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Getting Started with Robot Development

WPILib

InstallationWPILib guide:has https://docs.wpilib.org/en/stable/docs/zero-to-robot/step-2/wpilib-setup.htmltheir own guide for setting up your development environment, however since their guide is designed for everybody across FRC, it has a lot of information not relevant to our team. Following the guide below should get you set up for developing robot programs for Yeti. If you run into any issues in your set up, please leave a comment below with any improvements or questions you have, and check out the WPILib guide as it may have the solution to your problem.

    NOTE: 

  1. This guide is for Windows, macOS, and Linux computers. You will NOT be able to write robot programs with ChromeOS.

    Download the installer for the latest version from the https://github.com/wpilibsuite/allwpilib/releases/tag/v2023.4.3WPILib Github.

  2. Scroll down to assets and download the appropriate versioninstaller for your operating systemsystem.

    1. IfRead this if you haveuse a mac

      Before installing WPILib, mac users will need to install XCode Command Line Tools. These are tools developed by Apple for C++ development which WPILib requires to run. To do so, open the Terminal app on your mac and run the following command

      xcode-select --install

      Next, you need to install the appropriate installer for the processor your mac uses, either an Intel or M series (arm64) chip. If you are unsure ifwhich youyour shouldmac downloaduses, do the arm64following:

      or intel version,
      1. Click the apple logo menu in the top left of your screen
        2. and click
      2. Click about this mac
      3. If it says you have an Apple M1/M2/etc. chip, download the arm64 installer. otherwise download the intelIntel version
      1. Open the file you downloaded
      2. Run the installerWPILibInstaller
      3. Click startStart
      4. Choose the  "Tools Only"Only installation method. DO NOT CHOOSE EVERYTHING
      5. You should now have WPILib installer
      Why Tools Only instead of Everything?

      The Tools Only option will install all the development tools you need to code an FRC robot. The way you actually use those tools to write your code is up to you.

      Selecting Everything will install all the tools in addition to a dedicated instance of VS Code, a very popular code editor that can be used to write just about any kind of program. If you already have VS Code installed, it will still install a new version. This is one reason I do not recommend this path, as it can be confusing what version of VS Code you are using.

      The other reason is because here on Yeti, we use IntelliJ to write our robot code. This is because IntelliJ is specifically designed for developing Java programs, and so has many useful features that VS Code lacks out of the box. Additionally, I have found that Java development in VS Code is simply much buggier because it is not specifically designed for it while IntelliJ is.

      Install for this User or Install for all Users? (doesn't apply to mac)

      If you share your computer with anyone else, for example a parent, you should install for this user. If your computer is just yours, you should install for all users. The reason being is that installing for all users requires administrator privileges, which you may not have if this is not your computer. The difference does not matter too much, but installing for all users may create less problems in the future in terms of other software dependencies or updates.

      IntelliJ

      1. Download IntelliJ communityCommunity editionEdition using(NOT the appropriate installer fromUltimate) here: https://github.www.jetbrains.com/wpilibsuite/allwpilib/releases/tag/v2023.4.3idea/download
      2. Run the installer and install IntelliJ
      3. Open IntelliJ and open settings
      4. Go toSelect the plugin tab and search FRC. Make sure you are inon the Marketplaceleft
      5. Select the marketplace tab andat notthe Installed.top
      6. InstallSearch and install the FRC plugin

      Once you have this set up, download the 2022 robot project from GitHub. It would be best to clone the repository,repository using git, but if you are unsure of how to do this, you can just click the green Code button and download it as a zip.

      Open the project in IntelliJ. You may have some errors about a missing JDK. You should be able to download this through IntelliJ, but it's ok for now if you can't.

      Leave a comment down below if you have any questions or run into any problems with this guide!

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