Edge release 2020/04/02

[Bob_Steers]

Relevant links:

• User guides: https://brewblox.netlify.com/
• Previous release notes: https://brewblox.netlify.com/user/release_notes.html
• Project board: https://github.com/orgs/Brewblox/projects/1
• Code repositories: https://github.com/Brewblox

Edge release 2020/04/02

Firmware release date: 2020/04/02

We’re happy to announce the release of the Logic Actuator block.
You can use this block to toggle a Digital Actuator based on the state of other Digital Actuator, Motor Valve, Setpoint, or PWM blocks.

For a more in-depth explanation, see the blocks page.

To assist with this feature, we also added the Mock Pins block, and constraints for delaying the ON or OFF switch on digital actuators.

A less noticeable change is that we now build all our Docker images to be suitable for both AMD64 desktop computers and the ARM32 Raspberry Pi.

Previously, we prefixed Pi image tags with rpi-. This is no longer required.
To prevent breakage, we now tag the universally compatible images both with and without prefix.

This change will make it possible to move your system between a desktop computer and a Pi without having to make any changes to configuration.

Changes

• Added Logic Actuator block.
• Added Mock Pins block.
• Added Delay ON and Delay OFF digital constraints.
• Made all Docker images multiplatform, removing the need for rpi- prefixes.
• Updated Spark system libraries.
• Fixed a bug where controllers would stop being discoverable over Wifi.
• Added support for value fluctuations in Temp Sensor (Mock).
• brewblox-ctl backup load now reads the values from the loaded .env file before loading databases and Spark services.
  • You can disable this with the --no-load-env option.
• brewblox-ctl backup load now restarts Spark services to make sure they use the correct block names.
• brewblox-ctl setup now uses a Docker container to generate SSL certificates. The host no longer needs to have OpenSSL installed. This was an issue for installing the system on Mac hosts.
• Fixed a bug where the graph in Setpoint Profile was not updated if the block settings were changed in a different widget.
• The firmware simulator is now embedded in the Spark service Docker image. This is a first step towards having a demo setup that does not need a controller. For now this only works on amd64 (desktop) computers. We’re still working on getting the firmware to compile an ARM simulator.
• Fixed a bug where DS2408 / DS2413 chips could not be removed in the UI.

[Adam_Clark]

• Added Logic Actuator block.
• Added Delay ON and Delay OFF digital constraints.

Fantastic! Thanks so much. Can’t wait to try it out.

[FunkedOut]

That’s what’s up!
Thanks for putting this out.
Going to play now…

For what it’s worth, I just updated, opened up the UI and saw that there was a firmware update available.
Clicked the flash button on the UI and got a confirmation that flash was complete.
This resulted in a blank screen and flashing blue LED on my Spark 3.
It would not connect/handshake with the service.
Restarting the service, Pi, and Spark did not help, regardless of order.

Flashed the Spark 3 from the command line and all is good again.
I was previously on Edge release 2020/03/18.

Off to play now…

[Bob_Steers]

Thanks for letting us know! We’re in the process of isolating and squashing some firmware connection / reboot issues. We’ll have a look at this scenario as well.