Software Tools

Git Installation and Configuration

To install git you will need to open the terminal and enter the following commands.

sudo apt install git

This command will install git from the APT tool usually installed in most linux distros by default. Once installed you will need to configure a few things. To do this run the following commands:

git config --global user.name "FirstName LastName"
git config --global user.email "email@email.com"

This should mostly setup whatever you need till the first time you push a repository to whichever Git distributor you are using. Then it will ask for a user name and password, generally we use GitHub which requires a Personal Access Token which you can generate under Settings -> Developer Settings -> and Personal Access Tokens. To ensure you don’t need to keep entering this on your computer you can run the following command

git config --global credential.helper store

This will store your access token with the local git so you don’t have to keep re-entering it.

Visual Studio Code Installation

To install vscode you can run the following command, though sometimes you have to download it from their website and run another command which is given after.

snap install code

If this does not work, go to the Visual Studio Code website and download the linux package. Then you can run the follwing command to install it.

cd Downloads && sudo dpkg -i <package_name.deb>

Note

Please change the package_name.deb to what ever your package is named.

This should be all you need to run everything that we have provided.

Byobu

Byobu is a useful tool when working with multiple terminals. It is recommended to get familiar with it or any other terminal multiplexer.

sudo apt install byobu

SolidWorks

To access the mechanical CAD files, you will need access to SolidWorks. For in department at MAE - UF, you can access this by visiting the area EML 2023 recommended or ask a PhD. student. For outside of the department, you can download a student version from the SolidWorks website.

Altium Designer

Altium Designer is a PCB design software that is used to design the PCBs for the project. It is a paid software, but UF provides it for free to students. You can download it from the UF Software website.

Overleaf

Overleaf will be used extensively to write reports and papers through the completion of this project. Please learn LaTeX to use this tool. Some resources are given below:

MATLAB

MATLAB is a programming language and computing environment that is a fairly simple and easy to understand. It can be used to complete highly complex calculations and process large data sets quickly. UF provides MATLAB for students through UFApps or you can buy a student license.