Using Your Android Device

Before you get started with your control system, it is helpful if you familiarize yourself with the basic operation of your Android device.

REV Robotics Driver Hub

Teams who are using the REV Robotics Driver Hub as their DRIVER STATION should refer to the official documentation from REV Robotics for instructions on how to set up and use the REV Robotics Driver Hub.

Android Smartphone

While not recommended, the Competition Manual does allow select Android smartphones to be used as a DRIVER STATION or ROBOT CONTROLLER. See rule R704 for the full details.

Unlocking Your Screen

When you first power on an Android phone, it usually starts off with the screen in a “locked” state. For the Motorola smartphones that are used in the FIRST Tech Challenge, you must touch the locked screen and then slide your finger upwards along the screen to unlock the phone. Note that different devices might require a slightly different procedure to unlock the screen.

Depending on your security settings, you might be challenged for a pass code or PIN number. Use the touch screen to enter in the pass code or PIN value and tap on the check mark to log into the device.

Navigating in Android

Your phone should display its home screen if you just powered it on and unlocked it. Note that the actual screens on your smartphone might differ slightly from the screens depicted in this tutorial.

At the bottom of the screen there should be some buttons that you can use to navigate the screens on your Android device.

The leftmost button (see image above) is the “Back” button. You can use this button to return to the previous screen on your Android device.

The center button is the “Home” button. Pressing this button should take you back to the home or opening screen of your Android device.

The rightmost button is the “Recent Apps” button. If you click on this button it will display the apps that were recently run and are dormant in the background. You can close a recent app by tapping the “X” button on the app’s listing.

Note that some Android smartphones have an auto-hide feature which automatically hides the bottom navigation buttons. If your smartphone has this feature, you might need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to display the navigation buttons.

Displaying Available Apps on your Android Phone

If you are using a device with Android Nougat (7.x) or newer, you can display the available apps by simply swiping upwards from the bottom of the touchscreen. Newer versions of Android no longer have the App Drawer feature.