Custom ReachView on ReachRS

It is my understanding that the ReachView software is open source and can be modified by the user to create custom functionality.

I would like to make some additions/modifications to ReachView on the ReachRS unit. Modifications include:

  • adding additional tabs to the ReachView user interface
  • adding some geospacial calculations
  • modifying the Bluetooth serial output

Is all this feasible? Are there any licensing or hardware restrictions I should be aware of?

What tools are required - programming languages, IDE, compiler, debugger etc?

What is the procedure for programming the ReachRS? Is it just a case of transferring the relevant files via the standard USB port?

How will customizations be affected by OTA updates? Is it possible to create custom functionality in a way that doesn’t break with OTA updates?

Regards, Ben

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Hi Ben,

ReachView before V2.x.x was open source and can still be run on Reach modules, but many features for Reach RS are not implemented in that version. We plan to support custom apps by releasing an API somewhere this year.

Any modification to Reach/Reach RS app will break with an OTA update.

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Hi Igor (@igor.vereninov),

thank you for your reply. Can you please provide some more clarification about the planned API?

  • My goal is to keep all the current ReachView functionality but add to this some custom functionality. I assume that the ReachRS can only serve one web application at a time. In order to add custom functionality will it be necessary to reproduce the current ReachView app (via API) so that the custom functionality can be added? If this is not the case can you please describe how custom functionality would be implemented?
  • Will it be possible to change the data sent out over the Bluetooth interface (based on added functionality)?

Regards, Ben

Hi Ben,

Our current plan is that we will expose all functions with an API, so you will be able to push settings and get status info. Making ReachView user-extendable is not a an easy task.

It is possible to send different data to Bluetooth, but if BT is taken by sending NMEA it is not possible to alter the stream.

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Thanks Igor, I think this will work for us.