Robo-Tank v6.0 is Ready - Now v6.5

[Rob F]

Hi, I just pushed out an update. Aside from this I was able to improve the initial install process, it turns out the Quickmail library I'm using for emails didn't compile properly at random, now I know a couple people ran into this issue as I was able to verify it. Instead of going through the complex install of Quickmail I simply copy over the library files already compiled which is working on all Pi's, I've tested on Pi Zero, Pi3 and Pi4. I think the fresh install will go better now, for sure one more issue solved. It's also required to run Debian Buster operating system, if you run Debain Bullseye you need to recompile the main app and the startup app after update which isn't recommended. If you're running Debian Bullseye it's best to do a fresh install. If you don't want to lose your charts you can backup /var/www/html/chartData/ folder and restore later, this holds the CSV files for them.

To update go to settings, then system and click "check for update".

I'm very excited about this update as it includes a fail safe for the PCA9685 which controls the DC ports and eight PWM channels. This chip is controlled via I2C, it interprets various commands and sets the 16 outputs accordingly. In most if not all DIY controllers the command is sent to the PCA9685 and basically fingers crossed it made it in tact and the PCA9685 actually updated. This can be critical for things such as dosing pumps as normally one on/off command is sent, now the program will send the command to update the PCA9685 and immediately send another command to read the same pin to verify it actually updated. If it didn't it will continue to send the command until it's set correctly. This is universal so any command from any system is verified. It's rare a command doesn't make it but can happen just based on how I2C works so. Of course I can't take the credit for creating such a feature, I did find it in a couple Arduino libraries and was able to convert it to how I'm managing it. I strongly feel this is the best feature of the app.

I also added the same verification to GPIO's on the Pi, after it updates it reads the pin to verify it's set correct, I think switching issues on the Pi GPIO is much less likely but may as well verify. I actually thought I had done this but only in initial testing.

I got a basic logging system running, this records all actions and the source that triggered it. This is the start of my custom table template that'll be used throughout, it's responsive and you can sort each column ascending or descending. It can load 2,200 records in about a second. Later I'm planning to add live search, better time frame selection and filters. For today the sort order and time frame isn't saved so it'll default to "Today" and sorted by "Timestamp".

And here's some other minor fixes.

• Browser Date/Time - Clock would not show 24 hour format after adding RTC
  
• Schedules - Date added was saved wrong in database after RTC was added
  
• I2C Scanner - Removed auto scanner as it is not required - this was scanning the I2C bus every 10 seconds for changes which was kind of crazy as it adds lots of extra traffic and very unlikely someone adds something with controller powered, now it only scans when the controller starts up.
  
• Charts - pH chart table in database wasn't being updated
  
• Charts - charts were still getting timestamp from internet time, changed to controller system time
  

Here's an little example of the log, at one point I had a nice example but didn't save a picture so this is just random things after a fresh install. There's a total of 10 sources, 3 actions and 6 equipment types. Eventually this will log everything, when you configure ports, change icons, etc... it'll be like an audit report.