for an example of how the service should look in the manifest.

  <service android:name=".StartTestGuestScienceApkService" android:exported="true">
    <meta-data android:name="Start Service" android:value="true" />
  </service>

Now you are ready to develop your Guest Science Application. If you need more guidance, please see our examples. Unfortunately, at this time all of our examples are under construction except for one Android example. This example is called test_simple_trajectory and it can be found in the gs_examples directory.