Handling of Binary Files

[VMFortress]

I am trying to plan around the inclusion of binary files in our Git repository.

The current ones are:

• A draw.io based PNG image for the wiring diagram used in the README
• The CAD for the simulation which had to be manually separated in a specific way and converted to a specific format
• Potentially other images for READMEs, such as a picture of the robot or robot CAD

The options being considered:

• [Images Only] Including it in the Git repo as-is
• Using Git LFS for storing the files on GitHub
• [Images Only] Using some generic image host like imgur and linking to them
• [CAD Only] Using team Google Drive or other file host
• [CAD Only] Adding the CAD to GitHub Releases

I'd be happy to hear anyone's thoughts on the matter.

[Advay17]

Is the size of the CAD files too big without using LFS?

[VMFortress]

The current CAD size for the sim is ~240MiB which is definitely too big for the repo. Especially as its something that will change as mechanisms change or are added/removed.

[Advay17]

Given that github can render PNGs even in the file view, it's probably fine to store them in the repo as is, and they shouldn't be too big to store without LFS. Maybe we could make a new folder just for images?

[VMFortress]

Definitely would put all of this stuff in a resources folder regardless.

The current wiring diagram is 10MiB so might still be too big for directly in the repo. Especially since it might change the same way for the CAD I mentioned above.