BlueOS 1.1.0 release!

Blue Robotics Software BlueOS
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:ocean: BlueOS 1.1.0 is stable and available for updating to! :ocean:

On any vehicles running BlueOS, you should now receive a notification message in the web interface[1] that a new stable update is available :smiley:

Check our update guide for 1.0 users or 1.1.0-beta users.

After 17 months of development (including 30 beta releases), BlueOS 1.1 brings a revamped interface and an extended and more powerful experience for your vehicle configuration and integrations.

As one of our beta testers described it,

Iā€™m out of the stone age - the newest BlueOS is like The Wizard of Oz changing from B&W to Color film!

The notable changes and improvements are described in the Whatā€™s New in BlueOS-1.1? documentation, but here are a few highlights:

  1. Extensions
  2. Vehicle Setup page
  3. BlueBoat Support

Extensions

BlueOS 1.1 introduces a new extension system, which links users to developers by providing a platform for sharing, finding, and installing new functionalities without needing to modify BlueOS itself - just like installing applications on your computer.

Extensions can be used for everything from integrations and drivers for third-party sensors, to development environments, documentation, and remote vehicle access.

Note: The extension system was in an alpha stage during the BlueOS-1.1.0 beta releases. It is now considered to be in a beta stage of development, where there may still be quite significant changes coming but the current system and development direction are stable enough that we are happy for everyone to start using it :slight_smile:

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One exciting extension to explore is Cockpit[2] , an experimental alternative to QGroundControl. Itā€™s designed to be intuitive and fully customizable at its core. Weā€™re actively developing it, and your feedback would be much appreciated! Another notable extension is VirtualHere, which lets you access USB devices connected to the vehicle as if they are plugged into your surface computer. Donā€™t miss out on ZeroTier either, which provides a virtual local network that allows accessing your vehicle(s) over the internet. All these extensions and more are available in BlueOS 1.1!

Vehicle Setup

Vehicle Setup is a new page for advanced vehicle configuration and visualization. You can see which sensors and devices are connected to the vehicle, as well as battery status, motor mapping, motor testing and much more, with an intuitive 3D visualiser!

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BlueBoat Support

BlueOS is not just for underwater robots, and the new stable release comes with full support for BlueBoat built in!

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This release has been a labour of love to create, and weā€™re thrilled to present it as a testament to our commitment to innovation, excellence and open source. As you dive into the deep or navigate through uncharted waters, weā€™re excited to see where youā€™ll take us next. Set sail with BlueOS 1.1, and letā€™s shape the future of marine technology together!

Quick links

  1. Documentation
  2. Source Code
  3. Releases, changelogs, files

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Artwork ā€œCharting New Watersā€: commissioned from Nina Pinhoo

  1. when the vehicle is connected to the internet ā†©ļøŽ

  2. Initial usage documentation and the first major release are coming soon! ā†©ļøŽ

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@patrickelectric This is great news. Busy adding a DVL to my demo ROV so will update and test this weekend. Amazing work here. This software has come a long way in both feature set and stability. Well done!

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Sounds and looks amazing Patrick.

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Just some initial feedback on BlueOS 1.1.0 upgrade. Install went super smooth using Chrome on Win10 from a BlueOS 1.0 install - although didnā€™t exit cleanly when it was done (think I had to hit esc or something to disappear the spinning logo).

Home screen is amazing - intuitive and well designed so great to use. The new vehicle configuration setup particularly groovy as is the addition of 3rd party apps. Ceruleanā€™s SonarView worked perfectly out of the box for both Ping1D and OmniScan 450FS.

The Cockpit App is a real game changer with a really nice heads up display and ability to display and record the main telemetry options in a HUD style. Havenā€™t tried the other apps yet but looking forward to using Cockpit in the water as seems to work great in this release.

Minor issues I had but not sure they are specific to my setup (Standard R4 Heavy Configuration, Navigator, Gripper, Ping1D, Omniscan 450FS, Win10/Chrome).

  1. The map/gps widgit arms and runs thrusters at full speed without warning if you click on the little play button to see what it does (yikes!!!).
  2. Couldnā€™t readily workout how to use the video player option although this is a very useful addition.
  3. Couldnā€™t see how to view/edit the shift functions on my controller (cheap xbox clone).
  4. The camera trigger button option didnā€™t seem to work (although a truly awesome addition assuming it is meant to toggle video record?).
  5. The full screen menu option in Cockpit/Chrome seems to no longer work once you use the F11 key?
  6. The full screen option in SonarView didnā€™t work at all and didnā€™t seem to have the ability to run two apps (except in one is Cockpit) or two instances at once (eg. SonarView with Omniscan and also with Ping1D)?
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Hi @BillyBudd, thanks for the feedback! :slight_smile:

Thanks, Iā€™ve raised an issue that should help us address this.

Hopefully thatā€™s clarified in the docs, but please follow up if itā€™s not.

Thatā€™s not yet available (in general), but is being worked on at the moment. It should be complete before we do the first beta release of Cockpit.

Camera triggering has been a valid joystick button function for a long time, and I believe is for sending a trigger signal to a MAVLink-enabled camera (generally to tell it to take a photo).

That said, triggering video recording via joystick buttons does seem useful, so Iā€™ve raised an issue for that too :slight_smile:

I believe these should be fixed now, when using the latest BlueOS master :slight_smile:

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Many Thanks for the detailed feedback Eliot - much appreciated :clap: Iā€™ve since done a few pool tests with CockPit and really enjoying it. Seems a viable replacement for QGC already :+1:

Like others I initially noticed a few video latency issues and tried a couple of different WIN10 laptops but found these largely resolved following the latest BlueROV firmware upgrade? Also changed out the clone wired Xbox controller for a wireless real one - not sure if this helped.

Also used a set of XREAL Air2 AR glasses with a ~2021 DELL XPS 13 2in1 (presumably relatively limited graphics capability) and still only occasional and minor glitches in the matrix - very nice experience with the wireless xBox controller :heart_eyes:

1 Like