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Software - Smart Van for Android

Simulate a SmartVanBox on Development Machine​

During the development and testing of the SmartVan Mobile App, a SmartVanBox device is often required. To simulate a SmartVanBox on any PC, you can create a Docker container that clones the source code of the JOD SmartVan Distribution and generates the distribution itself.

Short Steps

  1. Start Docker Container
  2. Install Software Requirements
  3. Download and Configure JOD SmartVan Distribution
  4. Start JOD SmartVan Distribution

Start Docker Container​

After installing Docker, you can clone the SmartVan Mobile App repo and start a container based on ‘Ubuntu’. This container will share the jod_svbox.sh file (from the root directory of the mobile app project) and the host system's DBus socket.

$ git clone https://github.com/Smart-Van-2-0/com.robypomper.smartvan.app.android.git
$ sudo docker run --privileged --network host \
   -v .:/home/ubuntu \
   -v /run/dbus/system_bus_socket:/run/dbus/system_bus_socket \
   -it ubuntu /bin/bash
[sudo] password for user: xxxxxx
root@05c16c828bd6:/#

Now you are inside the container, which also includes the source code of the mobile app and the jod_svbox.sh file.

Install Software Requirements​

The JOD daemon, as well as the various firmware, requires libraries and tools to function properly. In this step, all necessary dependencies are installed:

  • for Scripts: git curl wget nano
  • for JOD: openjdk-11-jdk avahi-utils
  • for Firmware: python3 python3-pip python3-venv libcairo2-dev libgirepository1.0-dev dbus-x11

Additionally, since the Docker container does not have an associated init system, you need to manually start a DBus session.

# apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
   git curl wget nano \
   openjdk-11-jdk avahi-utils \
   python3 python3-pip python3-venv \
   libcairo2-dev libgirepository1.0-dev dbus-x11
# exec dbus-run-session -- bash

Download and Configure JOD SmartVan Distribution​

Navigate to the SmartVan Mobile App directory and obtain the JOD SmartVan project using the jod_svbox.sh script. The init sub-command will clone the main project, while the start sub-command will attempt to start the distribution but will fail initially. This is expected!

The start sub-command will download the dependencies of the JOD SmartVan Distribution, i.e., its firmware.

# cd /home/ubuntu/com.robypomper.smartvan.app.android/
# bash jod_svbox.sh init
# bash jod_svbox.sh start

The JOD SmartVan Distribution does not start because its scripts require an Init System, which the Docker container cannot provide. To bypass this, remove the line of code that performs this check.

# sed -i '95d' ../com.robypomper.smartvan.jod_smart_van/build/JOD_Smart_Van/1.0.0/scripts/jod/jod-script-configs.sh

Now we are ready to configure the distribution and set the simulation mode, as well as the use of Python 'venv' by the firmware. In the configs.sh file, uncomment the SIMULATE and VENV variables, both should be true. More info on JOD SmartVan Distitribution configs.

Next, initialize the Python 'venv' for each firmware:

# cd ../com.robypomper.smartvan.jod_smart_van/build/JOD_Smart_Van/1.0.0/deps/com.robypomper.smartvan.fw.victron/
# python3 -m venv venv; source venv/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements.txt; deactivate; cd -
# cd ../com.robypomper.smartvan.jod_smart_van/build/JOD_Smart_Van/1.0.0/deps/com.robypomper.smartvan.fw.sim7600/
# python3 -m venv venv; source venv/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements.txt; deactivate; cd -
# cd ../com.robypomper.smartvan.jod_smart_van/build/JOD_Smart_Van/1.0.0/deps/com.robypomper.smartvan.fw.upspack_v3/
# python3 -m venv venv; source venv/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements.txt; deactivate; cd -
# cd ../com.robypomper.smartvan.jod_smart_van/build/JOD_Smart_Van/1.0.0/deps/com.robypomper.smartvan.fw.sensehat/
# python3 -m venv venv; source venv/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements.txt; deactivate; cd -
# cd ../com.robypomper.smartvan.jod_smart_van/build/JOD_Smart_Van/1.0.0/deps/com.robypomper.smartvan.fw.ioexp/
# python3 -m venv venv; source venv/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements.txt; deactivate; cd -

For each firmware, the following sequence of commands is executed:

  1. Create venv
  2. Activate venv
  3. Install requirements
  4. Deactivate venv

Start JOD SmartVan Distribution​

Now we are ready to start our JOD SmartVan Distribution. From the SmartVan Mobile App directory, execute again the start sub-command of the jod_svbox.sh script. If everything is configured correctly, this command will start the JOD daemon and various firmware for the JOD SmartVan distribution.

bash jod_svbox.sh start
bash jod_svbox.sh logs

Note: The logs sub-command may not work correctly, so you can use an alternative command:

# tail -f /home/ubuntu/com.robypomper.smartvan.jod_smart_van/build/JOD_Smart_Van/1.0.0/logs/jospJSL.log

To verify that the distribution is running, you can use the state sub-command. If running, you can stop it with the stop sub-command.

bash jod_svbox.sh state
bash jod_svbox.sh stop