Discussion items

 

Opening Remarks - Ryan McLean

  • Connected with Army Software Factory in Austin
    • Their process:
      • Find problems from operational units
      • Filter down
      • Spend 6 months solving problem
    • Problem space: making back-end user/identity management robust
    • Downstream problems can largely be solved by allowing to tie directly into existing DoD/gov't identity management systems
  • Testing
    • Functional tests can be time consuming to build
    • Experimenting with Eggplant, which can generate automated tests
    • Will get demo today

 

WebTAK 4.8 - Kyle Finley

  • Completely updating the UI in a month; will be more like WinTAK with panes that can move around an pop out - not demoing today
  • Added specific tool for editing KML/KMZs and exporting
  • Added CSV import tool (ask from MCS/COP to load many markers at a time from a spreadsheet)
  • Added capability for data sync invites

 

ATAK 4.8 - Shawn Bisgrove

  • Push for this release: provide more stability and examine user experience and update as needed
  • Not a lot of new features; primarily addressing technical debt and performance issues
  • Removing support for trans app loading of plugins
  • Change log will be published to wiki once finalized
    • Support for GPS rollover improved
  • Changes to the build environment for 4.8 from 4.7/4.6.1
  • In user acceptance testing (UAT); open beta is on the playstore
  • If developing an ATAK plugin, need to create a maintentance-4.8 branch or plugin will not be built!
    • For some legacy plugins, branch has been created automatically; let ATAK team know if done in error

WinTAK 4.8 - Shawn Bisgrove

  • Focus on working down technical debt
    • Switching over graphics engine to be inline with TAK engine in kernel
    • Performance improvements
  • Integrating Stack Manager and TRAX
    • Jeremy Friedman: plugin was updated to listen over UDP for OMNI data, but found out that main use case is running side by side with TRAX plugin, so Stack Manager doesn't need to repeat that function
    • Users will be able to approve automatically added assets - right now have to readd
  • Marker sheets
    • JF: added setting user roles and permissions within sheet
    • Owner (user who published sheet) will have option to set role of sheet
      • Has support for selecting contacts
    • Changes to sheet will replot markers on map
    • Sheet that has been published to server will auto republish to server when changed (user doesn't have to push manually)

TAK Server 4.8 - Joe McEttrick

  • TAK Server Change Log
    • Released TAK Server 4.7 on GitHub
    • Focus on adding automated testing
    • Federation - added ability to filter missions
    • Many core dependencies updated
  • TAK Server Federation Hub Change Log
    • Added hub-to-hub and hub-to-spoke connection support
  • Shawn Bisgrove: has been work to produce debian installer for TAK Server; no longer have to manually modify rpm installer

VTAK - Marcia Clover

 

  • Oculus changed how it operates for Steam VR after 4.7 released
  • For 4.9, will work on training and tutorials

TAKX 3.4 - Kassie Bowman

  • Porting to TAK Map Engine for globe
  • Focus on API
    • Route navigation
    • GeoChat built into core

Eggplant testing demo

Who: Prasann Singh

  • 3 week trial with tool called Eggplant functional
  • Looking for:
    • Proof of concept
    • Time/effort savings
    • Ease of use
    • Support from Eggplant team
  • Demo: Able to automate install/uninstall of ATAK to/from device
  • Demo: able to use quick pic to take picture
  • Eggplant has some trouble recognizing images as map gets more cluttered; using open street maps works better than satellite imagery
  • Install on WinTAK
    • Was able to reuse lot of script from ATAK install
    • Should be able to get to having one script for both
  • Time savings - may be conservative
  • Pros/cons
  • Chris Lawrence: possible to run in batches? Yes
  • CL: speed up option (run faster than user)?
    • Not sure
    • With digital automation intelligence (DAI), give it parameters and it will generate/run tests
  • CL: reporting? Log files which log success/failure
  • CL: false positives or false negatives?
    • Has trouble reproducing results for tests with lots of map items
    • Probably biased towards negative result
    • With improved scripting, can probably improve
  • SB: could do things like producing white background globe layer to run with tests to improve reproducability
    • CL: already have one that can be shared
  • Chad Molyet: interface for creating a test - how hard is it for a tester to automate a test script?
    • Have to script using Eggplant's language (SenseTalk)
    • Would need someone familiar with SenseTalk to develop test script
    • Can script using screen recording, but doesn't work across products since UIs are different

End user perspective

Who: Charles Laird, NC First Responder Emerging Technologies Program

  • Public safety has good partnerships with Verizon, etc. - have cases of devices to hand out
  • Snapshot during fair:
    • Blue - law
    • Red - fire
    • EMS - green
  • Can see where roamers are during the fair, which wasn't known before
  • Previously: "I'm in the midway" - over a 1000 ft long so not good enough to find location
  • EMS asked cops to use callsigns so they could find them on the map
  • CL: ATAK, iTAK?
    • 90% Android
    • 120 phones with TAK tracker and ATAK
    • Few users had iPhones but didn't really use them
  • SB: imagery?
    • high resolution JPEG from person that flew it and dropped in as base map
  • Focused on getting user locations on map; will do more in the future
  • Biggest challenge: cultural
    • Law enforcement didn't really get it
    • AAR action: Needed to co-locate distribution of phones with check in
    • Some agencies would go places they weren't necessarily supposed to (or just go sit somewhere) and didn't want people to know where they were
  • Would like ways to speed up device setup
    • Maybe be able to plug a bunch of phones into a computer and get them setup
  • Had some phones where certs got stripped, but pretty easy to plugin flash drive and fix
  • Servers: had primary and backup
  • Next year: would like to use channels
    • Would use to sequester under cover agents
  • Want to take LEO tracks and give to GIS to create heatmap to inform next year
    • What can we glean from where people went?
    • Ex. if someone had to traverse from other side of fair repeatedly, station them closer to problematic area
  • Didn't user data sync
  • ~15 agencies participated - need to do better job of educating why using so not seen as negative
  • Was hard to determine where people were even if using callsigns, since used to reporting number only
    • Would be nice if dot lit up when doing push to talk

Feature Parity

Who: Chris Lawrence

  • Updated Feature Parity (as of 4.8)
  • Action item to more clearly define what comprises a given feature so we know when we have parity

Plugin Version Compatibility

Who: Chris Lawrence

See Cross Version Plugin Compatibility