AltOS is the name of Keith's firmware "operating system" for
[TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum/) and [TeleDongle](../TeleDongle/).
-In addition to the firmware for [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum) and
-[TeleDongle](../TeleDongle) boards, the AltOS source tree also includes a
-number of utilities useful for monitoring and logging telemetry during flight,
-post-processing flight data for analysis, and utilities for updating firmware,
-and developing and debugging new functionality. The first generation of these
-utilities were Linux-only, but our current second-generation software written
-largely in [Java](http://java.com) with a small platform-specific library
-works identically on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems!
+In addition to the firmware for [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum) and
+[TeleDongle](../TeleDongle) boards, the AltOS source tree also
+includes AltosUI, which provides for flight monitoring, post-flight
+analysis, device configuration and firmware updating. AltosUI runs on
+Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. It's written in [Java](http://java.com)
+and offers the same functionality and interface on all three
+platforms. A small platform-specific library communicates with the USB
+interface on the Altus Metrum devices.
-The firmware and associated software are licensed [GPL version 2](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html)
+There are also Linux-specific tools that provide lower level access to
+the devices which are useful for developing firmware for the devices.
+
+We maintain a list of [launch site GPS coordinates](launch-sites.txt). If
+your favorite launch site isn't included, please let us know!
## Available Versions ##
-[[!inline pages="./releases/*.mdwn and !*/Discussion" show="10"
-actions=no ]]
+There is a single manual for all Altus Metrum products, which is available
+in [html](doc/altusmetrum.html) and [pdf](doc/altusmetrum.pdf) formats.
+
+We also have an AltOS internals document for programmers
+in [html](doc/altos.html) and [pdf](doc/altos.pdf) formats, and a
+document describing the AltOS over the radio protocol
+in [html](doc/telemetry.html) and [pdf](doc/telemetry.pdf) formats.
+
+[[!inline pages="./releases/* and !*/Discussion and !*.html and !*.bz2 and !*.zip and !*.exe" show="10" rss="no" raw="yes" ]]
-The latest source is always available from [git.gag.com](http://git.gag.com)
+## Source Code ##
+
+The latest source, which may include unreleased work in progress, is always
+available from [git.gag.com](http://git.gag.com)
in the project [fw/altos](http://git.gag.com/?p=fw/altos;a=summary).
-## Features ##
+If you need to debug code on an Altus Metrum product, you may want our special
+version of SDCC containing a highly modified sdcdb with support for the cc1111
+debugging interface, which you can find on [git.gag.com](http://git.gag.com)
+in the project [fw/sdcc](http://git.gag.com/?p=fw/sdcc;a=summary). This is
+not necessary if you just want to rebuild AltOS and use it.
+
+## Future Plans ##
+
+Bug reports, feature requests, and planning for AltOS releases happens
+on the [Altus Metrum Trac Site](http://trac.gag.com/altusmetrum).
-More documentation is coming soon, but in the meantime,
-most operations in the second-generation GUI are pretty easy to figure out.
+A number of features are implemented or in process in the sources available
+in our publicly visible repository that are not part of the current stable
+release.
+
+* Motor characterization. Because TeleMetrum contains a
+ high-resolution, high-frequency accelerometer, it is possible to
+ take the data from that and compute an accurate thrust curve for
+ the motor.
+
+* Comprehensive PDF and/or HTML -based flight report. Construct a
+ complete report of the flight suitable for publication on the web
+ that includes graphs of the flight and details about motor
+ performance etc.
+
+* Publish flight data to the Altus Metrum web site. This will allow
+ you to share your flight data with others, and let you download
+ flights published by others.
+
+There are any number of additions that could be made to this list; feel free
+to send along ideas that you’ve got. Of course, all of this software is
+licensed under the GNU General Public License, so you can get the source and
+hack on it in the comfort of your own home.
## Platform Specific Notes ##
### Linux ###
-If you use [Debian](http://www.debian.org), then a pre-built package for
-32-bit x86 is currently available here:
+If you use [Debian](http://www.debian.org), you can simply install the 'altos'
+package from any Debian mirror, like so:
- wget -O - http://altusmetrum.org/apt/altusmetrum.key | apt-key add -
- wget -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/altos.list http://altusmetrum.org/apt/altos.list
- apt-get update
- apt-get install altos
+ apt-get update
+ apt-get install altos
+
+If you use [Ubuntu](http://ubuntulinux.org), pre-built packages are available
+from [this PPA](https://launchpad.net/~sconklin/+archive/altos/)
+maintained by Steve Conklin and friends.
If you use some other distribution of Linux, then
a Linux package of our second-generation Java bits that
### Mac ###
-A Mac OS X package that is compatible with
-versions 10.5 "Leopard" and later (including 10.6 "Snow Leopard") is
-available. The Mac operating system includes Java, and all Altus Metrum
-products show up as simple USB serial ports, so this should just work
-with no additional drivers or other dependency issues. Older versions of
-the Mac operating system come with Java versions that are too old for use
-with Altus Metrum software, and we know of no way to update the Java version
-other than upgrading to a newer operating system.
+A Mac OS X package that is compatible with versions 10.5 "Leopard" and
+later (including 10.6 "Snow Leopard") is available. The Mac operating
+system includes Java, and all Altus Metrum products show up as simple
+USB serial ports, so this should just work with no additional drivers
+or other dependency issues. Older versions of the Mac operating
+system, and even newer versions for PowerPC-based machines, come with
+Java version 5 or older, which is too old for use with Altus Metrum
+software. We know of no way to update the Java version other than
+upgrading to a newer operating system (for Intel based macs) or
+purchasing new hardware (for PowerPC based macs).
### Windows ###
the required USB serial device driver, and our package should do the right
things to bind it to our devices, but if you get a complaint about the device
being unrecognized, try pointing to the copy of the telemetrum.inf file
-included in the package directory manually. Reports of success or failure
-with other versions of Windows would be appreciated!
+included in the package directory manually.
+
+## License ##
+
+The firmware and associated software are licensed [GPL version
+2](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html)
projects / web / altusmetrum / blobdiff