openTCS Files

openTCS: Release Notes

   The openTCS developers
   info@opentcs.org
   openTCS 4.0.0
   Table of Contents
     * 1. Introduction
     * 2. Getting started
     * 3. Support
     * 4. Changelog
          + 4.1. Version 4.0 (2017-02-11)
          + 4.2. Version 3.2 (2016-01-19)
          + 4.3. Version 3.1.1 (2015-05-06)
          + 4.4. Version 3.1 (2015-03-23)
          + 4.5. Version 3.0 (2014-11-25)
          + 4.6. Version 2.7.1 (2014-06-30)
          + 4.7. Version 2.7 (2014-06-25)
          + 4.8. Version 2.6.1 (2014-03-14)
          + 4.9. Version 2.6 (2014-02-28)
          + 4.10. Version 2.5 (2013-12-18)
          + 4.11. Version 2.4.2 (2013-07-29)
          + 4.12. Version 2.4.1 (2013-05-30)
          + 4.13. Version 2.4 (2013-02-07)
          + 4.14. Version 2.3 (2012-09-17)
          + 4.15. Version 2.2 (2012-07-10)
     * 5. Contributors

1. Introduction

   openTCS (short for "open Transportation Control System") is a free
   platform for controlling vehicles in an Automated Guided Vehicle System
   (AGVS). It should generally be possible to control any track-guided
   vehicle with it, even if the tracks are only virtual, but AGVSs are the
   main target. It is being maintained at the Fraunhofer Institute for
   Material Flow and Logistics in Dortmund, Germany.

   The software runs on the Java platform (version 1.8 or later). All
   libraries required for compiling and/or using it are freely available,
   too.

   openTCS itself is not a complete product you can use "out-of-the-box"
   to control an AGVS with. Primarily, It is a framework/an implementation
   of the basic data structures and algorithms (routing, dispatching,
   scheduling) needed for running an AGVS with more than one vehicle. It
   tries to be as generic as possible to allow interoperation with
   track-guided vehicles of practically any vendor. Thus it is usually
   necessary to at least create and integrate a vehicle driver (called
   "communication adapter" in openTCS-speak) that translates between the
   abstract interface of the openTCS kernel and the communication protocol
   your vehicle understands. Depending on your needs, it might also be
   necessary to adapt algorithms or add project-specific strategies.

   The openTCS source code is licensed partly under the terms of the MIT
   License and partly under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
   License. A copy of the licenses is included in the distribution. For
   details on the licensing, see the file LICENSE.txt.

   Please note that openTCS is distributed without any warranty - without
   even the implied warranty of merchantibility or fitness for a
   particular purpose. Please refer to the license for details.

   We are grateful to any developers that have contributed to openTCS. A
   list of all contributors known by name can be found at the end of this
   document.

   To download the latest version and/or read news about openTCS, please
   see its web site at http://www.opentcs.org/ or the project homepage at
   http://sourceforge.net/projects/opentcs/.

2. Getting started

   To get started with openTCS, please refer to the user’s guide, the
   developer’s guide and the JavaDoc API documentation that are included
   in the distribution.

3. Support

   Please note that, while we are happy to be able to release openTCS to
   the public as free software and would like to see it used and improved
   continuously, the development team cannot provide unlimited free
   support for it.

   If you have technical/support questions, please post them in the forum
   on the project’s homepage, where the community and the developers
   involved will respond as time permits. For customers, Fraunhofer IML
   also provides support via e-mail or telephone - please contact us via
   info@opentcs.org.

   Legal notice: This announcement of possible supporting services is not
   intended to create any binding or legal obligations or an obligation on
   entering any contract. It does not impose any duty on Fraunhofer IML to
   disclose any information nor to enter into any individual agreement or
   obligation.

4. Changelog

   This changelog lists the most relevant changes for past releases in
   reverse chronological order.

4.1. Version 4.0 (2017-02-11)

     * Split the base library into a base API, an injection API and a
       library with commonly used utility classes to reduce the load of
       transitive dependencies for API users.
     * Heavily cleaned up the APIs, including some backwards-incompatible
       changes (mainly renaming and removing previously deprecated
       elements). Notable examples:
          + Moved vehicle communication adapter base classes to
            org.opentcs.drivers.vehicle and named them more appropriately.
          + Removed TCP/IP communication implementation from
            org.opentcs.util.communication.tcp and a few more utility
            classes. Maintaining these is out of the openTCS project’s
            scope.
     * Greatly improved extension and customization capabilities for both
       the kernel and plant overview applications by applying dependency
       injection in more places.
          + Communication adapters may now participate with dependency
            injection.
          + Default kernel strategies may now easily be overridden.
     * Simplified the default Scheduler implementation.
     * Switched logging to SLF4J.
     * Improved project documentation for both users and developers and
       migrated to Asciidoctor for easier maintenance.
     * Updated Guice to 4.1.0.
     * Updated Guava to 19.0.
     * Updated JDOM to 2.0.6.
     * Updated Gradle to 2.13.
     * Many small bugfixes and improvements.

4.2. Version 3.2 (2016-01-19)

     * Switched to Gradle as the build management system for improved
       dependency management and release process. This introduces cleanly
       separate subprojects for base library, basic strategies library,
       kernel application, plant overview application and documentation.
       It also adds clean separation of application code and Guice
       configuration.
     * Added an event bus-backed event hub implementation for the kernel
       to distribute events sent by e.g. communication adapters and make
       it possible to forward them to kernel clients. Also add method
       publishEvent() to BasicCommunicationAdapter to allow communication
       adapters to use it.
     * Adjusted the dispatcher’s and kernel’s methods for withdrawing
       transport orders to explicitly state whether the order should be
       withdrawn regularly or aborted immediately, which makes them
       deterministic for the caller.
     * Moved code for handling transport order states/activations from the
       kernel to the dispatcher implementation for better separation of
       concerns.
     * Improved the use of dependency injection via Guice in the kernel to
       make the code more modular.
     * Added annotation @ScheduledApiChange for marking scheduled
       incompatible API changes.
     * Updated library Guava to 18.0.
     * Many small fixes and improvements.

4.3. Version 3.1.1 (2015-05-06)

     * Fix a crash in the plant overview client that occured when the user
       tried to add a drive order to a transport order.

4.4. Version 3.1 (2015-03-23)

     * Fix the encoding of model files written by the plant overview
       client.
     * Fix a problem with renaming points that resulted in broken model
       files.
     * Fix a crash that happened when trying to open a context menu on a
       vehicle in modelling mode.
     * Properly set the scale factor when loading a model from a file.
     * Avoid a crash when trying to create a transport order with a model
       that does not contain any locations/transport order destinations.
     * Fix direction indicators of paths not being displayed properly
       after loading a model from a file.
     * Fix outdated documentation in a couple of places.

4.5. Version 3.0 (2014-11-25)

     * The plant overview client can now be used for offline modelling,
       i.e. without requiring a permanent connection to the kernel.
     * To further reflect these changes, the plant overview client now
       maintains its operating mode independently from the kernel’s state.
       If the user sets the mode of the plant overview client to OPERATING
       while the kernel is in modelling mode, an empty model will be
       displayed and the actual model will be loaded as soon as the
       connected kernel switches back to operating mode. Furthermore, this
       allows to modify the driving course model in the plant overview
       client while the kernel remains in operating mode. See the manual
       for more information.
     * The management of course model files was moved to the plant
       overview client. As of this version, the kernel stores only a
       single driving course model which can be persisted by selecting the
       corresponding menu item in the graphical user interface of the
       plant overview client. Changes made to the model in the plant
       overview client must be explicitly transferred to the kernel. To
       migrate all of your existing models to this new version, please
       refer to the manual.
     * Changes made to the Kernel API:
          + Method Set<String> getModelNames() was changed to String
            getModelName(), as from now on there exists only one model at
            a time.
          + Method loadModel(String modelName) no longer requires/accepts
            a parameter.
          + Method saveModel(String modelName, boolean overwrite) no
            longer accepts the boolean parameter and overwrites the model
            automatically.
          + Method removeModel(String rmName) no longer requires/accepts a
            parameter.
          + Methods createLayout(byte[] layoutData) and
            setLayoutData(TCSObjectReference<Layout> ref, byte[] newData)
            have been removed along with class Layout.
     * Updated library Google Guava to 17.0.
     * Updated library JAXB to 2.2.7.
     * Updated project to Java 8.

4.6. Version 2.7.1 (2014-06-30)

     * Fixed a potential crash with switching to plant operation mode when
       the model contained static routes.

4.7. Version 2.7 (2014-06-25)

     * Updated library Docking Frames to 1.1.2p11.
     * Added library Google Guava 16.0.1 for better code readability via
       small utility methods.
     * Added position coordinates to locations.
     * Added synchronization of model and layout coordinates for points
       and locations.
     * Fixed reconstruction of routing tables when locking/unlocking paths
       in plant operation mode.
     * Reimplemented the former Dijkstra-based routing table construction,
       now providing one based on breadth-first search and an alternative
       based on depth-first search, and use pluggable routing cost
       functions.
     * Implemented a proper life cycle for plant overview plugin panels.
     * Modified model management to not allow model names to differ in the
       case of their spelling only to prevent inconsistencies on Windows
       systems.
     * Replaced the reference on a Location in a MovementCommand with the
       Location itself to provide more information to the vehicle driver.
     * Made more wide-spread use of dependency injection via Guice and
       refactored, cleaned up and simplified source code in many places,
       primarily in the plant overview client.
     * Many small bugfixes and improvements.

4.8. Version 2.6.1 (2014-03-14)

     * Properly color the route for vehicles that have just been created
       and not loaded from an existing plant model.
     * Fix loading plant models created by older versions of openTCS that
       contained certain path liner types.
     * Properly set point types as read from the plant model in the plant
       overview client.
     * Do not provide a clickable graphical figure in the plant overview
       client for vehicles that should actually be invisible.

4.9. Version 2.6 (2014-02-28)

     * Updated library Docking Frames to 1.1.2p10e.
     * Updated library JDOM to 2.0.5.
     * Updated library JFreeChart to 1.0.17, including an update of
       JCommon to 1.0.21.
     * Updated library JUnit to 4.11, including the addition of Hamcrest
       1.3.
     * Updated DocBook style sheets to 1.78.1.
     * Added library Google Guice 3.0 for dependency injection and thus
       better modularity.
     * Added library Mockito 1.9.5 to simplify and improve the included
       unit tests.
     * Downgraded the Saxon XSL processor to version 6.5.5, as more recent
       versions seem to have deficiencies with DocBook to FO
       transformations.
     * Merged the experimental generic client application into the plant
       overview client, which can now be extended with plugin-like panels
       providing custom functionality.
     * Added plugin panels for load generation and statistics reports into
       the plant overview client.
     * Improved the undo/redo functionality of the plant overview client
       in modelling mode.
     * Temporarily disabled the copy-and-paste functionality of the plant
       overview client in modelling mode until some major usability issues
       have been sorted out.
     * Improved editing of multiple driving course elements at the same
       time.
     * Temporarily disabled the possibility to add background graphics
       until this works more reliably.
     * Unified look-and-feel and fonts in the kernel control center and
       the plant overview client and removed the selection menu for
       different Swing look-and-feels from the kernel control center.
     * Improved localization of the plant overview client.
     * Removed the kernel’s explicit "simulation" mode, which was never
       fully implemented or used and provided practically no advantages
       over the normal mode of operation, in which vehicles can be
       simulated using the loopback driver.
     * Fixed/improved GUI layout in multiple places of the kernel control
       center.
     * Many bugfixes and improvements to code and documentation.

4.10. Version 2.5 (2013-12-18)

     * Added library Docking Frames 1.1.2-P8c.
     * Made some panels in the plant overview client (un)dockable.
     * Added a panel with an overview of all vehicles and their respective
       states to the plant overview client.
     * Added a pause button to the plant overview client to pause/stop all
       active vehicles at once.
     * Introduced pluggable themes to customize the appearance of
       locations and vehicles in the plant overview.
     * Added generic grouping of driving course elements, primarily to
       support visualization in the plant overview.
     * Translated the user manual to English.
     * Many small bugfixes and improvements to both the code and the
       documentation.

4.11. Version 2.4.2 (2013-07-29)

     * Updated the XML Schema definitions for the host interface.

4.12. Version 2.4.1 (2013-05-30)

     * Updated the visualization client, including many bug fixes,
       usability improvements and internationalization (English and German
       language).
     * Properly included a vehicle’s length when persisting/materializing
       a course model.
     * Removed an erroneous JAXB annotation that led to an exception when
       trying to persist load generator input data in the generic client.
     * Changed the startup scripts/batch files to look for extension JARs
       in lib/openTCS-extensions/ instead of lib/.

4.13. Version 2.4 (2013-02-07)

     * Updated JDOM to 2.0.4.
     * Updated JHotDraw to 7.6.
     * Updated Checkstyle to 5.6.
     * Integrated Saxon 9.4 and Apache FOP 1.1 into the build for
       processing the DocBook manual.
     * Major overhaul of the visualization client, including: Integration
       of both modes (modelling and visualization) into a single
       application, preparation for proper localization and integration of
       the course layout information into model data structures, making it
       easier to create complete models including course layout via the
       kernel API. (This basically allows to implement other clients that
       can create new models or import/convert existing models from other
       applications.) Using models containing "old" layout data is still
       supported but deprecated.
     * Changed license of the visualization client to LGPL.
     * Improved support for vehicle energy management: For each vehicle, a
       specific charging operation may be specified (default: “CHARGE”),
       which will be used by the dispatcher to automatically create orders
       to recharge the vehicle’s energy source.
     * Improved strategies for selecting parking positions and charging
       locations.
     * Changed initial processing state of a vehicle to UNAVAILABLE,
       preventing immediate dispatching of vehicles on startup.
     * Improved kernel methods for withdrawing orders from vehicles and
       allow setting a vehicle’s processing state to UNAVAILABLE to
       prevent it being dispatched again immediately.
     * Added kernel method dispatchVehicle() to allow vehicles in state
       UNAVAILABLE to be dispatched again.
     * (Re-)Added 'dispensable' flag to class TransportOrder to indicate
       that an order may be withdrawn automatically by the dispatcher.
       (Primarily used to make parking orders abortable.)
     * Improved handling of order sequences.
     * Added a simple, preliminary implementation of data collection for
       statistics based on event data in org.opentcs.util.statistics.
     * Removed class VehicleType and all references to it completely. All
       information about the vehicles themselves is stored in Vehicle,
       now, simplifying the code in which VehicleType was used.
     * Added Vehicle.State.UNAVAILABLE for vehicles that are not in an
       ERROR state but currently remotely usable, either. (Examples:
       manual or semi-automatic modes)
     * Added methods Kernel.sendCommAdapterMessage() and
       CommunicationAdapter.processMessage() to allow clients to send
       generic messages to communication adapters associated with
       vehicles.
     * Removed methods stop(), pause() and resume() from communication
       adapter interface as they had not served any purpose for long time.
     * Removed kernel method getInfoText(), for which the query() method
       has served as a replacement for a while, now.
     * Properly propagate exceptions to clients connected via the RMI
       proxy.
     * Small bug fixes and improvements to code and documentation.

4.14. Version 2.3 (2012-09-17)

     * Moved sources of the generic client into the main project’s source
       tree.
     * Updated JFreeChart to 1.0.14.
     * Use JFreeChart for drawing the velocity graph of a communication
       adapter.
     * Instead of emitting an event only after the kernel’s state changed,
       emit an additional one before the state transition.
     * Implemented org.opentcs.data.order.OrderSequence for processes
       spanning more than one transport order that should be processed by
       a single vehicle.
     * Added a set of properties to DriveOrder.Destination and
       MovementCommand, allowing an order/command to carry additional
       information for a communication adapter or vehicle, if necessary.
     * (Re-)Added State.CHARGING and merged State.DRIVING and
       State.OPERATING into State.EXECUTING in
       org.opentcs.data.model.Vehicle.
     * Added a settable threshold for critical and good energy levels of a
       vehicle.
     * Added a vehicle specific charging operation to Vehicle, settable by
       the communication adapter.
     * Recompute routing tables when (un)locking a path.
     * Remove org.opentcs.data.model.Path.Action, which wasn’t really used
       anywhere and doesn’t provide any benefit over a Path’s properties.
     * Remove a lot of deprecated methods in the kernel interface.
     * Replace the existing dispatcher with one that is aware of order
       sequences and vehicles' energy levels and automatically creates
       orders to recharge vehicles.
     * Deprecated and largely removed references to
       org.opentcs.data.model.VehicleType, simplifying some code.
     * Bug fix in KernelStateOperating.activateTransportOrder(): Use our
       own references to the transport order, not the one we received as a
       parameter, as that causes problems if the order has been renamed
       but a reference with the old name is being used by the calling
       client.
     * Moved classes to packages properly separated by functionality, and
       removed a few utility classes that were not used and didn’t provide
       much. (This effectively means the API provided by the base JAR
       changed. Fixing any resulting broken imports should be the only
       thing required to use the new version.)

4.15. Version 2.2 (2012-07-10)

     * Published as free open source software (license: the MIT license,
       see LICENSE.txt) - Requires Java 1.7
     * Update JDOM to 2.0.2.
     * Integrated kernel and driver GUI into a single application.
     * Basic support for energy management
     * Support for dynamic load handling devices reported by
       vehicles/vehicle drivers to the kernel
     * Simplified integration of vehicle drivers: Vehicle drivers in the
       class path are found automatically using java.util.ServiceLoader.
     * Automatic backup copies (in $KERNEL/data/backups/) when saving
       models
     * Switched from properties to XML for configuration files
     * Simplified and more consistent kernel API
     * Many small bug fixes and adjustments of the included strategies

5. Contributors

   We are grateful for anyone helping us to improve openTCS by
   contributing code or documentation. So far, the developers involved
   were/are (in alphabetical order by last name):
     * Hubert Buechter
     * Iryna Felko
     * Martin Grzenia
     * Preity Gupta
     * Heinz Huber
     * Olaf Krause
     * Tobias Marquardt
     * Sebastian Naumann
     * Volkmar Pontow
     * Philipp Seifert
     * Andreas Trautmann
     * Stefan Walter
     * Mats Wilhelm
     * Mustafa Yalciner
     * Youssef Zaki

   If you have contributed to openTCS and we have missed you on this list,
   please accept our apologies and send us an e-mail via info@opentcs.org.