Getting Started

Tutorials → Getting Started

System Requirements

ROBOTC requires basic system specifications to run properly. The development environment is not processor intensive, but the interactive debugger may slow down computer performance on older machines. System Requirements: Intel® Pentium® processor or compatible, 800 MHz minimum Windows XP Professional or Home Edition with Service Pack 2 or greater 256MB of RAM minimum Up to 30MB of available hard disk space 1 available USB port Compatible Bluetooth adapter (optional) ROBOTC Virtual Worlds System Requirements: Intel® Core 2 Duo®/AMD® Athlon X2® or better processor Windows XP Home or Professional Edition with Service Pack 2 or greater, Windows Vista, Windows 7 2048 MB (2 GB) of RAM minimum Minimum 200MB free hard drive space NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS/ATI Radeon™ HD 3850 or better video card DirectX® 9.0 or DirectX® 10 For more information on ROBOTC's Virtual World program, see our Computer Requirements and Performance page. ROBOTC will not run natively in any other operating system other than Microsoft Windows. ROBOTC will run with a Virtualization client on a Apple Macintosh. ROBOTC has been tested with VMWare Fusion, Parallels Desktop, and Apple's Boot Camp. You will still need to download/install device drivers found on your purchased CD or on the ROBOTC website.

Downloading ROBOTC

Before we start programming in ROBOTC, we need to first download and install the client. This can be done by navigating to ROBOTC's website ( https://www.robotc.net) and selecting the 'Downloads' tab.

1) From the ROBOTC website, select the individual robotics platform you wish to program on. If you want to use multiple platforms or accidentally download the wrong version, you can manually activate and choose another platform thorugh the ROBOTC program. When you get to the correct platform page, click on the 'Download ROBOTC for X version x.xx' to start the download process:

2) At this point click the 'Save' button to start downloading ROBOTC. You may get a warning pop-up from either Windows, your antivirus program, or both. This is to warn you that some programs downloaded from the internet can be malicious and to use care before running them; click allow to start the download.

3) Once the program is done downloading, navigate to the Downloads folder on your computer and start the ROBOTC installer. You may have to right click on the installer and select run as administrator depending on individual computer restrictions.

4) Depending on which platform you are installing, ROBOTC may also install additional drivers unique to each platform. If for any reason the drivers are not downloaded and installed properly they can be downloaded and installed manually from the ROBOTC website.

Installing and Uninstalling ROBOTC

Installing

To install a fresh copy of ROBOTC, follow the steps below. Note that you do not need to install a new copy of ROBOTC to activate a different license or to upgrade to the newest version. 1.Right click on the ROBOTC installer and select "Run as Administrator". You must have Administrator access to install ROBOTC properly. You will be presented with the Installshield installer for ROBOTC. Click "Next" to proceed. 2. Before you can proceed, you must read over the accept the End User License Agreement. Click "I accept" and then the "Next" button to proceed. 3. Choose where you would like to install ROBOTC to. By default, ROBOTC is installed to your "Program Files" folder. Click "Next" to proceed. 4. The installer will ask you to confirm your settings. If everything looks correct, click "Install" to being the installation process. 5. The installer will begin copying files from the installer to your computer. Please wait until this is complete. 6. When the installation is complete, the install will inform you of this. Click "Finish" to complete your install. 7. Double click the "ROBOTC for Mindstorms" icon to launch ROBOTC.

Uninstalling

You must uninstall your previous version of ROBOTC before upgrading to the newest version of ROBOTC. To uninstall ROBOTC, follow these steps: 1. Open the Control Panel from your "Start Menu" 2. Inside of the Control Panel, select "Add or Remove Programs" 3. Navigate through the "Add or Remove Programs" list until you find your version of ROBOTC that you wish to uninstall. Press the "Remove button" 4. Windows will start the uninstall process. When the window below disappears and you are returned to the "Add or Remove Programs" list, ROBOTC has been successfully uninstalled.

Activate Online

To continue using ROBOTC past the 30 day trial period, you must purchase a ROBOTC license and then activate the license on each computer. To activate ROBOTC, you will need the License ID and Password that was sent to you during the purchase process. If you purchased a ROBOTC license online, the License ID and Password were sent to the email address specified. If you ordered the CD-ROM version of ROBOTC, the License ID and Password are printed on the CD label. If you are Activating the ROBOTC license on computers with internet access, follow the Activation instructions below. If you are activating the ROBOTC license on computers without internet access, skip to Activate by Web instructions. NOTE: ROBOTC must be activated on each individual computer. Follow these steps to activate on a computer with internet access: 1. Open ROBOTC and select "Activate ROBOTC" from the start-up prompt. 2. Select "Activate ROBOTC for MINDSTORMS Online" 3. Enter in your License ID and Password that you received via emaill. Click the "Continue" button to proceed. 4. ROBOTC will communicate with the activation server via the internet to verify your License ID and Password. 5. ROBOTC is activated and ready for use. Click Continue to use ROBOTC for MINDSTORMS.

Activate by Web

Follow these steps to activate on a computer without internet access: Note: You will need to use a separate computer with Internet access in step 4 at this activation process. You must repeat this process on each computer without internet access. 1. Open ROBOTC and select "Activate ROBOTC" from the menu. 2. Select "Activate by Web" 3. Two user codes will be displayed. Copy both of these down. Take these codes with you to a separate computer with Internet access. 4. At a separate computer with internet access, visit http://www.robotc.net/register. Enter your License ID and Password that you received via email and click "Next." 5. Enter User Code 1 and User Code 2 that you copied down in step 3. Click "Next" to proceed. 6. A Registration code will be displayed. Write this down and return to the original computer on which ROBOTC is installed. 7. Enter the Registration code from step 6 into the "Activation Code 1" field. Note: Leave Activation Code 2 blank. 8. ROBOTC will be activated and ready for use. Click Continue to use ROBOTC.

Select Platform Type

ROBOTC for MINDSTORMS has support for four different platforms: LEGO Mindstorms RCX LEGO Mindstorms NXT LEGO Mindstorms NXT + TETRIX Robot Algebra (NXT) Before you use ROBOTC, make sure to select which platform you are currently using. Changing Platform Type: Open the "Robot" menu in ROBOTC and hover your cursor over the "Platform Type" menu option. This will open up the platform select menu. Select the platform you wish you use with ROBOTC. You can change the platform type at any time.