News
2018-07-04: Website has moved to a new provider / Jabotics version 1.2.1 is available
In future there will be a secured access to the Jabotics website, and in this context a bug tracker will be released that will allow to get more detailed information on current issues or changes planned for the future. At the same time, version 1.2.1 of the Jabotics package is being released, coming with the following enhancements:
- For EV3 robots, there has been the limitation that robot programs could only consist of a single control class. In future, the jar file created for the upload to the robot will also include all nested or referenced classes from the current BlueJ project. This will allow for sufficiently complex class structures.
- Some technical terms have been corrected in the Jabotics API. Only rarely used methods are affected. To make the new methods available on EV3 robots, it is necessary to upload the updated Jabotics libraries to the robot. Here are the changes in detail:
- The interface org.jabotics.robot.en.IPilot has been extended by the methods get/setTrackWidth, replacing the deprecated methods get/setWheelbase.
- The interface org.jabotics.robot.de.IPilot has been extended by the methods hole/setzeSpurweite, replacing the deprecated methods hole/setzeRadabstand.
- In the simulation tool a bug has been fixed related to the monitor of the robot brick: When repeating a robot run, the output to the display has been shifted upwards, making the first line invisible.
2018-04-21: Jabotics version 1.2.0 is available
Version 1.2.0 provides the following functional changes and corrections versus version 1.1.2:
- Starting with version 1.2.0, a Windows installer will be provided that optionally includes the leJOS libraries for the support of Lego NXT and EV3 robots. The leJOS libraries will be placed in subdirectories of the Jabotics folder since they will be installed as part of the Jabotics package.
- Correspondingly, the Debian packages will no longer place the leJOS libraries in the /opt directory but in subdirectories of the Jabotics folder in order to make it transparent that they have been installed as a part of the Jabotics package.
- Starting with version 1.2.0 it will be possible to start the robot program and the simulation tool in separate processes. The inter-process communication is based on the RMI technology. Currently, this functionality has to be activated explicitly by defining the environment variable ORG_JABOTICS_RMI_PORT. A value of 0 corresponds to the default RMI port 1099. In case of conflicts, another free port can be chosen. A negative value deactivates the RMI communication, that is, robot program and simulation tool run in the same process. The latter is also the case when the robot program is started by a direct call to its main method, e.g. for debugging purposes.
- There has been an issue under Windows with starting the simulation tool when there were spaces in the project path name. This has been fixed.
- When starting robot programs on the EV3 robot, the initialization of the ultrasonic sensor occasionally failed. This issue has been resolved. For the fix to become effective, it is necessary to upload the updated Jabotics libraries to the EV3 robot.
2018-02-15: Jabotics version 1.1.2 is available
Version 1.1.2 is a bug fix release with the following changes relative to version 1.1.1:
- Restarting a program run from the simulation tool did not work properly because some session data has not been reset correctly. This problem is fixed in version 1.1.2. Still, this feature depends on implementation details of the robot program. If static class members have been introduced in the robot class, it might be necessary to reinitialize this data at the beginning of the main method. A fundamental solution for this problem will be provided in a future release by introducing separate processes for the simulation tool and the robot program.
- Additional load tests have been implemented and some resulting optimizations have been made to internal classes to further increase stability.
2018-01-30: Jabotics version 1.1.1 is available
Here are the most important changes in version 1.1.1 since version 1.0.3:
- Jabotics version 1.1.1 is compatible with the current BlueJ version 4.1. It has been possible to bypass the persisting problems with the extension API of BlueJ 4.1.2 by some implementation changes in the Jabotics extension.
- Some central implementation classes related to the motor and sensor control have been revised.
- The interface org.jabotics.robot.en.IMotor has been extended by the method rotateToPosition(), replacing the deprecated method rotateToPostion().
- The interface org.jabotics.robot.en.IPilot has been extended by the method isMoving().
- The interface org.jabotics.robot.de.IPilot has been extended by the method istInBewegung().
2017-10: Web pages completed
The initial setup of the German and English web pages has been completed.
2016-08-08: Jabotics website goes online
With the domains jabotics.org and jabotics.de going online, Jabotics APIs und tools become available to a broader public. Installation archive files are available in version 1.0.3 for the platforms Linux, Windows und OS X. The installation is particularly easy under Ubuntu since a Debian package is being provided including the leJOS libraries necessary to run Java on Lego NXT and Lego EV3 robots.
2015-09: Introduction of robot simulation tool and support of Lego EV3 robots
Initially developed for testing purposes, the robot simulation tool comes into operation in class for the first time with Jabotics 1.0.1, again at the Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium in Reutlingen. Pupils can download all necessary files to simulate robot applications at home. Jabotics version 1.0.1 also supports Lego EV3 robots.
2012-09: Introduction of Jabotics APIs and BlueJ extension
Jabotics APIs and BlueJ extension are being used in class for the first time at the Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium in Reutlingen, Germany, in the context of the school subject Natural sciences and technology. Lego NXT robots serve as robot hardware.