Seamonsters-2605.github.io

Setup Instructions

You should have a laptop for writing robot code. You can use any OS to write and deploy code, but Windows is required if you want to drive the robot from your computer. Instructions below are for Windows.

Install Python

All robot code is written in Python. See this page for some Python tutorials.

• Go to python.org/downloads
• Download “Windows x86-64 executable installer” at the bottom of the page, (Make sure it is python version 3.8 64 bit).
• Run the installer, and change the following options:
  • On Windows, check the box to “Add Python 3.8 to PATH”
  • If you are using a school laptop, uncheck “Install launcher for all users”
• Open Command Prompt (search “cmd”). Type python and press Enter. If that doesn’t work, try py instead.

This is Python’s interactive mode. You can type Python code in and press Enter to run it immediately.

• Verify that the version number listed is Python 3.8.x and NOT Python 2.8.x. Then type exit() and press Enter to exit Python.

Install Python libraries

• In Command Prompt, type:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install --upgrade pylint pyfrc robotpy robotpy-rev robotpy-rev.color robotpy-navx pygame remi

pip is a tool for installing and upgrading packages for Python, to add extra functionality. The first command updates pip to the latest version. The second command installs 5 packages which give you the necessary libraries for writing and testing robot code.

• pylint: A tool for modifying Python code—it will give VS Code the ability to, for example, change the name of a variable by analyzing its usage in a file.
• pyfrc: A Python port of wpilib, a library for controlling FRC robots
• robotpy-rev: For sending commands to the Spark motor controllers
• robotpy-rev.color: For the color sensor for the control pannel for the 2020/2021 season
• robotpy-navx: For accessing the NavX gyroscope.
• pygame: A set of libraries for building games with Python. This is used by the robot simulator for joystick input.
• remi: For building interfaces that run in a web browser—we will use this to build a “dashboard” web interface for the robot

Install Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is our recommended program for writing Python code. (It is different than plain Visual Studio).

• Download it here: code.visualstudio.com and run the installer. The default options are fine.
• Start Visual Studio Code
• On the right side under the Customize header there should be a link to install Python support. Click the link to install it in the background—the window will refresh when it is finished.

Install Driver Station

The installation process for Driver Station is SLOW! While you are working on this you can continue on some of the other sections. Driver station does not work on the school laptops.

Driver Station is used to control the robot from your computer using a joystick or gamepad. It only works on Windows.

• Download Driver Station here. You will need to create an account.
• Unzip the file you downloaded.
• Run setup.exe in the unzipped folder. It will take a long time to install.
  • Uncheck Search for important messages…
  • The program will ask for a serial number. Ask me and I will give it to you.
  • When the program has installed, uncheck Run License Manager
• Once Driver Station is installed, open it. When you first start it, you might receive a Windows Firewall warning. Make sure to check the box that allows communication on private networks.
• In Driver Station, click the gear button on the left side of the bottom window. Set the Team Number to 2605, and change the dashboard type to LabVIEW. Without a team number you won’t be able to connect to the robot.

Create a GitHub account

All of our robot code will be on GitHub, so anybody can view it, download it, and edit it.

• If you don’t already have a GitHub account, create one here: github.com/join
• Send me your username on Slack, and I will add you to the Seamonsters team

Install Git

Git is software for “version control,” which allows us all to collaborate on the code and manage multiple versions and branches of it.

• Download and install Git here: git-scm.com/downloads. Choose the default options for everything, except on Windows choose to “Use Visual Studio Code as Git’s default editor”. If this doesn’t work (the Next button is disabled), choose Nano instead.
• Open Command Prompt and type:
  • git config --global user.email "your email goes here"
  • git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  • git config --global core.editor "code --wait"

Clone the Seamonsters Repository

Open Command Prompt and type these commands:

cd Documents
git clone https://github.com/seamonsters-2605/SeamonstersTemplate

This will navigate to your Documents folder and download a repository hosted on GitHub called SeamonstersTemplate. This is a template that we use for robot development, including some Python libraries we have developed over the years.