Overview#

Thunder cRIO Tools is primarily a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE that enables easy compilation and deployment of C++ programs to the NI cRIO controller for use in FRC-related activities. The plug-in has been tested to operate alongside the new WPILib plug-ins for C++ development on the new NI roboRIO, so you can easily develop for both controllers in one Eclipse environment. The sections below detail how to install and use the Eclipse plug-in for cRIO C++ development, as well as how to set up (image) the cRIO for use and how to set up the FRC driver station software to interface with the cRIO controller.

Installation#

System Requirements#

Thunder cRIO Tools should work on any Windows-based PC capable of running Eclipse. Linux and other OSs are not supported at this time because Eclipse already supports cross-compilation on most UNIX-like OS's as-is.

Thunder cRIO Tools should produce binaries that work with both the 4-slot cRIO-FRCII and the older 8-slot cRIO-FRC (though 8-slot support has not yet been tested - we'd love to hear your experiences!)

Installing the Toolchain#

Thunder cRIO Tools makes use of an external toolchain to compile your C++ programs to binary form. This toolchain needs to be downloaded and installed separately:

1. Download the current version of the http://firstforge.wpi.edu/sf/projects/c--11_toochain C++11 Toolchain from their http://firstforge.wpi.edu/sf/frs/do/listReleases/projects.c--11_toochain/frs.windows_installers File Releases page. The most recent version tested with Thunder cRIO Tools was "Beta 1".
2. Install the C++11 Toolchain by executing the downloaded installer. The installer requires no user interaction other than accepting the license.

Installing Eclipse#

Thunder cRIO Tools runs as a plug-in in the Eclipse IDE. It is intended to use in an Eclipse installation that has been set up for C++ development with current-generation roboRIO controllers, so if you have an installation of Eclipse already working for roboRIO development you can skip this section and move on to installing the plug-in itself. If you do not presently have an Eclipse installation, you can follow the very detailed instructions provided by FIRST for current roboRIO development. This will yield an Eclipse installation you can use with both current roboRIO development plug-ins and Thunder cRIO Tools for legacy cRIO development. Here's a very short and abbreviated set of instructions as an alternative to the detailed instructions from FIRST which you can use instead if you like:

1. Install a Java JDK from Oracle if you do not have one: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html - Java is needed even though we are doing C++ development because Eclipse itself is a Java program. The current version of JDK 8 is recommended. Be sure to get the JDK and not the JRE. You can use x86 or x64 if you have a 64-bit Windows system; use x86 if you have a 32-bit system or are unsure.
2. Download Eclipse from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ Eclipse "Luna" (version 4.4) is the latest version of Eclipse as of this writing and is the one Thunder cRIO Tools was developed for. Be certain to get the bundle for C/C++ Development!!! This is named "Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers" on their site. There is a choice of 32-bit and 64-bit downloads: The one you should choose depends on what version of the JDK you installed in the prior step:
   • If you installed the x86 version of the JDK, get the 32-bit Eclipse installer.
   • If you installed the x64 version of the JDK, get the 64-bit Eclipse installer.
   • In either case, we repeat: be certain to get the Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers bundle!!
3. Eclipse comes bundled as a simple .zip archive. To install it, simply extract the ZIP file to some location on your computer. FIRST's instructions recommend the Windows Program Files folder, but you can use whatever location you like. You will run Eclipse directly from this location and may wish to create a shortcut in a more convenient location, such as on your desktop.

Installing Thunder cRIO Tools Plugin#

This step actually installed the Thunder cRIO Tools Plugin into your copy of Eclipse. Remember the toolchain installation is required for the plug-in to function so be sure to have #section-HomePage-InstallingTheToolchain first!

1. Launch Eclipse
2. Click Help, then click