Team Notification

GMS can publish selected information to the Internet.  This capability is useful to the participating teams and enhances their overall experience at an event.  It is also a convenience to the Event Staff since it will reduce the number of questions from teams.  In a nut shell, GMS can publish the information to Team members:

·         Pit Administrator announcements

·         Pit Map, with color coded queuing status

·         Match schedules for each team

·         Selected Robot Inspection status (like, inspection queue position, weights, etc.)

·         Scheduled Interview times with Judges

For this function, GMS needs access to the Internet.  GMS publishes selected data to a public site.  This information will also be interesting to parents and mentors who are not physically at the event.

Teams can use the GMS Android app to receive this information.  The app uses the subscriber's carrier data plan (or the public WiFi at the event site) to access the Internet.  It does not use the GMS WiFi LAN.  Team members with unsupported devices (like iPhone, Windows) can use a browser to view the Pit Admin notices and match schedule. 

 

Pit Administration

The Pit Administrator is a new role in GMS.  They see the following screen when they login on a laptop.

A Bulletin Board covers most of the screen.  A Pit Administrator can add, delete or edit announcement lines as desired.  Using this functionality is easy, enter text into the area marked "Add messages below" and click Publish.  Ta da… 

To change a message, click on the message text, change it and hit 'Enter'.  To delete a message, click on the Time or UserId and select Delete.

Robot Inspectors

The Lead Robot Inspector can choose to publish Inspection status for all teams.  This includes: Inspection state, Queue position (for inspections), Name of Robot Inspector assigned (if any) and current robot weights.  They can also publish an estimated inspection time so that the team can be ready for the Robot Inspector.

To enable this function, select Tools è Configure à Notifications.  Turn on Notification Update and select the appropriate radio buttons to publish status.  Data is published periodically based on the specified Update Period.

Judging Interview Appointments

The Judge Advisor can choose to publish information regarding Pit Interviews, including the expected times for interviews.  This allows the team to be ready with the appropriate team members.  The notification can include the Award Type (i.e. Team Attributes vs. Machine) and also the specific awards that will be covered.  Re-interview notifications can be blocked to avoid publicizing short lists.

The Team Role in GMS

Team members should install the GMS app from Google Play.  To login, they can choose any userId and password.  They should specify the same credentials the next time they login in order to access their saved data.  Select the role "Team".  Ignore the IP address stuff.  Next, select the event.  The device should have access to the Internet.

Team members can view the Pit Administrator Announcements by clicking on the Announcement icon at the top.  New announcements will be highlighted in red.  They can be acknowledged by touching them.

The pit map highlights the teams that are on the field (red) and teams that are currently queuing (yellow). 

   

 

A number of other screens are available.  A team page displays the team's match schedule and other information specific to that team.

        

Clicking on the Interview or Resume button displays the Pit Interview Scouting page.  Clicking on the Eye icon at the top displays the Match Scouting page, shown below.  The questionnaires for the two scouting pages can be customized by each team by editing a text file in the app's home directory.

 

The app has access to the following additional information:

·         Scouting Analysis (described separately)

·         Audible and vibrate alerts when a new Pit Admin announcement appears, or when the team is being queued.

·         Team details, including award history (this is useful while scouting)

 

Only one laptop at each event should be configured to publish Notifications.  Typically, the Pit Admin laptop will be configured to receive and sync data from the JA and LRI laptops.  That laptop can be configured to publish to Docs.

 

Using Non-Android devices

GMS is not available on iPhones and Windows phones.  These users can view a standard web page on the Internet containing the Pit Admin announcements and the Match Schedule.  Publishing Match Schedules is useful during Off-Season events when they are not available at the FIRST web site.

 

 

The URL for the web page (on the Internet) can be published by selecting View è Web Page QR.  Print and post the displayed QR Code.

Team access via WiFi AP

A WiFi network dedicated to Team access can be set up at sites where there is no carrier signal and no access to the Internet.

A separate WiFi AP must be set up since teams should not be allowed to access the GMS WiFi network.  A copy of GMS will be set up on that network.  This copy will periodically download data from the main GMS server.  The copy can be configured to provide Web Service on port 80 (configurable.)  The WiFi AP should be configured so that only the GMS copy can access the GMS server.

To configure the copy:

Teams must be given the WiFi SSID and the IP address of the GMS copy.  This IP address will not be on the Internet.  They can connect to the SSID and use a browser to access the GMS copy.  A QR code can be posted if desired.  Since there is no Internet access via this WiFi, teams may lose use of their email and other Internet based apps.

 

© Rajaram Pejaver, May 2014