[Peripherals] Measure Activity, release candidate version 19

Mon Aug 25 13:57:13 EDT 2008

Dear friends,

I have been working  this while to try and incorporate _some_ of the
great feedback that I get from users and from the field on Measure Activity.

I would like to share with you Measure Activity release candidate
version 19. Why I call this release candidate is because I would like
to have a round of testing and feedback spanning 2-3 weeks before I
can actually call it a 'release'. During this while I will also fix
some minor TODOs and minor bugs that I already have pending on my list
for this release.

http://dev.laptop.org/~arjs/Measure-19.xo
is the link for the bundle.
(Note: Measure has a minor problem with Update.2 builds because of the
change way the signals are fired to the Activity in Sugar as per
#7856. Measure-19 has been tested to be working fine on Build 708)

# Summary of this release

1- large change in code base, almost completely re-written
2-waveform draws in XO stroke color
3-context based UI. abstracts the user from complex and non-relevant
terms such as Bias voltage etc.
4-textbox in the bottom that shows scale , prompts about using the
activity, prompts the place to connect the sensor
5-time/fft mode  in sound context
6-a new even lower frequency mode that allows one to view signals as low as 20Hz
7-button to pause fast moving waveforms in Sound context
8 - Use 'Now' to capture the current waveform or select
30sec/2min/10min/30min intervals to select intervals at which the
sound waveforms will be saved.
9 - The waveforms as stored as 'png' pictures and the entry for each
recorded waveform appears in the journal. The pictures can be used by
kids as part of a documentation/report for example.
10-The sensors context has selection of voltage sensor/resistance
sensor; user doesn't have to deal with terms such as 'Bias voltage'
etc
11 - textbox in the bottom in the sensors context prompts where the
sensor is to be connected
12-in the sensor mode, logging implies that actual sensor values are
logged to a csv file. A journal entry is created after each logging
session. One can have multiple logging sessions. Open the log file
from the journal (preferable after quitting Measure).
This is because with sensors, actual values are of more use than
waveforms; since we are dealing with DC values
13- when the spreadsheet activity will be made, one can use the logged
values to draw various graphs over time. for example temparature at
1hr intervals over a period of a day etc.

# The details.

(1)  A huge change in the code base. It is almost as if the whole
Activity has been re-written. After the first time I wrote the code I
got huge feedback from many users. This allowed me to understand what
are the possible and most popular uses. It also allowed me to
enumerate a number of possible future expansions and feature
additions. So to be able to make the code extensible and for me to
expand it easily, I spent a lot of time on code design to rewrite many
portions of the code.
The difference in the code is visible from the seeing the
measure_devel folder which has RC ver 19 and measure_stable which is
version 18 in the git repository.
I also believe that
-audiograb.py
-journal.py
-drawwaveform.py
contain code that can be used/re-used for other Activities for sensor
grabbing/csv logging and waveform display purposes

* Context based UI to abstract the user to deal with terms such as
Bias voltage etc. The two most popular uses of the Activity have been
for sound purposes and for Sensor purposes. Hence two contexts in the
toolbar for 'Sound' and 'Sensors'

* The Toolbars and logging options etc both are designed to best suit
the needs of the 'Sound' or the 'Sensors' contexts. For example only
in the sound context it makes sense to see the FFTs, change the
frequency scale, pause a fast moving waveform etc while these
functions are irrelevant in the sensors context.

* A new even lower frequency mode in the sound context that was
requested by some people from Colombia who were doing ECG projects
using Measure Activity. This makes it possible to see a few complete
cycles of waveforms as low as 25Hz on the screen.

* Within the sound context one can
-capture the current waveform by pressing record while the 'Now'
option is selected
-take pictures of the waveform at a selected interval of 30 seconds/2
minutes/10 minutes/30 minutes
-stop the process of taking pictures of the waveforms when one is don

* The captured pictures of the waveform appear in the Journal and kids
can use those pictures to put them as part of a report in a Write
session etc.

# What are my TODOs for the next few steps --

* Gather feedback and testing results over the next 2-3 weeks. Fix
issues left for this release as outlined in my TODO list
http://dev.laptop.org/git?p=projects/measure;a=blob;f=measure_devel/TODO;h=66914b0049d40213a06c0058828ae7b15b0257e5;hb=4f24130c86805f1ce95d18546bbab08cdf395890

* Create a set of release notes for the Activity version 19

* Make test plans for this release

* Complete the migration of the existing wiki page [[Measure]] to as
outlined on
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Measure/New_temp

* Create a place for putting wish-list /desired-features and create an
appropriate *road-map* for the future releases incorporating the various
releases

* Create a 7-10 slide presentation introducing the Measure activity as
a learning activity (Activity)

# Thank you!

The support, feedback and encouragement from the community has been *immense*. I
started to write down a Thank You list on the wiki and I don't think I
would've covered half as much names in my first cut at the list here.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Measure#Acknowledgments_2

My sincere apologies if I missed out anyone's name, I would request
that you please add it.

(I am writing this email half asleep, will put together a clearer and
more concise one later. Will also try and follow up with emails
explaining release 19 to
-educators
-developers
-general users (G1G1 users)
)

Thanks and best regards,
Arjun