Asked
— Edited
Is there a way I can make my own controls for ARC? I have some components (different sensors, stepper motors, etc) which I'd like to create controls for which are not included.
I can program in .Net/C# and would be happy to share the control(s) with the community, but I'm not sure how to get started.
If the answer is that this is not possible, I can probably come up with something in EZ-Script, but it would not be as slick. One of the controls I'd like to create would be just like the ARC Sonar control, but for the SRF08 sonars over I2C.
Although they won't be controls in ARC, you can write applications that pass data and commands back and forth between ARC and your devices using the EZ-B SDK. It has numerous C# and a few VB. NET samples.
Also check out the new Universal Bot SDK which appears to be the future direction of DJs SDK development since it can run on more devices.
Alan
What I do is develop apps outside of ARC but use the component that is in the SDK. I send data to these apps via command line parameters, and send data back to ARC in either variables (through the SDK) or through txt files if the data is really large.
I agree with Alan. Universal Bot SDK is going to be looked into very quickly. I am setting up a company that will use EZ-B controllers to do a lot of things. I am waiting for Windows 10 and the next release of Visual Studio right now as I don't see the logic in developing new apps for this company using older technology.
My apps are all tied into a suite called EZ-AI. Each might as well be its own app as each portion can be called using a switch in the command line. This allows a much smaller chunk of code to be loaded and used without user intervention on the keyboard or mouse. One of these takes a variable from ARC which is a SQL command, sends it to EZ-AI, which EZ-AI then executes against the database. The results are then passed back to ARC via a variable through the use of the SDK and EZ-AI closes. I just mentioned this so that you could see the flow of how this is done.
I have been bouncing ideas around of allowing people to make plug-ins. My concerns are who handles customer support for the controls (we already receive hundreds of emails a day with ridiculous questions). And how do we manage security. I wouldn't want to see ARC being used to access others computers, etc..
In the meantime, you can create EZ-Script controls for your new sensors, etc...
Thank you for your detailed responses. It's nice to have your insight and know how others have been working around a problem.
Why not have them be submitted to be vetted and checked over before being published? Make it a requirement that every submitted control has detailed usage instructions in line with those instructions from EZ-Robot.
I know you are all busy with running the company and getting the orders out etc. so you could offer up a new section for testing new plugins. Possibly with some pre-requisites to get in to the testing programme such as being a long standing active member (which should pretty much remove all ridiculous questions being sent to EZ-Robot) or being hand picked based on activity, knowledge etc.
Just some food for thought.