Command buttons module

The command buttons module enables you to issue commands to your robot from the observability view with a click of a button. You can send a parameter with the command via text input, or by selecting a stream which will generate a drop-down list based on the stream's values.

command buttons module

The command buttons module.

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Commands vs. realtime buttons

You can configure the commands button module to issue commands to your device, and to operate realtime buttons.

As seen in Getting Started: Commands, commands are sent from the Formant web application to the Formant cloud, and then issued to your device's agent. This process can take a few seconds to complete.

Similar to what we saw in Add buttons to your teleoperation interface, realtime buttons open a WebRTC connection to your device and allow for low-latency, near-instant communication.

This guide will teach you how to create and configure a command buttons module.

Prerequisites: Create commands and buttons

Before you can add commands or realtime buttons to your command buttons module, you'll first have to create them.

To create commands, see Getting Started: Create a command.

To create realtime buttons, see Getting Started: Add buttons to your teleoperation interface.

Step 1: Create a command buttons module

  1. In Formant, navigate to the device view to which you want to add a command buttons module. You can do this by going to Settings >> Views and selecting the view you want, or by clicking on your device, going to the desired view, and clicking the dropdown arrow next to the view >> Edit... >> Edit Layout.
  2. In the Edit Layout window, click Add Module >> Command Buttons.

Step 2: Configure your module

  1. Give your command buttons module a name, and click Open Configuration.
  2. Configure your module as follows:

Commands

ParameterUsage
NameEnter the name of the command to be controlled by this button. The name must match exactly.
Enable parameters?If your command accepts parameters, set this to ON.
Select parameter from dropdownOnly applicable if Enable parameters? is ON.

If ON, the parameter sent with this command will be selectable from a dropdown menu in the user interface.
Parameter stream nameOnly applicable if Select parameter from dropdown is ON.

First, create a text stream and ingest a comma-separated string containing the options for parameter values you want the user to be able to select from the dropdown. Make sure that stream has Persist last known value set to ON. Then, enter the name of that stream here.

Realtime buttons

ParameterUsage
Button stream nameFirst, create a teleoperation button. Then, enter the name of the stream related to that button here.
Button labelText appearing on the button.

When you've finished configuring your module, click Done, and then Save.

See also

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