The SICK AppSpace Developers’ Conference 2018 at the Messe Freiburg revolved around networking and sharing. The 124 attendees – with twice as many external participants as last year – used the presentations, interactive marketplaces, LIVE hacking sessions, and BarCamp workshops for intensive networking.
The developer community is developing magnificently
We achieved our objective during the two days – to facilitate exchanges between the internal and external users of the SICK AppSpace and its developers. On the one hand, we wanted to obtain feedback on the current state of the ecosystem, get to know the users’ requirements, and understand what they expect from the SICK AppSpace. On the other hand, we presented our latest innovations and developments.
The community has grown a lot since last year’s Developers’ Conference. This growth can be traced back to a range of improvements – but also to the certainty that SICK will further improve and expand the AppSpace ecosystem. SICK has achieved high quality and greater user-friendliness with the new versions of the AppStudio and AppManager. The new AppSpace manual offers top-down documentation and is available on the support portal. It is also possible to configure and commission AppSpace devices without programming knowledge, thanks to the new configurator view framework. A SICK AppPool will go online in summer 2018 as a cloud service for the presentation and exchange of SensorApps. And other plans regarding API documentation or the UI Builder show the community that their feedback is taken seriously.
The portfolio of programmable devices has also grown. Participants could experience the programmable TrispectorP 3D camera at one of the marketplaces.
Bread and circuses
The personal and informal ambiance of the event made a considerable contribution to the exchanges between participants. LIVE hacking sessions with subsequent discussion rounds even led to the exchange of code snippets and the idea of publicizing tests and facilitating the copying of one another’s work. The supporting program, with a Retro Game Evening (including, among others, Super Mario and XL table football), allowed the community to carry on talking shop in a playful atmosphere.
The format: SICK AppSpace Developers’ Conference
The annual Developers’ Conference is the ideal platform for bringing together all the members of the SICK AppSpace Developers’ Club. The focus is on open exchanges between club members and SICK developers. But active involvement in the strategic development of the SICK AppSpace ecosystem is also possible here. Experiences are shared in open workshops (BarCamps) and future improvements in all areas – from software; through hardware, documentation and support; to networks within the community – are discussed. Live application examples show potential implementations and present SICK AppSpace products. The results of the Developers’ Conference are openly and transparently available for members, including SICK’s planning on how the topics covered will flow into further development.
