Windows 10 IDE Setup

Note: See the first section Driver Station if you only need to operate an existing robot.

These setup instructions will allow you to write and deploy code from your Linux computer, as well as operate and talk to the robot and use the Phoenix Tuner for CTRE equipment.

Note: You might need to set up Windows Subsystem Linux for parts of this configuration to work. Open Powershell as an administrator, and run wsl --install if you do not have this already. See Microsoft’s Documentation for help.

Driver Station

Follow the instructions detailed here in the WPILib docs to set up the Driver Station. The process is essentially:

1. Uninstall old versions of the DS by opening Add or Remove Programs, finding NI Software, and choosing Uninstall
2. Install this year’s Game Tools, making sure to choose the right year
3. Follow the prompts. You will need to enter your team’s license during the installation

git

git is a Version Control Systems (VCS). It keeps track of file changes and versions, and it enables collaboration in programming teams. Throughout this guide, we will be using git on our local computer with Sourcetree as a GUI, and we will use GitHub for hosting our code in the cloud.

1. Create a free GitHub account
2. Install git on your computer. During installation, select Override default branch name to main (read more here about this decision). Leave all other settings as default

Sourcetree

git itself is a command line program, which means you have to use a Windows CMD shell or macOS/Linux Bash shell to access it. Using the command line might look something like this:

git clone https://github.com/JHS-Viking-Robotics/Java-Hello-World.git
git add *
git commit -m "Add some files"
git push

However, git is sometimes tricky to use and most people are not comfortable on a command line. The company Atlassian made a really neat GUI for git called Sourcetree which we will use instead.

1. Download and run the installer for Sourcetree on your computer
2. Skip Bitbucket registration
3. Uncheck Mercurial download (we already have git installed)
4. Enter the name and email address you used for GitHub
5. Open Git Bash from the Windows start menu, and paste in the following:

cd \
&& cat << EOF > ./.gitmessage.txt
# Subject line, try to keep under 50 characters
#
# Why is this commit necessary?
#
# How does this commit fix said problem?
#
# Bullet points are fine for extra paragraphs
# - This is a point
# - Here's another
#
# Address any issues, articles, projects, etc.
# Resolves: #123
# See also: #456, #789
EOF
git config --global commit.template ./.gitmessage.txt \
&& exit

WPI Library

We now have git and Sourcetree installed. We need to install the WPI Library, which is the official codebase for FRC projects (read more on the official docs). This installation will come with a copy of Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code pre-configured with Java, Gradle, Maven, and other tools for Java development.

1. Go to the WPILib GitHub page, scroll down, and download the newest installer labeled WPILib_Windows64-<VERSION>.iso
2. Right click the .iso file, choose Mount, and launch the WPILibInstaller.exe installer
3. Choose Download VS Code for Single Install and follow the rest of the instructions

CTRE Phoenix Library

The final piece of software to install is the Phoenix Library from Cross The Road Electronics. This library allows us to easily integrate CTRE hardware like Talon SRX motor controllers or Pigeon IMU’s into our code. While we could do all of these things with just the WPI Library, it is much simpler and recommended to use the official Phoenix Library.

1. Go to the CTRE GitHub page and download the newest installer labeled CTRE_Phoenix_Framework_<VERSION>.exe
2. Run the installer, and make sure that Phoenix Tuner and C++/Java are selected

Next Steps

You should now have Git, Sourcetree, the WPI Library, and the CTRE Phoenix Library installed on your computer.

Head over to the next section Learn Java to start learning how to use these tools.