Configuring your Android Devices

What Needs to Be Configured for My Control System?

Control Hub Configuration

Note

References to the Driver Station smartphone may instead apply to the REV Driver Hub, which is preloaded with the Driver Station (DS) app.

Teams who are using a Control Hub (which has an integrated Android Device) will only need to configure a single smartphone for use as a Driver Station. The process is as follows:

  • Rename the smartphone to “<TEAM NUMBER>-DS” (where <TEAM NUMBER> is replaced by your team number).

  • Install the Driver Station (DS) app onto the Driver Station phone. (The DS app is pre-installed on the REV Driver Hub.)

  • Put your phone into Airplane Mode (with the WiFi radio still on).

  • Pair (i.e., wirelessly connect) the Driver Station to the Control Hub.

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Important

Eventually the Control Hub will need be renamed so that its name complies with Game Manual rule <RS01>, but for now we will use the Control Hub with its default name. You can learn how to manage a Control Hub (and modify its name, password, etc.) in this tutorial.

Two Android Smartphone Configuration

Teams who have two smartphones and are not using a Control Hub will need to configure one smartphone for use as a Robot Controller and a second smartphone for use as a Driver Station. The process is as follows,

  • Rename one smartphone to “<TEAM NUMBER>-RC” (replace <TEAM NUMBER> with your team number).

  • Install the Robot Controller app onto the Robot Controller phone.

  • Rename a second smartphone to “<TEAM NUMBER>-DS” (where <TEAM NUMBER> is replaced by your team number).

  • Install the Driver Station app onto the Driver Station phone. (The DS app is pre-installed on the REV Driver Hub.)

  • Put your phones into Airplane Mode (with the WiFi radios still on).

  • Pair (i.e., wirelessly connect) the Driver Station to the Robot Controller.

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Renaming Your Smartphones

The official rules of the FIRST Tech Challenge (see <RS01>) require that you change the Wi-Fi name of your smartphones to include your team number and “-RC” if the phone is a Robot Controller or “-DS” if it is a Driver Station. A team can insert an additional dash and a letter (“A”, “B”, “C”, etc.) if the team has more than one set of Android phones.

If, for example, a team has a team number of 9999 and the team has multiple sets of phones, the team might decide to name one phone “9999-C-RC” for the Robot Controller and the other phone “9999-C-DS” for the Driver Station. The “-C” indicates that these devices belong to the third set of phones for this team.

The name of a Robot Controller phone can be changed in the RC app, using instructions found here. It can also be changed at the Manage page from the RC app, a paired DS app, or a connected laptop; click Apply Wi-Fi Settings when done.

The name of a Driver Station phone can be changed in the DS app, using instructions found here.

As an alternate, the device names can be changed at the Android system level, as described below.

Note

It will take an estimated 5 minutes per phone to complete this task.

Step

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  1. Browse the list of available apps on thesmartphone and locate the Settings icon.Click on Settings icon to display theSettings screen.

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  1. Click on Wi-Fi to launch the Wi-Fiscreen.

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  1. Touch the three vertical dots to display apop-up menu.

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  1. Select Advanced from the pop-up menu.

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  1. Select Wi-Fi Direct from the AdvancedWi-Fi screen.

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  1. Touch the three vertical dots to display apop-up menu.

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  1. Select Configure Device from the pop-upmenu.

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  1. Use touch pad to enter new name of device.If the device will be a Robot Controller,specify your team number and -RC. If thedevice will bea Driver Station, specify yourteam number and -DS. You can also set theWi-Fi Direct inactivity timeout to Neverdisconnect and then hit theSAVE buttonto save your changes. Note that in thescreenshot shown to the right, the team numberis 9999. The “-C” indicates that this is fromthe third pair of smartphones forthis team.The -RC indicates that this phonewill be aRobot Controller.

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  1. After renaming phone, power cycle thedevice.

Installing the FIRST Tech Challenge Apps

As of 2021, the SDK apps (v 6.1 and higher) are no longer available on Google Play.

The REV Hardware Client software will allow you to download the apps to devices: REV Control Hub, REV Expansion Hub, REV Driver Hub, and other approved Android devices (see section below, called Updating Apps on Android Phones). Here are some of the benefits:

  • Connect to a REV Control Hub via WiFi.

  • One Click update of all software on connected devices.

  • Pre-download software updates without a connected device.

  • Back up and restore user data from Control Hub.

  • Install and switch between DS and RC applications on Android Devices.

  • Access the Robot Control Console on the Control Hub.

The app releases are also available on the FTCRobotController Github repository. It is possible to “side-load” the apps onto the Robot Controller (RC) and Driver Station (DS) phones. However, this section of the document does not include such instructions; other document pages describe side-loading the RC app and the DS app.

Updating Apps and Firmware on REV Devices (REV Expansion Hub, REV Control Hub, REV Driver Hub)

The REV Hardware Client software is used to install and update apps, firmware and/or operating systems on devices from REV Robotics. Simply connect the device via USB to your PC with the REV Hardware Client installed and running, and the software will detect connected hardware. After detection, the REV Hardware Client can then update the Robot Controller (RC) app on a REV Control Hub, update the Driver Station (DS) app on a REV Driver Hub, or update firmware.

Updating Apps on Android Phones

The REV Hardware Client software is used to install, uninstall, and update apps on Android phones. However, the phones must have Developer Options enabled in order for the phone to be properly recognized and updated by the REV Hardware Client software. The process for enabling Developer Options is as follows:

Step

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  1. Go to “Settings”, then tap “About device”or “About phone”.

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  1. Scroll down, then tap Build number seventimes.Depending on your device and operatingsystem, you may need to tap Softwareinformation, then tap Build number seventimes.

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  1. Enter your pattern, PIN or password toenable the Developer options menu.

  1. The “Developer options” menu will nowappear in your Settings menu. Depending onyour device, it may appear under Settings >General > Developer options.

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  1. To disable the Developer options at anytime, tap the switch.

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Placing Phones into Airplane Mode with Wi-Fi On

For the FIRST Tech Challenge competitions, it is important that you place your Robot Controller and Driver Station phones into Airplane mode but keep their Wi-Fi radios turned on. This is important because you do not want any of the cellular telephone functions to be enabled during a match. The cellular telephone functions could disrupt the function of the robot during a match.

Note

It will take an estimated 2.5 minutes per phone to complete this task. Also note that the screens displayed on your Android devices might differ slightly from the images contained in this document.

Step

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  1. On the main Android screen of eachsmartphone, use your finger to slide from thetop of the screen down towards the bottom ofthe screen to display the quick configurationscreen.Note that for some smartphones youmight have to swipe down more than once todisplay the quick configuration screen,particularly if there are messages ornotifications displayed at the top of yourscreen.Look for the Airplane mode icon (whichis shaped like an airplane) and if the icon isnot activated, touch the icon to put the phoneinto airplane mode.

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  1. Placing the phone into airplane mode willturn off the Wi-Fi radio. If the Wi-Fi iconhas a diagonal line through it (see Step 1above), then the Wi-Fi radio is disabled. Youwill need to touch the Wi-Fi icon on thequick configuration screen to turn the Wi-Firadio back on.

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Pairing the Driver Station to the Robot Controller

Control Hub Pairing

The REV Robotics Control Hub should come with the Robot Controller app pre-installed. Once you have successfully installed the Driver Station on an Android phone, you will want to establish a secure wireless connection between the Control Hub and the Driver Station. This connection will allow your Driver Station phone to select op modes on your Robot Controller and send gamepad input to these programs. Likewise, it will allow your op modes running on your Robot Controller to send telemetry data to your Driver Station phone where it can be displayed for your drivers. The process to connect the two devices is known as “pairing.”

Note

the Control Hub does not have its own internal battery. Before you can connect a Driver Station to the Control Hub, you must connect the Control Hub to a 12V battery.

Also note that it will take an estimated 10 minutes to complete this task.

Step

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  1. Connect an approved 12V battery to thepower switch (REV-31-1387) and make sure theswitch is in the off position. Connect theswitch to an XT30 port on the Control Hub andturn the switch on. The LED should initiallybe blue on the Control Hub.

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  1. It takes approximately 18 seconds for theControl Hub to power on. The Control Hub isready to pair with the Driver Station when theLED turns green. Note: the light blinks blueevery ~5 seconds to indicate that the ControlHub is healthy.

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  1. On the Driver Station device, browse theavailable apps and locate the DriverStation icon. Tap on the icon to launch theDriver Station app. Note that the first timeyou launch the app your Android device mightprompt you for permissions that the app willneed to run properly. Whenever prompted, press**Allow** to grant the requested permission.

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  1. Touch the three vertical dots on the upperright hand corner of the main screen of theDriver Station app. This will launch apop-up menu.

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  1. Select Settings from the pop-up menu.

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  1. From the Settings screen, look for andselect Pairing Method to launch the**Pairing** Method screen.

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  1. Touch the words Control Hub to indicatethat this Driver Station will be pairing witha Control Hub.

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  1. From the Settings screen, look for andselect Pair with Robot Controller tolaunch the Pair with RobotController screen.

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  1. From Pair with Robot Controller screen,look for and press the Wifi Settings button to launch the device’s Android WifiSettings screen.

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  1. Find the name of your Control Hub’swireless network from the list of availableWiFi networks. Click on the network name toselect the network. If this is the first timeyou are connecting to the Control Hub, thenthe default network name should begin with theprefix FTC- (FTC-1Ybr in this example).The default network name should be listed on asticker attached to the bottom side of theControl Hub.

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  1. When prompted, specify the password forthe Control Hub’s WiFi network and pressConnect to connect to the Hub. Note thatthe default password for the Control Hubnetwork is password. Also note that when youconnect to the Control Hub’s WiFi networksuccessfully, the Driver Station will not haveaccess to the Internet.

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  1. After you successfully connected to theHub, use the back arrow to navigate to theprevious screen. You should see the name ofthe WiFi network listed under “Current RobotController:”. Use the back-arrow key to returnto the Settings screen. Then press theback-arrow key one more time to return to themain Driver Station screen.

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  1. Verify that the Driver Station screen haschanged and that it now indicates that it isconnected to the Control Hub.The name of theControl Hub’s WiFi network (FTC-1Ybr in thisexample) should be displayed in the Networkfield on the Driver Station.

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Two Android Smartphone Pairing

Important

If your Driver Station was previously paired to a Control Hub, and you currently would like to connect to an Android smartphone Robot Controller, then before attempting to pair to the Robot Controller, you should forget the Wi-Fi network for the previous Control Hub (using the Android Wifi Settings screen on the Driver Station) and then power cycle the Driver Station phone. If the previous Control Hub is powered on and if you haven’t forgotten this network, then the Driver Station might try and connect to the Control Hub and might be unable to connect to the Robot Controller smartphone.

Once you have successfully installed the apps onto your Android phones, you will want to establish a secure wireless connection between the two devices. This connection will allow your Driver Station phone to select op modes on your Robot Controller phone and send gamepad input to these programs. Likewise, it will allow your op modes running on your Robot Controller phone to send telemetry data to your Driver Station phone where it can be displayed for your drivers. The process to connect the two phones is known as pairing.

Note that it will take an estimated 10 minutes to complete this task.

Step

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  1. On the Robot Controller device, browse theavailable apps and locate the RobotController icon. Tap on the icon to launchthe Robot Controller app. Note that the firsttime you launch the app your Android devicemight prompt you for permissions that the appwill need to run properly. Whenever prompted,press Allow to grant the requestedpermission.

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  1. Verify that the Robot Controller app isrunning. The Robot Status field shouldread running if it is working properly.

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  1. On the Driver Station device, browse theavailable apps and locate the DriverStation icon. Tap on the icon to launch theDriver Station app. Note that the first timeyou launch the app your Android device mightprompt you for permissions that the app willneed to run properly. Whenever prompted, press**Allow** to grant the requested permission.

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  1. Touch the three vertical dots on the upperright hand corner of the main screen of theDriver Station app. This will launch apop-up menu.

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  1. Select Settings from the pop-up menu.

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  1. From the Settings screen, look for andselect Pairing Method to launch the**Pairing** Method screen.

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  1. Verify that the Wifi Direct mode isselected, which means that this Driver Stationwill be pairing with another Android device.

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  1. From the Settings screen, look for andselect Pair with Robot Controller tolaunch the Pairwith RobotController screen.

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  1. Find the name of your Robot Controller fromthe list and select it.After you have madeyour selection, use the back-arrow key toreturn to the Settings screen.Then press theback-arrow key one more time to return to themain Driver Station screen.

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  1. When the Driver Station returns to itsmain screen, the first time you attempt toconnect to the Robot Controller a promptshould appear on the Robot Controllerscreen.Click on the ACCEPT button toaccept the connection request from the DriverStation.

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  1. Verify that the Driver Station screen haschanged and that it now indicates that it isconnected to the Robot Controller.The name ofthe Robot Controller’s remote network(9999-C-RC in this example) should bedisplayed in the Network field on the DriverStation.

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  1. Verify that the Robot Controller screenhas changed and that it now indicates that itis connected to the Driver Station.The Networkstatus should read active, connected on theRobot Controller’s main screen.

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