Help with Yardstick

Yardstick reaches your robot through your Yarbo account, the same one the Yarbo app uses, so there is no address to find. The computer running Yardstick needs an internet connection, and so does the robot.

• In Settings → Your Yarbo, check you are still signed in. Recording stops until you sign in again, and changing your Yarbo password signs Yardstick out.
• Check the robot is on the account you signed in with. Yardstick lists what the account lists.
• A docked Yarbo goes quiet, which shows as Waiting rather than a missing robot.

Once it connects, the status on the page turns to connected and recording can begin.

Open http://<computer-ip>:8477/ from any device on the same network, where <computer-ip> is the address of the machine running Yardstick. Both devices must be on the same network. The exact address is shown at the bottom of the Settings page.

That is expected. Yardstick can also serve securely over HTTPS at https://<computer-ip>:8478/. Because it runs on your own network, the certificate is self-signed, so your browser warns once. Choose Advanced, then proceed. You only do this once per browser.

Yardstick places your yard from the robot's own recorded positions, so the photo appears only after the robot has worked enough for it to know where you are, usually after a job or two. Until then the map draws on its own, which is normal. If you are outside the United States, the free built-in imagery does not cover you and you will need a Google key. See the aerial photo guide.

Almost always one thing: the Maps Static API is not enabled on your Google project. If you see “This API is not activated on your API project,” go to APIs & Services → Library, search Maps Static API, and click Enable. It has to be that specific API, not the JavaScript one.

• Make sure billing is turned on for the project (this use stays inside the free tier).
• Remove any HTTP-referrer restriction on the key. Yardstick requests the image from your computer, so there is no web page to match.
• If the key is still rejected, Yardstick keeps showing the free USGS view rather than going blank, and tells you why on the page.

Full walkthrough: the aerial photo guide.

• Check that Start recording automatically is on in Settings → Recording.
• Confirm the robot is connected (see “Yardstick can’t find my robot” above). Yardstick can only record while it can hear the robot.
• Recording captures a job while the robot works. If the robot is parked, there is little to record until it runs again.

Everything Yardstick records is stored in a database on the computer where it runs. The exact location is shown at the bottom of the Settings page. Use Settings → Backup to keep copies. Your data never leaves your machine, so backups are yours to manage.

Alerts fire only when something needs a hand, for example the robot is stuck or can’t find its dock. To receive them off the screen:

• Turn on the alerts you want in Settings → Alerts.
• For email, fill in your mail server details in Settings → Notifications, then send a test. See the email alerts setup guide for app passwords and the SMTP settings for Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo.
• For phone push, set your ntfy topic in the same section and subscribe to it on your phone.

Open the wall display and leave it full-screen on a screen of its own: a TV, a tablet in the garage, a screen in the clubhouse or ops room. It shows progress, battery, speed, time left and GPS lock at a glance, and turns into an alarm the moment a robot needs help.

Yardstick handles as many cores as you run. In Settings → Your Yarbo you can name each core, add a new one in seconds, or retire one. Your subscription covers unlimited robots / cores, so there is nothing to reconfigure elsewhere.

The 14-day trial unlocks every feature with no payment card. After that, a subscription keeps them on. Your license is verified in a way that tolerates brief outages, so a short problem on our side will not lock you out of software you have installed. Manage or cancel any time at yardstickhome.com/manage. That is Stripe's own billing page: sign in with the email address you paid with and you can cancel, change your card, or download receipts. You do not need Yardstick installed, or the computer you installed it on, so it still works if the machine is gone.

Canceling takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for, so you keep what you bought. Nothing is deleted either way: your recordings stay on your own disk.

Everything to do with billing lives on Stripe's own page: yardstickhome.com/manage. Enter the email address you paid with and Stripe emails you a link to sign in. There is no password, and you do not need Yardstick installed, so this still works if the computer is gone, dead or wiped.

From there you can cancel the subscription, change the card, and download receipts and invoices.

Canceling takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for, not straight away. You keep what you bought, and the software goes on working until then.

Nothing is deleted when a subscription ends. Your recordings are on your own disk and stay there, and recording carries on. What stops is reading them: the map, the history and the wall display. Subscribe again and all of it comes back, including everything recorded while it was locked.

If you were charged after canceling, or something does not look right, email [email protected] and we will sort it out.

A license covers one computer at a time, with unlimited robots and cores on it. To move to a new machine, open Settings → License on the old computer and remove the key, then enter it on the new one. If the old computer is gone, dead, or wiped and cannot release the key itself, free it yourself at yardstickhome.com/license: enter your key and it releases the seat so the new computer can claim it.

Open Settings → Software and help and press Restart under The Yardstick program. Yardstick stops and starts again in a few seconds and carries on recording by itself, so there is no need to restart the computer. The page stops responding while it restarts.

The same card has Start Yardstick when this computer starts. Leave it on so Yardstick comes back by itself after the computer restarts. Turn it off and nothing records until somebody opens Yardstick by hand. Turning it off does not stop Yardstick now.

Updates are included while your subscription is active. You can see exactly what changed in the changelog. If you are unsure which version you are on, it is shown in Settings → Software and help and at the bottom of the page.