LiveTracer (V2)

A High-Performance 3D Debugging Environment for FTC Robotics.

Overview

The LiveTracer addresses the “black box” problem of FTC robot development.
Instead of relying solely on numeric telemetry (x: 12.0, y: 45.0), the viewer provides a real-time, interactive 3D visualization environment that exposes robot state, motion, and algorithm behavior spatially.

The application renders live telemetry as geometry in a 3D scene, enabling teams to debug localization, validate trajectories, and reason about complex algorithms visually rather than abstractly.

The viewer runs entirely in the browser and connects to a lightweight Java telemetry server running on the Robot Controller.

Live DEMO application:
👉 https://livetracer.vlarkus.com Note: The web version CANNOT connect directly to a robot on the local Control Hub network because browsers block HTTPS pages from requesting data over the robot’s local HTTP endpoints. Use the locally hosted version for robot connectivity.

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Key Features

• Real-Time Visualization
  Live telemetry streaming from the robot into a high-performance React Three Fiber canvas.

• Advanced Grid / Plot Box System
  A configurable 3D reference volume that scales to telemetry ranges and provides spatial context.

• Geometric Debugging Primitives

  • Points (robot position, waypoints)
  • Lines (paths, vectors, headings)
  • Planes (boundaries, constraints)
  • Parametric surfaces for advanced math and control-theory debugging

• Camera Systems

  • Orbit mode with dynamic targets (origin / robot)
  • Free-camera mode (WASD + mouse) for first-person inspection

• Cross-Platform

  • Desktop (mouse + keyboard)
  • Mobile (touch-optimized controls)

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Telemetry Server (Required)

The LiveTracer does not communicate directly with FTC SDK telemetry.
Instead, it connects to a lightweight Java HTTP telemetry server running on the Robot Controller.

That server:

• Exposes robot telemetry over HTTP
• Handles CORS for browser access
• Provides example OpModes for testing and development

Java Server Repository

👉 LiveTracer Java Server
https://github.com/vlarkus/ftc-3d-viewer-java-server

This repository contains:

• A single reusable telemetry server file
• Two example OpModes for testing and controller-driven mock data

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Getting Started (Viewer)

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• npm

Installation

git clone https://github.com/vlarkus/ftc-3d-viewer.git
cd ftc-3d-viewer
npm install

Running Locally

npm run dev

Open your browser to the address shown in the terminal (typically http://localhost:5173).

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Connecting to a Robot

1. Run the Java telemetry server OpMode on the Robot Controller.
2. Enter the robot IP address (e.g. 192.168.43.1) in the viewer.
3. Connect — telemetry will stream live into the 3D scene.

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License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.