QDriverStation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| QDriverStation | |
|---|---|
 QDriverStation main window | |
| Original author | Alex Spataru |
| Stable release | 21.04
/ April 7, 2021[1] |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C, C++, QML |
| Operating system | Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, OS X, Linux |
| Available in | 3 languages |
| Type | FIRST Robotics Competition, Software, Qt |
| License | MIT License |
| Website | frc-utilities |
The QDriverStation is a free and open-source robotics software for the FIRST Robotics Competition.
The project was started in September 2015[2] by Alex Spataru (Team 3794), with the objective to provide a stable, free, extensible and friendly to use alternative to the FRC Driver Station. Since then, several FRC students, alumni and mentors have contributed[3] to the project by providing feedback, documenting the communication protocols and creating Linux packages.
Some important features of the QDriverStation are:
- The QDriverStation implements a simple auto-updater to ensure that teams are running the latest version of the software.
- The QDriverStation uses SDL to obtain joystick input, but it also implements the option to enable a "virtual joystick[4]", which uses the keyboard keys to operate the robot.
- The QDriverStation implements a simple sandbox around every protocol to ensure the safe operation of the robot and the software.
- The QDriverStation uses the Qt framework to implement the Graphical user interface.
FRC communication protocols
The developers of the QDriverStation have implemented the 2014,[5] 2015 and 2016 FRC communication protocols. Some users have requested to implement support for the ROS protocol, however, work for this feature has not been published yet.
