Installing Alchemist¶
Alchemist can be downloaded at https://github.com/Redux-Robotics/Alchemist/releases for Windows (.exe), Mac OS X (.dmg), and Linux (.appimage) and can be run directly.
The current version of Alchemist is 2023.0.1.
Setting up the Redux CANLink server¶
In order for Alchemist to connect to a robot, a project with the the ReduxLib vendordep needs to be deployed, and the Redux CANLink server needs to be started. To start the CANLink server, either instantiate any device class in the robot code or add one of the relevant snippets below to the robot’s initialization code:
Java
// Include this import at the beginning of the file
import com.reduxrobotics.canand.CanandEventLoop;
//...
// This will start Redux CANLink manually for Java
CanandEventLoop.getInstance();
C++
// Include this header at the beginning of the file
#include <redux/canand/CanandEventLoop.h>
//...
// This will start Redux CANLink manually for C++
redux::canand::EnsureCANLinkServer();
On successful CANLink initialization, the message:
[redux-canlink] Redux CANLink has started on port 7244.
will appear in the RioLog on startup.
Additionally, navigating to http://roborio-####-FRC.local:7244
where ####
is replaced with your team number should display:
____ __ ____ __ __ _
/ __ \___ ____/ /_ ___ __ / __ \____ / /_ ____ / /_(_)_________
/ /_/ / _ \/ __ / / / / |/_/ / /_/ / __ \/ __ \/ __ \/ __/ / ___/ ___/
/ _, _/ __/ /_/ / /_/ /> < / _, _/ /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / /__(__ )
/_/ |_|\___/\__,_/\__,_/_/|_| /_/ |_|\____/_.___/\____/\__/_/\___/____/
in your web browser.
Connecting to a robot¶
On first start, Alchemist will not have a default IP address set to connect to.
To connect to a robot’s CANLink server,
Navigate to the Settings tab in Alchemist
Enter either the appropriate team number or hostname under Enter IP Address or Team Number (such as
9999
orroboRIO-9999-FRC.local
)Click Connect to CANBus!
The UI should display Connected! on success.
For more details, see Connecting to a robot.
Changelog¶
2024.0.1¶
UI Overhaul: Segmented devices into their own pages and cleaned up layout
General stability and connection quality improvements
Added helpful tips if Alchemist fails to connect
Moved storage of downloaded/cached firmware to user AppData directory
Improved CAN ID conflict detection
2023.0.1¶
Initial release.