Automation & Robotics Deployment for SVT Robotics

Our goal for this project was to:

• Simplify the deployment process of SVT Robotics’ automation and IoT technologies.
• Use React and Angular to build a responsive, scalable, and performance-driven platform.
• Enhance integration capabilities, allowing the platform to support various robotic workflows.
• Ensure the platform aligns with SVT Robotics’ focus on rapid deployment technology.

Internally, we faced a team restructuring challenge, necessitating the replacement of a developer mid-project. Externally, collaboration with SVT Robotics’ internal team presented obstacles, requiring extensive coordination to ensure smooth integration and delivery.

Our technical approach focused on:

Frontend Development

• Using React to build reusable, scalable UI components for real-time monitoring and control interfaces.
• Deploying React hooks and state management libraries like Redux to handle complex workflows.
• Utilizing Angular for building the more complex, hierarchical modules that required form validation, multi-view routing, and dependency injection.
• Implementing lazy loading to ensure that only the necessary components were loaded, improving performance.

Integration with Automation and IoT Systems

• Designing RESTful APIs for seamless communication between the frontend and SVT Robotics’ backend systems.
• Creating endpoints to interact with IoT devices and robotics systems, ensuring efficient data exchange.
• Integrating WebSocket communication for real-time data updates from IoT sensors and robotic devices.
• Using RxJS in Angular to manage asynchronous data streams effectively.

Performance Optimization

• Spliting  the JavaScript bundles into smaller chunks to ensure faster load times for both Angular and React applications.
• Employing SASS for styling to ensure the platform remained fully responsive across devices.
• Integrating tools like Sentry for tracking and resolving runtime errors during development and after deployment.

Testing and Debugging

• Writing extensive unit tests for React components using Jest and for Angular modules using Jasmine and Karma.
• Conducting E2E testing with Cypress to simulate real-world workflows and identify bottlenecks.

Team Coordination Tools

• Adopting Agile methodologies with bi-weekly sprints to ensure clear communication and goal alignment among internal and external teams.
• Using Git with a branching strategy to handle contributions from multiple developers effectively, ensuring smooth integration of features and bug fixes.

Despite the challenges, the project was a success. The collaboration allowed us to enhance our coding standards and deliver a scalable and robust solution. SVT Robotics now benefits from an improved deployment process for their automation and IoT technologies, setting the stage for future growth.