Coding Period Week 1 (May 29 ~ June 4)

Objectives for the Week

• Conclude investigations into the Amazon Warehouse workspace issues.
• Finalize the Laser Mapping block integration in VisualCircuit.
• Build the core frontend UI and backend linking for the VisualCircuit Marketplace.
• Fix the block unpacking and .zip download bugs for the Marketplace.

Progress & Achievements

This week marks the beginning of the official GSoC coding period! I have made massive progress in building the foundation of the VisualCircuit Marketplace, focusing on the UI, the registry, and end-to-end testing. Here is a step-by-step breakdown of everything we have built so far:

Step 1: Designing the Registry Data (The Database)

We first decided that the Marketplace needed to be completely decoupled from the main VisualCircuit repository. We accomplished this by creating a dynamic registry.

• I created a registry file that acts as a live directory containing references and addresses to the blocks.

  

Step 2: Architecture & File Storage (.vc3)

I spent time studying the core VisualCircuit blocks and found that each block uses a .vc3 file that stores all its information.

• The Storage Plan: I decided to create a completely separate, new repository to store these .vc3 files. Users and contributors will be able to push their blocks directly to this new repo.
• I then mapped the addresses of these .vc3 files into the registry.

Step 3: Building the UI & Download Flow

I built the Marketplace UI directly into the VisualCircuit editor.

• The Download Button: I designed and implemented a dedicated download button within the UI.

• The API Integration: I developed the download functionality using the GitHub API. When a user clicks download, the system successfully fetches and downloads the .vc3 file to their computer.

  

Step 4: End-to-End Testing

To ensure the download flow worked flawlessly:

• I created a dummy repository and uploaded some example .vc3 blocks to test the full pipeline.

• It worked! The blocks were successfully fetched from the dummy repo and downloaded to my computer.

Exercise Updates & Ongoing Issues

• Amazon Workspace (Resolved/Dropped): I discussed the persistent Amazon Workspace errors with my mentor. We realized there was a library clash caused by the OMPL library updating from 1.7 to 2.0. Because this is an external library issue, my mentor advised me to drop this plan, so this task is considered closed!
• Laser Mapping: I successfully recorded a video of the Laser Mapping working as a singular block. However, when I split it into multiple blocks, the execution fails. I will be asking my mentor for guidance on this next week.
• Marketplace Auto-Load Issue: Currently, when a user clicks download, the .vc3 file simply downloads as a file to their computer. My next major goal is to figure out how to intercept this download and instantly auto-load the block directly into the VisualCircuit main layout without the user having to manually drag it in.

Mentor Meeting

We held our weekly sync to discuss this week’s progress and the transition into the official coding period!

Next Steps

• The Backend Validator: I will be discovering and planning how to write the automated validator and investigating how it will work using GitHub Actions.
• Final Repository: I will ask Mentors to create a new repository for complete testing and final production use of the Marketplace.
• Complete the Laser Mapping split-block issue with my mentor’s help.
• Push the finalized code to GitHub!