Harsh@GSoC'18

The summer of 2018 was very special for me as I got selected for GSoC for the first time and that too in the first attempt. I got an opportunity to work with FOSSASIA organization. My main work was focused on the PSLab project of FOSSASIA organization which is an open Source Android as well as desktop app which helps students, teachers, and researchers in the stream of science to carry out scientific experiments very easily and with a very less number of tools.

The project was targeted to increase the UI of the PSLab app along with implementing all the major instruments and sensors in Android app available in the hardware device so that all the major scientific instruments can be provided at once to the users so that they don't have to use any extra device as a support for PSLab's device.

PSLab device contains all the major scientific instruments and sensors such as 4 channel Oscilloscope, 4 channel Logic Analyzer, Multimeter, Wave Generator, Magnetic Compass, Lux Meter, and many more on just a single PIC MicroController Board. The device also contains an I2C communication channel for communicating with external sensors.

My main tasks were related to the repositories PSLab Android and PSLab Experiments for developing the Android application and making documentations for varoius experiments respectively. The first month of the coding program was mainly focused on understanding the Android repository and making documentations of new experiments and also transfer old experiments from Android to Experiments repo. It was the second month were the intense coding began and in that month, I developed most of the Android app. The third month was given for developing more sensors in the app and also to add new functionalities in the app.

It was a great summer working with my fellow developers to make an app which helps the community to conduct there work much more easily and efficiently. The app was an output of the combined efforts made by all of us during this summer.

Prior to GSoC

I introduced myself to the community and got to know fellow developers. Some of the software tools such as Inkscape were knew to me and so I installed them and used them to be thorough in making the designs and experiments for the app.

Initially, there were problems relating the hardware and the software part and so, I began with making some experiment documentations and schematics. Some basic changes and features were also added by me.

Meanwhile, I also installed PSLab Desktop Apps and PSLab Python repositories to take reference of how the app should be designed.
Week 1 ~ 2

After a week or two, I felt comfortable in writing complex codes and so I started by adding a feature of Search Bar in PSLab Android app to search any experiment from the list of experiments. Then I started writing docmentations for different instruments like Logic Analyzer, etc.
Week 3 ~ 4

I received a new PSLab device. So I went on fixing issues related to functionalities in the PSLab Android application. I also tested all the experiments with the device and found and solved some bugs. Meanwhile, I also contributed to PSLab website to increase its performance.
First Evaluation
Week 5 ~ 6

The second month of the GSoC program was the time when really complex and tough coding began. Rigorously tested the PSLab device in the PSLab Desktop App and then made Logic Analyzer for the PSLab Android app. In this week, I also designed the instruments in Inkscape to put them in the Card View.
Week 7 ~ 8

Continued to work on the Logic Analyzer in this week too. Also, made the app a little stable by transfering the codebase of sensors. In this week, I also designed the layout of multimeter to make it compact for all screens and added multiple functionalities to different instruments.
Second Evaluation
Week 9 ~ 10

The last phase of the program was concentrated on adding support for different sensors in PSLab Android app. Thus, I made different sensors with both in-built and external support. Also added some UI to the app by making guides for different instruments.
Week 11 ~ 12

In the last week of the program, I mainly concentrated on solving bugs rathering than adding new features. Thus, I repeatedly tested all the instruments and found and solved the bugs in them. At last, I added a new functionality of recording, pausing and exporting data from any instrument or sensor.
Final Evaluation
Post GSoC 2018 -

I will continue working on improving the PSLab Android project.

Pull Requests Made

Commits Done

Issues Opened

Daily Scrum Reports

Blog Posts

Meetups

Screencast

Presentation

GSoC Project Page

PSLab Android

PSLab Web Page

PSLab FB Page

Work that is left...