FarmBot OS v14 Beta Preview - Feedback Welcome!

FarmBot OS v14.0.0 Beta Preview

Today we are announcing the beta release of FarmBot OS v14.0.0.

About Beta Releases

A beta release is a version of FarmBot OS that is almost ready for public use but is still under active testing.

If you are eager to try new features before they are publicly released, you may opt-in to receive a beta update for your device (instructions below).

If you require a high level of stability for your device (eg: it is currently tending to a live garden), it may be best to wait for the official release since a beta release may have slight stability issues. We appreciate bug reports for problems found on beta versions of FarmBot OS.

What’s New?

FBOS v14.0.0 is a stability upgrade. Most notably, it contains a complete overhaul of the firmware handler. This release does not yet support StealthChop, but has many improvements that will eventually pave the way for StealthChop support. If you have experienced issues in the past related to firmware flashing, movement error recovery or general firmware stability problems, this release addresses many of those issues.

How to Opt-In

We appreciate bug reports on beta versions- please let us know if you have problems!

If you want to try the latest beta versions, you may switch your device to the “beta” channel as follows:

  • v14 has new firmware- be prepared to re-flash your Farmduino/Arduino board!
  • Open the device settings popup by clicking the device version in the device settings panel.
  • Next, click on the device’s FBOS version number
  • Select “beta” in the drop-down labeled “OS RELEASE CHANNEL.”
  • Click “UPDATE TO 14.0.0”
  • Once the device has rebooted and is back online, click the “FLASH FIRMWARE” button to upgrade the firmware version.

If you experience problems not seen in the previous version, please leave a comment.


NOTE: This screenshot is from a previous FBOS version. Your version will differ.

image


NOTE: This screenshot is from a previous FBOS version. Your version will differ.
image


Flashing the new firmware version:

image

Special thanks to @jsimmonds for their QA efforts during the alpha phase of this release :tada:

6 Likes

To add onto Rick’s announcement, there are some known issues we are already aware of and working to resolve during the beta phase:

  • The tooltip next to the FIRMWARE label will currently be a question mark in an orange circle instead of a check mark in a green circle, even when your firmware is correctly flashed.
  • A new firmware setting for CALIBRATION RETRIES for each axis is not yet fully implemented in FarmBot OS, so changes to this will not take effect just yet. Your FarmBot will instead use the default value of 3 for each axis.
  • E-stopping the bot during the first leg of FIND AXIS LENGTH commands (when the bot is moving towards the maximum position) will briefly stop the bot, but then it will continue the second leg of the operation (moving towards the home position).
  • Logs may feel incomplete and/or noisy at times. Please share screenshots of any major error logs!
3 Likes

The "firmware refactoring" certainly looks like it was worth the effort . . well done :clap:

Just adding 2 more small ones

  • On Express, MCU firmware not automatically flashed / booted and configured after FBOS boot and locked Bot State persists until a manual flash is actioned.
  • You won’t get Rollbar reports until certifi dependency is updated ( 2.6.1 works Ok )
4 Likes

Hi all,

A little update on our progress here: @RickCarlino just released FBOS v14.0.0-rc47 with arduino firmware v6.5.34 to the beta channel and we’ve also deployed some corresponding updates to the web app.

  • The tooltip next to the FIRMWARE label now shows a check mark in a green circle when the firmware is correctly flashed.
  • CALIBRATION RETRIES has been fully implemented throughout the software stack, though the fields are currently hidden in the frontend.
  • New parameters for CALIBRATION RETRY RESET DISTANCE (MM) have been implemented to help fine tune the find axis length functions, but they are also currently hidden in the frontend.
  • E-stopping the bot during the first leg of FIND AXIS LENGTH now works.
  • Logs have been cleaned up.
  • Firmware flashing and initialization will now happen every boot, though we are still investigating some stability issues with the Express platform.
  • Fixed an issue with SPEED not being respected when moving in the negative direction.
  • You’ll now see improved parameter load status indicators (full announcement to come with the v14 stable release).
  • There are now parameters to turn on QUIET MODE (aka StealthChop :tm:), though this mode has not been fully implemented and tested yet in the firmware.

What’s next:

  • Implementing and testing Quiet Mode/StealthChop in the firmware
  • More manual testing
  • Writing of unit testing
  • Updating documentation

Thank you all for the continued patience and support as we work to improve FarmBot! :robot: :seedling:

5 Likes

FBOS v14 is no longer in beta. We will publish an official release announcement shortly.

2 Likes