Runner Mode¶

Runner mode is GLIDER's touchscreen "kiosk" layout for running experiments at the bench. It replaces the full desktop editor with four large, finger-friendly tabs so an operator can load an experiment, drive hardware by hand, and start a recorded run without a keyboard or mouse.

Runner mode is designed for a small touchscreen — typically a Raspberry Pi with the official 480×800 display — but it runs on any machine. GLIDER picks the layout automatically from the screen size, and you can always force it with a command-line flag.

In this section¶

The Runner Screen — the four tabs (Setup, Run, Manual, Camera), the run banner, the auto-generated manual device controls, the Functions buttons, and how to run an experiment from the touchscreen.
Raspberry Pi Kiosk — the prebuilt Raspberry Pi SD-card image, the systemd service that auto-launches GLIDER in Runner mode on boot, and the in-app updater.

How GLIDER chooses Runner mode¶

When GLIDER starts it looks at the primary screen and decides which layout to show:

Screen	Mode
480×800 (portrait) or 800×480 (landscape)	Runner
Any screen 480 px wide or narrower	Runner
A short, wide rotated screen (height ≤ 480 px, wider than tall)	Runner
Anything larger (a normal monitor or laptop)	Desktop (Builder)

You can override the automatic choice from the command line:

glider --runner     # Force Runner (touchscreen) mode
glider --builder    # Force Desktop (Builder / editor) mode

One mode per launch

GLIDER runs in a single mode for the life of the process. You can switch from Runner to Desktop while it is running (⚙ → Switch to Desktop on the Setup tab), but you cannot switch back to Runner without restarting the app. On a dedicated Pi kiosk you normally never leave Runner mode.

Where to start¶

Setting up a bench touchscreen from scratch? Start with the Raspberry Pi Kiosk page.
Already have GLIDER running on a touchscreen and want to know what the buttons do? Go to The Runner Screen.
Installing GLIDER by hand on a Pi (no prebuilt image)? See Installation.