Guides
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- Software Engineering 101 - Prep for Engineering Boldly AI Robotics Sprint
- A short, high-leverage set of free resources a student can use to warm on software engineering practices - prior to coming into office hours. 1. Terminal / Unix on macOSIf you do one thing, make it this command line crash course (interactive): • MDN – Command line crash course https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Command_line Great for understanding basic commands like ls, cd, mkdir, and getting the general “feel” of a terminal. Mac-specific overview• How to use Terminal on Mac – MacPaw https://macpaw.com/how-to/use-terminal-on-mac Helps connect what you see in Finder (folders, files) to what you see in Terminal (paths). 2. Git & GitHub BasicsTarget: 1–2 hours, even if you watch at 1.25x. Video: Git and GitHub for Beginners (YouTube)• freeCodeCamp – Git and GitHub for Beginners: Crash Course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGOj5yH7evk Covers the fundamentals: • What a repository is • What commits are • How pushing/pulling works • Basic GitHub workflow Optional reading companion • Git and GitHub for Beginners – Course Page https://www.classcentral.com/course/freecodecamp-git-and-github-for-beginners-crash-course-89437 A written overview of the same crash course, good for quick reference. 3. Cursor (So It Doesn’t Feel Mysterious)You do not need to master Cursor before the class, just enough to download it, know what it is and why we use it. Official Cursor docs• Cursor Documentation https://cursor.com/docs Skim: • Chat • Inline completions • Refactor/Rewrite Goal: get comfortable with the idea that Cursor is an AI-augmented code editor, not a totally new “thing” to be scared of. It is actually a fork of Microsofts VS-Code, so if you have used that or another text editor it should feel somewhat familiar, but with AI Chat capability and the ability for the AI to read and modify your code. Cursor in practice (examples)• Cursor AI: A Guide With 10 Practical Examples – DataCamp https://www.datacamp.com/tutorial/cursor-ai-code-editor Skim the first half to see how people actually use Cursor day-to-day (no need to understand everything). 4. ROS 2 “Mental Picture” (Concepts Only)Here the goal is understanding concepts, not installing anything: • Nodes • Topics • Messages • The idea of talker/listener ROS 2 tutorials homepage, we use the latest version of ROS 2 which is called "Kilted-Kaiju".• ROS 2 Tutorials – Kilted https://docs.ros.org/en/kilted/Tutorials.html Skim the top of the page and click into: • Getting started / beginner sections • Titles that mention running or using ROS 2 (not installing it) Basic ROS 2 concepts• Basic Concepts – ROS 2 Docs (Kilted) https://docs.ros.org/en/kilted/Concepts/Basic.html Covers: • Nodes • Topics • Messages • Discovery Read until your eyes glaze over, then stop. You’ll see all of this again live in class. Optional: ROS 2 crash course video• ROS 2: Understanding Nodes – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP83Yh1Oy9A Optional: Quick node/launch example• The Construct – ROS2 in 5 Minutes: Launch a ROS2 Node https://www.theconstruct.ai/ros2-5-mins-001-launch-ros2-node/ Short article + video on ros2 run, ros2 pkg list, and launching nodes. 5. “If You Only Have 2–3 Hours, Do This”1. Command line (30–45 min) • MDN command line crash course – focus on the basics (ls, cd, mkdir, rm). 2. Git/GitHub (60–90 min) • Watch the first 60–90 minutes of the freeCodeCamp “Git and GitHub for Beginners” crash course. 3. ROS 2 concepts (30–45 min) • Skim the ROS 2 Basic Concepts page to get a feel for nodes, topics, and messages. Everything else (Cursor docs, ROS2 crash course video, The Construct tutorial) is bonus XP if you feeling motivated before coming in for office hours / Day 0.
- Engineering Boldly – Day 0 Prep Guide
- For: FRC fabrication-focused students joining High School Engineering Boldly cohort Platform: macOS (with SSH access to Linux/ROS 2 robot or dev box) Non-negotiable outcomes by the end of the prep day: 1. Can navigate around in Terminal (cd, ls, pwd, mkdir, rm). 2. Can open a sandbox repo in Cursor, run a Python script, and change it. 3. Can do the basic git loop: status → add → commit → push. 4. Can SSH into a remote Linux machine (robot / dev box) and run a ROS 2 demo like talker/listener or a pre-made launch file. 5. Have a 1-page cheat sheet printed or saved. Proposed Day 0 Schedule (≈ 6 hours of focused work) 1. Terminal & Unix Basics on macOS (60–75 min)Goal: Terminal feels like a new—but friendly—tool. Open Terminal.app and work through: Where am I / what’s here?bashpwd # print working directory ls # list filesMove around & make stuffbashcd ~ # go to home mkdir dev_prep # make a folder cd dev_prep mkdir projects notes cd projects touch hello.txt lsView & editbashopen hello.txt # opens TextEditDelete (with respect!)bashrm hello.txt lsSlightly more advancedbashcd .. ls mv projects code_projects lsHistory & tab-complete• Up arrow = previous commands • Tab = auto-complete names Mini-mission: Create dev_prep/playground, make 3 text files, rename one, delete another. 2. Cursor + Python + GitHub Sandbox (90 min)Goal: You can open a project in Cursor, run a script, edit it, and commit/push. Prep (do in advance)• Create GitHub repo: engineering-boldly-day0-sandbox. • Add hello.py: bashprint("Hello from Engineering Boldly!")• Add README.md with 3–4 short tasks. • Ensure Git is installed: bashgit --versionClone the repobashcd ~/dev_prep git clone https://github.com/YOUR_ORG/engineering-boldly-day0-sandbox.git cd engineering-boldly-day0-sandbox ls• Repository = a folder that git is tracking. • Remote (GitHub) = cloud copy. Open in Cursor & run the scriptFrom the repo folder: bashcursor .In Cursor: • Open hello.py. • Run in the integrated terminal: bashpython3 hello.pyMini-mission: Change the print message to include your name, then run it again. 3. Git in One Hour (Beginner Mode) (60 min)Goal: One loop internalized: “edit → git status → git add . → git commit -m "..." → git push” After editing hello.py: bashgit status # see what changed git add hello.py # or: git add . git commit -m "Personalize hello script" git pushRefresh GitHub in a browser to see the change. Analogy: • add = putting parts in the “ready to weld” staging area. • commit = doing the weld and stamping this version. • push = sending that version to the team repository. Mini-mission: Add math_test.py: basha = 5 b = 7 print(a + b)4. Linux + SSH + ROS 2 Demo (90 min)Goal: Bridge from Mac dev → robot brain. Assumptions: • Pi or Ubuntu box ready with ROS 2 installed. SSH into the robot/dev boxOn your Mac: bashssh rcr@192.168.1.1 # or your hostname/IPOnce connected: bashpwd ls cd ~ lsBasic Linux flavorbashmkdir day0_test cd day0_test touch robot_notes.txt lsROS 2 “just run it” demo (recipe-driven)bashsource /opt/ros/kilted/setup.bash # or your setup script ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talkerIn a second SSH terminal: bashsource /opt/ros/kilted/setup.bash ros2 run demo_nodes_py listenerIn a third SSH terminal: bashsource /opt/ros/kilted/setup.bash ros2 node list ros2 topic list ros2 topic echo /chatterMap to FRC: • Node = a subsystem. • Topic = a data channel. • Message = the packet going over the channel. Mini-mission: • Start talker + listener. • Confirm /chatter with ros2 topic echo /chatter. • Then Ctrl-C everything cleanly. (If you have an RCR bringup launch file, you can substitute that here, but still end with node list/topic list.) 5. Wrap + Teach-Back + Cheat Sheet (30 min)You can teach back live: • Show: how to clone a repo. • Show: where you put code on the Mac. • Show: the git loop. • Show: how you'd SSH into the robot and start a ROS 2 demo. Day 0 Cheat SheetTerminal (Mac)• pwd – where am I? • ls – list files • cd folder_name – go into folder • cd .. – go up • mkdir name – make folder • rm file – delete file • open file.txt – open with default app Git (inside repo)• git status – what changed? • git add . – stage changes • git commit -m "message" – save snapshot • git push – upload to GitHub • git pull – download latest from GitHub Cursor• Open repo: cursor . (from terminal in repo folder) • Use sidebar to open files • Use built-in terminal to run: pythonpython3 file.pySSH to robot / Linux dev machine• ssh 192.168.1.1 (or your hostname/IP) • Then use the same commands: pwd, ls, cd. ROS 2 basics• source /opt/ros/kilted/setup.bash • ros2 node list – see running nodes • ros2 topic list – see topics • ros2 topic echo /chatter – see messages Demos: bashros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener