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Flutter Controller App

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This Controller app serves as a remote controller for the OpenBot vehicle similar as a BT controller (e.g. PS3/4 or Xbox). It runs on another Android/iOS device and supports live video/audio streaming in addition to control.

Install the app

On Android, download Controller-<version>.apk from the assets of the latest release and install it on your phone.

Note for existing users: This app replaces the legacy Android controller app as the controller APK published with each release. Because the two apps use different package IDs (org.openbot.app.controller vs. org.openbot.controller), installing this APK will not update the legacy app; it is installed as a separate app alongside it. You can uninstall the legacy controller once you have switched.

Getting Started

Begin by installing Flutter on your system. Choose the appropriate download for your operating system, which includes options for Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS. Follow the official Flutter installation guide for detailed instructions: Flutter Installation Guide

Using Terminal

  • Once Flutter is installed successfully, open your terminal or command prompt.

  • Change your current directory to the location where the OpenBot project is stored and then navigate to OpenBot/controller/flutter.

  • Use the following commands to run the Flutter application from the terminal.

    Install Dependencies:

     flutter pub get

    Run the project:

     flutter run

    If you encounter any issues, run the following command:

     flutter doctor

Using Editor

  • Follow the official Flutter guide for setting up an editor: Set up an editor

  • Ensure that your editor is configured for Flutter development. Install any required plugins or extensions, following the editor-specific instructions in the Flutter documentation for the best development experience.

  • Once you open your project in the editor after the setup, it will appear as shown in the following image.

  • Please follow the instructions similar to the ones mentioned above for running Flutter in the terminal and directly run using the run button for future repetitions.

Building a Signed Release (Android)

Release builds (flutter build apk --release / flutter build appbundle --release) are signed using a keystore referenced from android/key.properties. This file is gitignored and never committed — each developer must create their own local copy. Debug builds (flutter build apk --debug, flutter run) don't need any of this.

1. Generate a keystore (once)

keytool -genkey -v -keystore ~/release.keystore -alias upload -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

Keep the resulting .keystore/.jks file and its passwords somewhere safe outside the repo — losing it means you can no longer publish updates under the same app signature.

2. Create android/key.properties

android/app/build.gradle reads this file at controller/flutter/android/key.properties, so create it there with:

storePassword=<your keystore password>
keyPassword=<your key password>
keyAlias=upload
storeFile=/absolute/path/to/release.keystore

storeFile must be an absolute path (or a path resolvable from controller/flutter/android/app/) to the keystore you generated in step 1.

3. Build

cd controller/flutter
flutter build appbundle --release   # for Play Store upload (.aab)
# or
flutter build apk --release         # for a signed installable APK

app/build.gradle loads key.properties automatically if present and wires it into the release signing config; if the file is missing, the release build config falls back to null signing values and the build will fail signing (debug builds are unaffected).

Connection

The controller and robot phones must be on the same Wi-Fi network, or one phone must be connected to the other's hotspot. No internet access is needed.

When the controller app is started, it immediately tries to connect to the robot and shows the following screen:

To connect the controller to the robot, set the robot's control mode to Phone. For example, in the FreeRoamFragment the phone mode is activated like this:

Once connected, the controller app will look like this:

Here you can select to drive the robot by tilting the phone, or by using the on-screen controls.

Note: This should be sufficient to connect, but if the connection cannot be established after 30 seconds, toggle the Control setting on the bot app to Gamepad and then to Phone again to re-initiate the connection. If that fails, exit the controller app and start it again. Toggle the control mode again on the robot app.

Operation

On-screen controls

This mode allows the user to control the robot car via two sliders in Dual Drive mode. You can turn left/right by moving the slider thumb up and down on each side. The wheels on each side turn forward/backward when moving the thumb above/below the center of the slider.

  • Indicators: You can also set the left/right turn indicators by clicking on the arrows on the top-left of the screen.

  • Switch Camera: switch between the front and back camera modes.

  • Mute: enable/disable audio transmission.

  • Mirror view: mirror the the video feed.

Tilt to drive

The controller can also use its accelerometer motion sensor to drive the robot. If you select this option, the controller will enter a full-screen (Zen) mode with only the video showing and brake and accelerator pedals. To exit this mode, double-tap on the screen.

Here is a picture of the tilt mode screen:

Use the accelerator and brake buttons to move forward/backward.

  • Pressing the accelerator will accelerate the robot to full speed within 2 seconds. When you release the button, the robot will slow down to a stop (stop speed set to 0% of the maximum speed, can be adjusted).
  • Pressing the brake button will immediately stop the robot. If we hold the brake for another second, the robot will start moving backwards until it reaches the maximum reverse speed in one second. When we let go of the brake, the robot will come to a stop.
  • The robot is steered by tilting the controller phone left or right.

Controller Settings UI

Here is a picture of the Controller Settings screen:

  • Controller Selection: Switch between different controller types (e.g., mobile, joystick) using the provided icons.

  • Server: Displays the current server status with a dropdown to select or change the server.

  • Noise Toggle : Enable or disable noise simulation through the toggle switch.

Here is a Technical Overview of the controller app.