[Question] Getting Started Documentation for Robot Inventor?

[johnscary-ev3]

Question
Is there documentation for how to get started using Pybricks with the Robot Inventor?

Context
Seems like it is being used to do projects by some, however the Docs don't show how to get going.

Screenshots
There is a saying that a picture is worth a 1000 words. Screenshots really help to identify and solve problems.

[laurensvalk]

NOTE: This discussion is outdated.

Please see #591 for updated instructions

---

Thanks for asking John! You're right, we're quite far along with Pybricks for the Inventor Hub and the Prime Hub. The documentation currently says coming soon, because it is still a bit tricky for beginning users. But since you are asking here, this is a good opportunity to show the more curious users how to get started already.

In the mean time, we're working to make it stable and easy for everyone else too.

Overview

The installation consists of three steps:

1. Running a script on the hub using the official app. This installs the Pybricks firmware alongside the original.
2. Starting Pybricks by holding the right button when you turn it on.
3. Running scripts with Pybricks code.
4. (Optional) Installing a Python package on your computer, so you can run programs.

1: Installing the firmware

1. Go to https://install.pybricks.com/ and follow the provided instructions.
2. Wait for the installation to complete. The hub lights indicate installation progress.
3. Then it reboots and you will see the Bluetooth light blink. Keep waiting, you're almost done. Finally, the hub boots again and you will see the standard firmware as if nothing happened. Success!

2: Starting Pybricks

1. Turn off the hub and unplug USB
2. Press and hold the center button to start Pybricks. If the status light is blinking blue, you are running Pybricks.

A regular (short) press will start the stock firmware instead.

NOTE: For the moment, the battery does not automatically charge while running Pybricks. So, make sure to reboot the hub when you are done using it, so it can charge the battery using the standard firmware.

3: Running scripts

1. Install Google Chrome.
2. Go to Pybricks Code. This should be fairly self-explanatory. It's the same for all hubs. We will be adding more documentation and guides as we go along.

4 (Optional) Installing the Pybricksdev command line tool to download and run programs locally

1. Install Git if you don't have it already.
2. Install Pybricksdev
3. On success, you can run programs like this:

poetry run pybricksdev run ble "Pybricks Hub" demo/shortdemo.py

4. If you open the pybricksdev folder in Visual Studio Code, you can easily run the current file with the Run BLE configuration. Make sure the official Python extension is installed.

5 (Optional) Recovery

A regular firmware update using the official app will remove Pybricks. If this does not work, or if something else does not work, you can recover to the official firmware using this page.

[BertLindeman]

@laurensvalk Maybe for the final getting started text on:

1: Installing the firmware
...
If you have the SPIKE Prime Hub (yellow), open the install_pybricks.llsp using the official app.
If you have the Robot Inventor Hub (teal green), open the install_pybricks.lms using the official app.

Maybe trivial, but as I have both hubs, I started using the "other" hub.
Add the name of the apps: [editted from "hubs"]

If you have the SPIKE Prime Hub (yellow), open the install_pybricks.llsp using the official Spike app.
If you have the Robot Inventor Hub (teal green), open the install_pybricks.lms using the official Robot Inventor app.

[laurensvalk]

Done, thanks @BertLindeman ! Looking forward to hear how it goes.

[BertLindeman]

@laurensvalk Sure do too.
Thanks

[johnscary-ev3]

Thanks for all the detailed info on how to get going with Pybricks on the Robot Inventor.
I will give it a try.
Good to hear I can use Visual Studio Code also since I enjoyed using that with the EV3.
Can use Git and GitHub and the nice editor also.

[johnscary-ev3]

Got stuck on install of pybricksdev.
Managed to get the pybrickdev package, find and install "poetry" ver 1.1.4, and get python 3.8,
but getting this error below when doing the "poetry install" step.
The directory C:/Users/John/AppData/Local/pypoetry/ does not seem to exist.
Any ideas?

PS C:\Users\John\pybricksdev> poetry install
Installing dependencies from lock file

Package operations: 70 installs, 0 updates, 0 removals

• Installing ipython-genutils (0.2.0)

EnvCommandError

Command C:\Users\John\pybricksdev.venv\Scripts\pip.exe install --no-deps file:///C:/Users/John/AppData/Local/pypoetry/Cache/artifacts/e6/8e/a3/8f37e14310c0072b3fcc4240490bcb42630aa695d069aee89953ebd9f8/ipython_genutils-0.2.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl errored with the following return code 1, and output:
Processing c:\users\john\appdata\local\pypoetry\cache\artifacts\e6\8e\a3\8f37e14310c0072b3fcc4240490bcb42630aa695d069aee89953ebd9f8\ipython_genutils-0.2.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
ERROR: Could not install packages due to an EnvironmentError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\artifacts\e6\8e\a3\8f37e14310c0072b3fcc4240490bcb42630aa695d069aee89953ebd9f8\ipython_genutils-0.2.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl'

at ~.poetry\lib\poetry\utils\env.py:1074 in run
1070│ output = subprocess.check_output(
1071│ cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, **kwargs
1072│ )
1073│ except CalledProcessError as e:
→ 1074│ raise EnvCommandError(e, input=input)
1075│
1076│ return decode(output)
1077│
1078│ def execute(self, bin, *args, **kwargs):

PS C:\Users\John\pybricksdev> poetry --version
Poetry version 1.1.4
PS C:\Users\John\pybricksdev>

[BertLindeman]

Just to report install on Linux Mint 20 Ulyana was successful.
As I do not want to dive in the poetry configuration and want to run programs in different directories made a small BASH script: runpybricks.sh.

#!/bin/bash -u
#
# run primehub or inventorhub on USB
#

parm1="${1:-}"
parms="${*}"
# use default program if none is given:
if [ "${parms}" = "" ]; then
    parm1="/home/bert/py/pybricks/tools/show_firmware_version.py"
fi

# take the complete path also if the parm is a relative path
parm1="`realpath ${parm1}`"

# ignore the first parm
shift
parm_rest="$*"

set -x

# switch to the install location of the tools
cd /home/bert/Downloads/pybricksdev/pybricksdev
# poetry run pybricksdev run usb "Pybricks Hub" /home/bert/py/pybricks/${parms}
poetry run pybricksdev run usb "Pybricks Hub" ${parm1} ${parm_rest}

So I can "runpybricks.sh" in any directory.

@laurens If (when ;-) ) I find issues while running this way, should I create a separate issue for them or do you want them added here?
Assuming a new issue, now I re-read this.

Thanks for all the fun, It's great.
Bert

[laurensvalk]

Sounds good @BertLindeman! Yes, feel free to create new issues as you find them.

Issues with the hub/motors/sensors are probably the most relevant, since Pybricksdev is only a temporary development tool.

We will probably keep using the llsp/lms project for the firmware installation, so that’s another one where bug reports are quite welcome. If we can, we’ll possibly run it from Pybricks Code directly so you don’t have to switch apps (and so you don’t need windows or Mac).

[Alitai12]

Got stuck on install of pybricksdev.
Managed to get the pybrickdev package, find and install "poetry" ver 1.1.4, and get python 3.8,
but getting this error below when doing the "poetry install" step.
The directory C:/Users/John/AppData/Local/pypoetry/ does not seem to exist.
Any ideas?

PS C:\Users\John\pybricksdev> poetry install
Installing dependencies from lock file

Package operations: 70 installs, 0 updates, 0 removals

• Installing ipython-genutils (0.2.0)

EnvCommandError

Command C:\Users\John\pybricksdev.venv\Scripts\pip.exe install --no-deps file:///C:/Users/John/AppData/Local/pypoetry/Cache/artifacts/e6/8e/a3/8f37e14310c0072b3fcc4240490bcb42630aa695d069aee89953ebd9f8/ipython_genutils-0.2.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl errored with the following return code 1, and output:
Processing c:\users\john\appdata\local\pypoetry\cache\artifacts\e6\8e\a3\8f37e14310c0072b3fcc4240490bcb42630aa695d069aee89953ebd9f8\ipython_genutils-0.2.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
ERROR: Could not install packages due to an EnvironmentError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache\artifacts\e6\8e\a3\8f37e14310c0072b3fcc4240490bcb42630aa695d069aee89953ebd9f8\ipython_genutils-0.2.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl'

at ~.poetry\lib\poetry\utils\env.py:1074 in run 1070│ output = subprocess.check_output( 1071│ cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, **kwargs 1072│ ) 1073│ except CalledProcessError as e: → 1074│ raise EnvCommandError(e, input=input)
1075│
1076│ return decode(output)
1077│
1078│ def execute(self, bin, *args, **kwargs):

PS C:\Users\John\pybricksdev> poetry --version
Poetry version 1.1.4
PS C:\Users\John\pybricksdev>

What does "poetry config --list" say?
For me: cache-dir = "C:\Users\Alitai\AppData\Local\pypoetry\Cache"

[laurensvalk]

@johnscary-ev3 , could you try removing the .venv folder and the poetry.lock file and running poetry install again?

[Alitai12]

I'm stuck with this message (on 2 clients): "Python 3.8.2 and poetry 1.1.4"

Creating virtualenv pybricksdev in C:\Users\Alitai\Downloads\pybricksdev-master\.venv
Installing dependencies from lock file

  FileNotFoundError

  [WinError 2] The system cannot find the specified file

  at c:\users\alitai\appdata\local\programs\python\python38\lib\subprocess.py:1307 in _execute_child
      1303│             sys.audit("subprocess.Popen", executable, args, cwd, env)
      1304│
      1305│             # Start the process
      1306│             try:
    → 1307│                 hp, ht, pid, tid = _winapi.CreateProcess(executable, args,
      1308│                                          # no special security
      1309│                                          None, None,
      1310│                                          int(not close_fds),
      1311│                                          creationflags,```