Installation#

This document describes the necessary installations to effectively run code in this organization.

Software#

Follow these steps to install necessary software to run code from this organization on your computer

  1. Install Python (http://www.python.org/download/)

    • Language used to write code

Caution

Make sure to check the box that says “Add Python to PATH”, otherwise you will have to add it manually. Thats not fun.

  1. Verify Python is installed by opening a command prompt and typing

python

  1. Install Poetry by opening a powershell prompt and typing

    • Poetry is a package manager for Python

(Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://install.python-poetry.org -UseBasicParsing).Content | py -

  1. Verify Poetry is installed by opening a powershell prompt and typing

poetry

  1. Install our library (robotpy-toolkit-7407) by opening a powershell prompt and typing

pip install robotpy-toolkit-7407

  1. Install Rosetta 2 by opening a terminal and typing

Note

Rosetta 2 is a program that allows you to run programs that are not native to the M1 chip

softwareupdate --install-rosetta

  1. Install Homebrew by opening a terminal and typing

    • Homebrew is a package manager for Mac

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  1. Install Python by opening a terminal and typing

    • Language used to write code

brew install python

  1. Verify Python is installed by closing and opening the terminal and typing

python

  1. Install Poetry by opening a terminal and typing

    Note

    Poetry is a package manager for Python for more information: Poetry

curl -sSL https://install.python-poetry.org | python3 -

Important

if you get an error concerning [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED], run open /Applications/Python\ 3.9/Install\ Certificates.command and try again

  1. Verify Poetry is installed by closing and opening the terminal and typing

poetry

  1. Install our library (robotpy-toolkit-7407) by opening command prompt and typing

pip install robotpy-toolkit-7407

  1. Install Python by opening a terminal and typing

    • Language used to write code

sudo apt-get install python3.9

  1. Verify Python is installed by closing and opening the terminal and typing

python

  1. Install Poetry by opening a terminal and typing

    • Poetry is a package manager for Python

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/python-poetry/poetry/master/get-poetry.py | python -

  1. Verify Poetry is installed by closing and opening the terminal and typing

poetry

  1. Install our library (robotpy-toolkit-7407) by opening command prompt and typing

pip install robotpy-toolkit-7407

IDE#

What is an IDE?#

  • IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment.

  • An IDE is a program that is used to write code.

There are many IDEs that can be used to develop Python code. The following are recommended:

VSCode#

  • The most popular IDE for our team.

  • free and open source, and has a large community of developers.

  • general purpose IDE that can be used for many different languages.

  • very customizable and has a large number of extensions that can be used to add functionality.

  • can be downloaded from (https://code.visualstudio.com/)

PyCharm#

  • A very popular IDE for Python development.

  • has a free community edition and a paid professional edition.

  • More focused on Python development than VsCode.

  • can be downloaded from (https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/)

Vim#

Git and Github#

  • Github is a website that hosts git repositories.

  • We use Github to host our code and to collaborate with other developers.

  • Github can be accessed at (github.com/Choate-Robotics)

Important

Github is not the same as git. Git is a version control system that is used to manage code. Github is a website that hosts git repositories.

Note

You will need to create a Github account to access our repositories. Let the current team leader know your Github username so you can be added to the organization.

How to Install Git#

  1. Download Git from (https://git-scm.com/downloads)

  2. Run the installer

  3. Verify Git is installed by opening a command prompt and typing

git

Tip

Github Desktop * Github Desktop is a GUI for git that makes it easier to use.

  1. Download Github Desktop from (https://desktop.github.com/)

  2. Run the installer

  3. Open Github Desktop and sign in with your Github account

Other Software#

This is a list of other software that is used to develop code for FRC robots. its not exactly necessary to install these on every computer, but you can if you want.

Important

  • Most of the software listed here is only available for Windows.

  • The installation process for most of these programs can be found here

  • WPILIB Suite:

    • WPILIB Suite is a collection of tools that are used to develop code for FRC robots.

    • includes the WPILIB VSCode extension, Shuffleboard networktable reader, etc.

    Important

    • WPILIB Suite requires Java 11 to be installed.

    • WPILIB is mostly meant for Java development, so some of the tools may not work with Python.

  • FRC Game Tools:

    • FRC Game Tools is a collection of tools that are used to develop code for FRC robots.

    • includes the FRC Driver Station, FRC Radio Configuration Utility, and FRC Update Suite.

    Important

    • If you are using a Mac with an M1 chip, you will need to install Rosetta 2 to run the FRC Driver Station.

    • This is necessary if you want to start the robot code from your computer

  • CTRE Phoenix Tuner:

    • CTRE Phoenix Tuner is a tool that is used to configure CTRE motor controllers.

    • can be used to update firmware, configure CAN IDs, etc.

    • CTRE Phoenix Tuner can be downloaded from (https://store.ctr-electronics.com/software/)

  • RevRobotics Hardware Client:

    • RevRobotics Hardware Client is a tool that is used to configure Rev Robotics motor controllers.

    • can be used to update firmware, configure CAN IDs, etc.

    • RevRobotics Hardware Client can be downloaded from (https://docs.revrobotics.com/rev-hardware-client/)