Setup Your Local Machine 🖥️

The purpose of this guide is to help onboard new programmers by installing the necessary software on their local machine. By the end, you’ll have everything needed to build and deploy robot code, run devcontainers, and collaborate with the team.

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Prerequisites

• Windows 11 laptop
• Internet access
• Admin privileges
• Basic command line knowledge
• ~20 minutes

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1. Install VS Code

Why VS Code?

VS Code is beginner-friendly, supports Dev Containers, and has Git built in — making it the perfect editor for our team.

1. Download from code.visualstudio.com.
2. Select the installer for Windows x64.
3. Run the installer from File Explorer and follow the prompts.
4. Once installed, open VS Code and sign in with a GitHub or Microsoft account (optional but recommended).

Tip

Install the Remote Development and Docker extensions when prompted.

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2. Install NI Game Tools

These tools are required to communicate with the roboRIO.

1. Download the latest NI FRC Game Tools from the official FIRST link: 👉 NI Game Tools Download
2. Run the installer and accept defaults.
3. Restart your computer after installation.

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3. Install WPILib

WPILib is the core library and tooling for FRC robot programming.

1. Go to the official releases: 👉 WPILib GitHub Releases
2. Download the latest WPILib Installer for Windows.
3. Run the installer. It will:
   • Install VS Code FRC extensions
   • Install the RoboRIO imaging tool
   • Set up Gradle for robot builds

Important

Always use the team’s agreed WPILib version during build season. Different versions can cause build errors.

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4. Install Python

Some of our tools and scripts rely on Python.

1. Download Python from python.org/downloads.
2. Choose the latest Python 3.x (Windows installer).
3. Run the installer and check the box “Add Python to PATH”.
4. Verify installation:

python --version
pip --version

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5. Install Docker Desktop

Docker lets us run Dev Containers for a consistent environment across all machines.

1. Download from Docker Desktop for Windows.
2. Run the installer, accept defaults.
3. Enable WSL 2 backend when prompted.
4. Restart your computer.
5. Verify Docker is running from the system tray.

Check Docker works:

docker --version

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6. Install WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

WSL provides a Linux environment on Windows. This is what Dev Containers use.

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator.
2. Run:

wsl --install

3. This installs Ubuntu by default. Restart when prompted.
4. After reboot, set a username/password for your Ubuntu environment.
5. Update Ubuntu packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

6. Verify:

wsl --list --verbose

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7. Test Dev Containers in VS Code

1. Open VS Code.

2. Install the Dev Containers extension (if not already installed).

   • Open the VSCode Extension menu (Ctrl+Shift+X)
   • Search for Dev Containers
   • Click Install

3. Clone a test repo (like our docs site):

Note

Ensure you followed the steps in the Git Setup guide to install Git on your system

git clone https://github.com/BC-Robotics-4504/bcr-docs

cd bcr-docs

4. When VS Code prompts “Reopen in Container”, click it.
5. The container should build and open inside VS Code.

✅ Success

If you reach this point, your machine is fully set up for FRC development. You can now contribute to robot code, docs, or CAD tooling using the same environment as everyone else.