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Start up guide

Dimitris Platis edited this page Jan 18, 2016 · 5 revisions

Introduction

In this page you will find all the necessary resources and information that will enable you to start developing and working with the Smartcar sensors. The official Arduino - Getting started page is a portal that should solve all your questions regarding the installation of all software needed in order to get you going. Below, you can find some more targeted details, based on needs of the library.

##Contents

Install Arduino IDE

The Arduino IDE is an open source software that allows the user to easily program the various Arduino boards. There are different ways to upload code into the board, however they are not suggested for beginners and their use will not be covered by this page. The Arduino IDE runs on all major platforms and has a huge developer support.

Windows

Check this very well written guide by the official Arduino website: Getting Started with Arduino on Windows. As of Arduino IDE 1.6.0 the board drivers for Windows and Mac come signed, so the installation should be even more seamless.

Macintosh

Download the latest build from the official Downloads page. It should work out of the box. Otherwise, you can always follow the official guide: Getting Started with Arduino on Mac OS X. As of Arduino IDE 1.6.0 the board drivers for Windows and Mac come signed, so the installation should be even more seamless.

Linux (Ubuntu)

Download the latest build from the official Downloads page. It should work out of the box. Otherwise, you can always follow the official guide: Install Arduino on Ubuntu Linux. If Arduino IDE can run only as root, then most likely you are not added in the dialout group. First, check if that's really the issue, by typing id in the command terminal. If the (dialout) group is nowhere to be found, then enter the following in the command terminal sudo usermod -a -G dialout yourUsername, replacing your username accordingly. If you still have problems, try to follow this guide.

Get libraries

In order to start working with the Smartcar, you will need the Smartcar shield library itself, the Wire and the Servo library that are included with Arduino IDE. The installation method for the external library is very eloquently illustrated in the Arduino - Libraries guide.

The recommended way of installing the Smartcar shield library, is through the library manager. In the Arduino IDE open the library manager: Sketch → Include library → Manage libraries

In the search field, fill in the name of the library you want to install (i.e. Smartcar shield) and click on install. Whenever a new release is available, you will receive a notification through your IDE to update.

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