Developer Setup Guide

Goal: Clone the RBQ repository, set up the development environment, and launch the simulator so you can test robot behavior before running on hardware.

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REQUIRED READING

Familiarize yourself with the safety guidelines before testing on the real robot: General Safety Guidelines.

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 (x86-64)
CPU	Intel Core i7 12th Gen or equivalent
RAM	16 GB or more
Storage	25 GB free space
Control	Keyboard (W/A/S/D/Q/E/R/F, 1–5) or Logitech F710 gamepad

Step 1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/RainbowRobotics/RBQ.git
cd RBQ

Step 2. Install Dependencies

bash scripts/setup.bash

This installs all required system libraries and build tools for the RBQ stack.

Step 3. Build

# Build all motion + simulation modules
bash scripts/build.bash --motion

# Include vision modules
bash scripts/build.bash --motion --vision

Build outputs are placed in build/ and bin/.

Step 4. Launch the Simulator

Start the RBQ control stack, MuJoCo physics simulator, and RBQGUI together:

bash scripts/sim.bash          # motion only
bash scripts/sim.bash --vision # motion + vision sensors

If prompted, enter your user password in the newly opened terminal windows.

Step 5. Connect and Initialize in RBQGUI

1. In RBQGUI, click Connect — the indicator changes to Simulator Connected (blue).
2. Click Auto Start Robot — all indicators turn green when ready.
3. In the Walk tab, press Stance (or keyboard 2) to stand the robot up.

The robot is now ready to receive commands. Refer to Basic Motion Command for joystick and gait control.

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NOTE

In simulation, only Control Start turns green. On the real robot, all three startup indicators (Motor Check / Initialize Pose / Control Start) turn green when ready.

Step 6. Run on the Real Robot

When you are ready to test on hardware:

1. Place the robot in the correct initial pose.
2. Connect your development PC to the robot Wi-Fi (RBQ_xxxx).
3. Launch the GUI:

./bin/GUI

4. Click Connect → Auto Start Robot → Stance.

It is strongly recommended to verify all behaviors in simulation before testing on the real robot.

Step 7. Deploy to the Robot

To push new binaries to the robot over SSH:

bash scripts/deploy.bash --device rbq@<robot-ip>

After deployment completes, restart the robot (power off, then on) to load the new binaries.

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CAUTION

Always restart the robot after deployment. Running a mismatched binary/script combination can cause unexpected behavior.

Detailed Reference

Topic	Link
Full GUI walkthrough	Developers Guide (Software)
GUI panel details	GUI Introduction
Simulation environment	MuJoCo Simulation
Concepts & architecture	Concept