Robotdog Movement Setup Guide

This guide provides instructions to set up the development environment for the Robotdog Movement project using Raspberrypi 5.

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Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure you have the following installed on your Raspberrypi 5:

• Python (suggest version: 3.12.7) ( Some packages don't work on python 3.13 or later version )
• Git

Note: Note: If not using Raspberry Pi 5, some hardware-related functions may not work properly, such as the Servo, Camera Module, and Gyroscope Module. In this case, only the .ipynb files in the calculation/ folder can be used to demonstrate the computation process, while other hardware-related functionalities may not function as expected.

( A Linux OS is recommended )

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Steps to Set Up

1. System Setup

Update System Software

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install System packages

sudo apt install libcamera-dev python3-picamera2

Enable I2C Connection

sudo raspi-config

Find i2c-interface and choose 'Enable', then restart to apply setting

sudo reboot

2. Clone the Repository and Create a Virtual Environment

Clone the project from the Git repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/tjjd4/robotdog-movement.git
cd robotdog-movement

On macOS/Linux:

Need system site packages for camera modules ( picamera2 )

python -m venv --system-site-packages .venv

Once activated, your terminal prompt should display the virtual environment name, e.g., (.venv).

Set Up PYTHONPATH

Modify the venv/bin/activate file to include the project root in PYTHONPATH. Add the following lines after export PATH:

...
export PATH

# Add the commands bellow
PYTHONPATH="$VIRTUAL_ENV:$PYTHONPATH"
export PYTHONPATH

...

re-activate virtual environment!

3. Install Dependencies

Install the required Python packages using the requirements.txt file:

source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

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Run

To verify everything is working:

1. Activate the virtual environment:

   source .venv/bin/activate

2. Run a script (e.g., test_kinematics.py) to ensure no errors occur:

   python test/test_kinematics.py

If everything is configured correctly, the script should execute without issues.

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Notes

• Ensure you activate the virtual environment in every new terminal session before running the scripts.
• If additional dependencies are added to requirements.txt, re-run pip install -r requirements.txt to install them.
• If PYTHONPATH not set which lead to ModuleNotFoundError, enter export PYTHONPATH=$(pwd) to set the PYTHONPATH to project_root (Need to cd to repo).