February 10, 2020 Software Update

Today we released a new version of the FarmBot web app with the following new features and fixes:

FarmBot OS download center

After receiving feedback that it was confusing to navigate to GitHub to download the latest version of FarmBot OS, we built a new page on the web app just for OS downloads. You can find it at os.farm.bot. The links there are automatically updated when a new version is released, so you can be certain they are as up-to-date as GitHub.

New sequence commands!

We've added four new sequence commands: CONTROL SERVO, REBOOT, SET ZERO, and CALIBRATE.

CONTROL SERVO instructs FarmBot to move a servo to the provided angle. Previously we had a farmware for this, but now the functionality is built right into the sequence editor.

REBOOT instructs FarmBot to power cycle the onboard computer.

SET ZERO instructs FarmBot to set the current location along an axis to 0, also known as the Home position for that axis. If you choose to ZERO ALL, FarmBot will set all axes to zero. This functionality has been available to use manually from the Device page for a long time, but we think many of you will find it useful to use systematically in a sequence as well.

CALIBRATE instructs FarmBot to perform a calibration of the chosen axis. As with SET ZERO, this has been available to do manually for a long time too, but now you can have FarmBot perform this as often as you want without intervention.

In addition to the new commands, we also changed the color of SEND MESSAGE to a neutral brown color, and E-STOP is now red to match the E-stop button in the main nav.

Bulk plant status update

You can now bulk-update the status of plants (planned, planted, etc) by creating a box-selection of plants and then using the "update plant status to" dropdown.

Updates to the hardware widget settings

To support the Trinamic TMC2130 stepper drivers included with all of our latest generation FarmBots, we added two new settings to the hardware widget for MOTOR CURRENT and STALL SENSITIVITY. These will be shown when they are applicable to your electronics board and firmware selection.

Additionally, we changed the name of ENCODER MISSED STEP DECAY to just MISSED STEP DECAY.

Last, if you choose the Express v1.0 firmware, references to encoders throughout the app will be hidden, including the raw and scaled encoder outputs that can be shown in the MOVE widget.

Miscellaneous updates

• As requested by @PitouGames on GitHub, we've added pagination to many API endpoints. For additional information, see our updated developer documentation: https://developer.farm.bot/docs/rest-api#section-pagination.
• Added a "None" option for the camera, which is useful for DIY builders and development FarmBots that do not have cameras. When the None option is selected, take photo buttons will be disabled and there will be a warning on the take photo sequence command.
• There is now a less-obtrusive warning when trying to create an Event before you have created any Sequences or Regimens.
• We removed the Diagnostic Dump functionality from FarmBot OS and the web app. We originally built this feature to aid us in helping customers solve problems with their FarmBots, but it hasn't proven to be useful in many situations. Meanwhile, we've since implemented other features that replace many of the most useful aspects of the Diagnostic Dump feature in a better way.
• Fixed an issue where calling resource_update was not updating the resource.
• Made improvements to error recovery when something goes wrong in the app.