Author: abhinavraj23

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Read more about the article Implementing Rotary Knob in PSLab Android App

Implementing Rotary Knob in PSLab Android App

PSLab android application as we all know has got various instrument such as oscilloscope, logic analyzer, wave generator, etc.. . Although many of  these instrument require redesigning of it’s UI. One such instrument is the  Multimeter. The Multimeter UI required the implementation of the rotary knob as it is also present in an actual Multimeter.Thus this blog is solely on how to implement a Rotary Knob in an Android App.

Figure 1: Showing a basic knob

What is Rotary Knob ?

A Rotary knob is  a customizable selector that replicates the behaviour of a knob with discrete values.The knob is a powerful tool it has a lot of advantages over other radio-buttons, seek bars or other selectors.[1][2]

      • It has an immediate graphical indication of the current value, the number of choices and where the value is in the overall range.
      • Works fine also with few choices, as a multi-state toggle.
      • Swipe gestures allow to change values very quickly, using the entire screen for the gesture, but only a tiny zone of it for the graphics.

Implementation of Rotary Knob in your app[1]

In this blog the rotary knob is implemented using the BeppiMenozzi Knob library[1] as by doing this we don’t have to manually create the extra class for the knob and we don’t have to write the code from scratch.

This blog will give you step by step guide on how to implement this on your app.

        1. In your project level build.gradle file add the following lines of code. 
          allprojects {
  repositories {
         ….
      maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
      ….
  }
}
        2. In you app level build.gradle file add the following lines of codes in your dependencies. 
          compile 'com.github.BeppiMenozzi:Knob:1.9.
        3. Minimal code :-
          This contains the minimum number of lines of code for knob

          xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
...
<it.beppi.knoblibrary.Knob
        android:layout_width="64dp"
        android:layout_height="64dp"
        android:id="@+id/knob"
        app:kNumberOfStates="6"
 />

          Java listener-

          xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
Knob knob = (Knob) findViewById(R.id.knob);
knob.setState(firstState);
knob.setOnStateChanged(new Knob.OnStateChanged() {
        @Override
        public void onState(int state) {
        // do something
        }
    });

          This java method gives the user the position of the tip of theknob.
          Also there are various other advantages of using this library.

              • The Knob is completely customizable. The many customizable attributes can all be set both via xml file, and programmatically.
              • This  page gives the list of all the methods for customizing a knob.

           

        4.  Implementing a simple knob app 
          tv= (TextView)findViewById(R.id.tv);
Knob knob = (Knob) findViewById(R.id.knob);
knob.setState(0);
knob.setOnStateChanged(new Knob.OnStateChanged() {
   @Override
   public void onState(int state) {
       // do something
       tv.setText(String.valueOf(state));
   }
});

Now let us see the implementation of this simple app

Figure 2: showing basic knob implementation in android

So this is how we can implement a rotary knob in any Android Application.

Resources:

 

 

 

Continue ReadingImplementing Rotary Knob in PSLab Android App
Read more about the article Stepper Motors Experiment with PSLab

Stepper Motors Experiment with PSLab

PSLab device is capable of building up a complete science lab almost anywhere. While the privilege is mostly taken by high school students and teachers to perform scientific experiments, electronic hobbyists can greatly be influenced from the device. One of the usages is to test and debug sensors and other electronic components before actually using them in their projects. This blog will explain how steppers motors can be used with PSLab.

A stepper motor is an electromechanical device which converts electrical power into mechanical power. Also it is a brushless, synchronous electric motor that can divide a full rotation into an expansive number of steps. The stepper motor uses the theory of operation for magnets to make the motor shaft turn a precise distance when a pulse of electricity is provided. Stepper motors are similar to switched reluctance motors. [1]


Figure 1: Showing the working of a stepper motor [4]                                                      

Figure 1 shows the animation of a simplified stepper motor. Unlike a brushless DC motor which rotates continuously when a fixed DC voltage is applied to it, a step motor rotates in discrete step angles as shown in the above figure.

How Stepper Motors Work?

  • Stepper Motor works on the principle of electromagnetism.
  • Stepper motors consist of a permanent magnetic rotating shaft, called the     rotor, and electromagnets on the stationary portion that surrounds     the motor, called the stator.
  • Figure 1 illustrates one complete rotation of a stepper motor. At position 1, we can see that the rotor is beginning at the upper     electromagnet, which is currently active (has voltage applied to it).
  • To move the rotor clockwise (CW), the upper electromagnet is deactivated and the right electromagnet is activated, causing the rotor to move 90 degrees CW, aligning itself with the active magnet.
  • This process is repeated in the same manner at the south and west     electromagnets until we once again reach the starting position.

           Figure  (2): Showing different stages of stepper motors’ working cycle [3]

What are the most common reasons to choose stepper motors over other types? [2]

  1. Positioning     – Since steppers move in precise repeatable steps, they excel in applications requiring precise positioning such as 3D printers, CNC, Camera platforms and X,Y Plotters. Some disk drives also use stepper motors to position the read/write head.
  2. Speed Control – Precise increments of movement also allow for excellent control of rotational speed for process automation and robotics.
  3. Low Speed Torque – Normal DC motors don’t have very much torque at low speeds. A Stepper motor has maximum torque at low     speeds, so they are a good choice for applications requiring low speed with high precision.

Applications of Stepper Motors [2]

  1. Industrial Machines – Stepper motors are used in automotive gauges and machine tooling automated production equipments.
  2. Office Equipments – Stepper motors are incorporated inside PC based scanning equipment, data storage tape drives, optical disk drive head driving mechanism, printers, bar-code printers, scanners
  3. Medical – Stepper motors are used inside medical scanners, samplers, and also found inside digital dental photography, fluid pumps, respirators and blood analysis machinery.
  4. Consumer Electronics – Stepper motors in cameras for automatic digital camera focus and zoom functions.

       

Figure  (3) :Figure showing stepper motors being used in robo -arms [5]

Implementation of Stepper Motor in PSLab

Figure  (4) :A screenshot of Stepper Motor Experiment using PSLab Android App.

  • In the PSLab the stepper motor experiment is implemented to tell the user what a stepper motor is  and how to use it.
  • There is one field to enter the number of steps i.e the breaks in one one rotation which the stepper motor will have.
  • Using PSLab device experiment “Stepper Motor”, a user can acquire any number of steps just by entering the step value in the text box.
  • The following code is implemented for executing the function.
private void setSteps() {
         int stepCount = Integer.parseInt(steps.getText().toString());
         if (stepCount > 0) {
               stepForward(stepCount);
         } else {
               stepBackward(stepCount);
         }
}
  • The other two buttons are designed for choosing the direction in which the motor  will rotate.
  • The following code is for the backward function.
private void stepBackward(final int steps) {
    java.lang.Runnable runnable = new java.lang.Runnable() {
        @java.lang.Override
        public void run() {
            scienceLab.stepBackward(steps, 100);
        }
    };
    new java.lang.Thread(runnable).start();
}
  • Thus when the stepper motor  is connected to the PSLab device and the android application experiment is made to run, the stepper motor will rotate accordingly.

Resources

  1. https://learn.adafruit.com/all-about-stepper-motors/what-is-a-stepper-motor
  2. https://www.elprocus.com/stepper-motor-types-advantages-applications/
  3. https://www.imagesco.com/articles/picstepper/02.html
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper_motor
  5. https://www.instructables.com/id/Robot-Arm-MK2-Plus-Stepper-Motor-Used/
Continue ReadingStepper Motors Experiment with PSLab
Read more about the article Submitting a Github Issue through a Google Form

Submitting a Github Issue through a Google Form

The Pocket Science Lab Android app has various functionalities which have been already implemented but it been on the verge of development, many functionalities are yet to be implemented completely, one such functionality is how the users report the issues of the app, to which comes the idea of using a Google form inside the app for the users to fill it and the issue get directly opened in Github.

Submitting a Github issue through a Google forms requires two things:-

    1. A Github access token which gives access to open a new issue.
      • To generate a Github access token one must follow these steps[2]
        • Go to the personal settings.

        • Select  Developers settings option from it.
        • In Developers settings option Go to personal access tokens and generate an access token.
    2. A fully-structured Google form which has all the details about the issue i.e the title of the issue, the body of the issue, label, etc..
      • Using a Google account create a Google Form which have all the relevant questions about that issue such as title of the issue, body of the issue, label etc..

Once done with all the steps follow these steps to send a Github issue[1]

    1. Click the Responses tab, in it click the More icon.
    2. Select Choose a response destination.
    3. Select New spreadsheet: Creates a new spreadsheet in Google Sheets for responses.
    4. Click Create to create and open the sheet.

Configure the App Script Logic[1]

    1. You should have a newly created blank spreadsheet with headers automatically generated from your form.
    2. Click Tools > Script editor… to launch the App Script editor coding environment. This Script will be bound to your sheet, so you can listen for form submissions and fire off a new issue to your GitHub repo.
    3. In the script editor write the following code
function onFormSubmit(e) {

var title = e.values[1];
var body = e.values[2];
var label = "User opened issue"
var payload = {
"title": title,
"body": a_body,
"label": label,
};

var options = {
"method": "POST",
"contentType": "application/json",
"payload": JSON.stringify(payload)
};
var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch("https://api.github.com/repos/abhinavraj23/AgeGroup/issues?access_token="+ghToken, options)
}

Note:The onFormSubmit function includes an event object e, which includes the form/spreadsheet field values as a simple array with values in the same order as they appear in the spreadsheet. e.values[0] is the first spreadsheet column

The following google-app script uses GitHub Issues API for posting a new issue in Github.

4.Give your app script project a name and save it .

Set up the Trigger[1]

        1. From within the app script editor, click Resources > Current project’s triggers.
        2. Click to add a trigger
          1. Run: onFormSubmit
          2. Events: From spreadsheet, On form submit
        3. Click Save and accept any authorizations to access your forms and access web services on your behalf.
        4. This trigger will listen to form submissions and pass the data to your function, which POSTs the new issue to your GitHub repo.

Thus using these steps one can submit an issue in github through a Google Form and thus the Google Forms can be used in the app as the users can send the issues using a google form, and through this method one can also get the email-id of the user for further contact and thus this is a very  useful method.

Resources

      1. Bmcbride, google-form-to-github-issue,gist.github.com: https://gist.github.com/bmcbride/62600e48274961819084#set-up-the-trigger
      2. Github help, Creating personal access token,help.github.com: https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-personal-access-token-for-the-command-line/
Continue ReadingSubmitting a Github Issue through a Google Form