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Getting started

This guide will cover the basic steps to get started with the AICA framework, from installation to application examples.

caution

The AICA framework is being distributed in a limited beta program. Installation, configuration and run-time instructions are subject to breaking changes in the near future. We will endeavour to keep this documentation up-to-date with the latest versions. In case of doubt, contact support@aica.tech for help.

Compatibility​

The AICA framework is officially supported on Ubuntu and macOS for both amd64 and arm64 architectures.

The framework itself runs in a Docker container based on Ubuntu 22.04. Thanks to containerization, the majority of the installation and usage steps in this guide will be the same for macOS or Ubuntu host platforms unless otherwise indicated.

info

There are some limitations with Docker on macOS compared to Docker on Ubuntu, which can affect advanced usage. For the best developer experience, use an Ubuntu 22.04 host machine.

Network sharing​

While it is possible to grant a container access to the full host network on Ubuntu, sharing a network between a Mac host and one or more containers requires slightly more work. This can affect connections to peripheral network devices such as robots or sensors, or to a wider ROS network, or to other containers or processes on the host.

Display sharing​

Graphical user interfaces and application windows opened inside a container will fail to open and render on a Mac host without explicit display forwarding. Further, support for OpenGL rendering is limited on macOS, which affects certain 3D programs and simulators commonly used in robotics. For example, opening an RViz window in the container on a Mac host will fail, while it will work natively on an Ubuntu host.

Real-time capabilities​

To fully leverage the real-time capabilities of AICA controllers, the host machine needs a configured real-time kernel. This is currently possible with the Ubuntu Pro 22.04 real-time kernel or the PREEMPT_RT kernel patch on standard Ubuntu, but not possible on macOS.