Graphs

[Robert-0410]

To whom ever is interested we can put some ideas together to plan and implement some graphs into the Android client. Please let us know why graphs are a good or bad idea.

[jamesarich]

I'm pro graphs: tracking datapoints over time visually would be real nice. Environmental sensors, battery/voltage stats, airtime/usage are all available (and handy) on the Apple version.

[b8b8]

what's the thoughts on combining graphs?

im thinking temperature and humidity always on the same graph, VOC's and particulate (when it gets added to read-outs) air quality on one graph as well.

[Robert-0410]

At the moment this feature seems like a whole lot of work from my perspective. In order to get started i'll start with something simple like the battery stuff. With that being said I like what you have stated in the discord discussion as far as potential graphs. If you have the time can you please document that information here in this thread for future PRs?

[jamesarich]

I did a little sleuthing in the codebase and from what I'm gathering, the database is not currently storing historical telemetry records that a graph would need for backing data. Only updating/creating the node with the latest seen telemetry data.
This would require a bit of effort/rework on the database. @andrekir can you confirm?

Meshtastic-Android/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/service/MeshService.kt

Line 828 in b4221c7

private fun handleReceivedTelemetry(

[andrekir]

MeshPackets are saved to the MeshLog. they are used in the debug panel and export CSV feature.

[jamesarich]

Aha, so we'd need to build some queries to put together the historical telemetry per node.

[Robert-0410]

Seems to me like the DebugViewModel holds the logs, we could leverage it for the specific data we need.

[b8b8]

Graph Layout Suggestions i mentioned on Discord:

Graph 1: Device Metrics

• battery percentage
• channel utilization
• airtime

Graph 2: Environmental Metrics

• temperature
• humidity
• barometric pressure

Graph 3: Signal Metrics

• SNR
• RSSI

Graph 4: Hazards

• VOCs
• particulate (needs firmware update)
• radiation (now supported in firmware)
• CO2

Graph 5: Weather Metrics

• wind speed
• wind direction
• rain fall

Graph 6: Power Metrics

• Lux (with a yellow line) for easy side-side comparison with solar input
• Channel 1 Voltage
• Channel 1 Current
• Channel 2 Voltage
• Channel 2 Current
• Channel 3 Voltage
• Channel 3 Current

[Robert-0410]

Now that we have Device, Environment, and Signal graphs. What's a good next addition?

[b8b8]

Power graphs so each of the 3 channels gets its own voltage and current line of similar colour on a single graph. Channel one voltage red, channel one current light red, etc for channel two and three. One axis is current, one axis is voltage like how Snr and rssi get opposite ends of the graph.

[Kealper]

I'm definitely interested in power graphs and I'm sure almost anyone else running solar nodes with current sensors would be as well. It would be quite useful to see graphs of current flow (or negative current flow depending on how you've wired your sensor to show battery charging) over time.

[b8b8]

List updated to show current/future layout

[b8b8]

added lux as a suggestion to go with the power graphs as i think the data will pair nicely

[garthvh]

We are also adding a service to use for the live activity widget on iOS that may be a good source of some of this data for Android

meshtastic/firmware#4292

[Robert-0410]

Ok, thanks for the heads up. A cool little widget sounds interesting.

[Robert-0410]

Chart Libraries

Hey @andrekir
Reaching out to get your input on what chart library you recommend we use.

Currently I retrieve the DeviceMetrics from the MeshLog and display them to the user.

[andrekir]

for line charts you can use the Compose Canvas directly. it's easy to use and highly customizable.

you can find lots of tutorials online and examples from other open source apps like https://github.com/CoinTrend/CoinTrend

[jamesarich]

@rcarteraz also mentioned https://github.com/patrykandpatrick/vico a while back too #979 (comment)

[jamesarich]

but it would be a fun Compose excercise to roll our own on Canvas, too 👍

[Robert-0410]

Ok, Canvas it is.

[b8b8]

I added SNR to the telemetry graph layout suggestion. This would really help with debugging and antenna testing over time. SNR includes RSSI so i dont think that should have a dedicated line.

[garthvh]

There is some math that goes with the colors, the preset is an input to the calculation

[garthvh]

https://github.com/meshtastic/Meshtastic-Apple/blob/2441255a958219bdbb461fb27272921178b50438/Meshtastic/Views/Helpers/LoRaSignalStrengthIndicator.swift#L74

[garthvh]

meshtastic/design#15

[Robert-0410]

Thanks that stuff looks useful to me.

[Robert-0410]

@garthvh once the dust begins to settle with the 2.5 stuff I could implement the signal meter for our node cards.
I'm guessing you display it in the ios equivalent?

[b8b8]

How long is the data being stored in the graph?
A rolling one week or until manually cleared?

[garthvh]

Uses the same data that is in your debug log.

[b8b8]

Tabbed graphs look good, nice way to easily add more without getting cluttered.

[valzzu]

Any plans to add power telemetry?

[b8b8]

The list i added above is kinda the plan that people seemed happy with on discord. Power telemetry is on that list. I'm sure this stuff will all get added with time. I personally cannot wait for all 3 channels of power telemetry to be added. So many possibilities 🙃

[valzzu]

Oops 😅 didn't see that

[Firecul]

Having the graphs has been a great addition but it seems like it plots data points one after another even if there is hours or days between them instead of either leaving a gap or just drawing a smooth line between them while being appropriately spaced.

Another example from my experience, with my mobile node the steady decrease in battery percentage looks smooth if I can stay connected to it all the time but if I connect to my main node it will have a kink in it where it looks like it's dropping like a stone when I only get the 20m reports instead of per minute.
When viewed on the iOS app the graph still looks smooth because they account for the incoming time of each packet, not just the saved packet number/id or how ever it's stored. If that could be used in the android app that would be amazing

[Firecul]

An example of dealing with missing data properly from the iOS app

[Robert-0410]

Good observations, we are definitely moving towards that direction.

[Firecul]

Thank you, with the recent update this is no longer an issue 👍

[Firecul]

Being able to select what is shown on your graphs.
I don't really care about channel utilization and airtime most of the time so being able to not show that would unclutter the area.

Same for the environmental graph, I haven't seen a single node in my area that has an IAQ read out so I'd be hiding that immediately. Which would also allow the auto ranging to make better use of the available screen space.

[Robert-0410]

That makes sense. Perhaps that could be part of a metrics preference interface. How do other people feel about this? Thoughts?

[b8b8]

I think now is the time we can move pressure to the environmental graph (so temp, hum, press) and put IAQ, Radiation, and CO2 in a new hazards graph. Im not against toggles, but i wouldnt call channel util. and air-time cluttered (and are very important mesh metrics) as most of the time they are below the 40% height and battery is above it and displayed as a line. I think we should err on having more dedicated graphs with clear categories than specific toggles on fewer graphs. IAQ simply wouldnt show up then unless the person had the sensor on their node if it was on the dedicated hazards graph.

[Firecul]

i wouldnt call channel util. and air-time cluttered (and are very important mesh metrics)

They might be important where you are but when I have only 5 direct contacts and 2 of them are my own nodes, our small section of the mesh is never busy enough to need them.

[b8b8]

Right but you only see them when actually looking at the graph page. Spot checking battery level can be done on the node list. I think they should all stay on the same graph all the time. Most people have more than 5 nodes on their mesh and I think the data presentation should default to what's best for "medium" size meshes or larger. That's just my opinion though as Robert asked for other's thoughts.

[brebtatv]

For example, I have temperature, humidity, pressure and AIQ on all major nodes in all villages or cities. If I'm trying to get permission to place a node, this is always a strong argument. Village administrators will welcome the ability to monitor this telemetry.

[Robert-0410]

Suggestion from Discord:

Independent ratios in the Environment Metrics.

[b8b8]

Where axis colour matches line colour.
I think Humidity should be forced to be scaled from 0-100. Temperature, pressure, etc can be relative scaling to the data available.

[Robert-0410]

That makes sense.