[FTC]: New Android Control System

Where to start? I feel like a caveman looking at a Ferrari…

I’ll start with the driver station; figure out how make a program to get the game controller (F310) talking to the ZTE Speed. I was hoping to begin with MIT App Inventor, but couldn’t find anything on the internet to get me started. I’ll use Android Studio to program.

Hardware:

Phone Setup:

I used PhilBot’s Youtube video: ZTE Speed setup for FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)

Software:

Software installation on PC:

  1. Download Java SE Development Kit 8 (JDK)
  2. Install/configure the JDK. I found this tutorial easier than the instructions from the download site: Android App Development for Beginners - 1 - Introduction
  3. Download Android Studio Android Studio
  4. Install/configure Android Studio. Again, found the following tutorials easier than the instructions from the download site: Android App Development for Beginners - 2 - Installing Android Studio and
    Android App Development for Beginners - 3 - Setting up Your Project
  5. Hook you phone up to your PC with USB cable, just like you would to charge it (USB-A to USB-micro B cable)
  6. Start your first “project”. I used this procedure from the “Android Developer” site: Creating an Android Project. But… this looks good too: Android App Development for Beginners - 4 - Running a Simple App Follow this tutorial except you’ll at the point when you run the program, you should choose your phone in the “Choose Device” pop-up screen. Mine reads as “ZTE N9130 Android 4.4.4 (API 19)”

If this procedure worked for you, you should see your Android screen change and display “Hello World!” (see below). You now have your “programming environment” set up, and made a program that is writing and loading an app on the phone.

Next, I’ll try running a program from Android Studio that will talk to the Logitech game controller…