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Simulator Tour
You'll need: the simulator open (Get the simulator) · Time: 5 minutes
The window has four parts. Each has a number in the picture below.
(The log at the bottom is a panel too.)
Buttons are in groups:
- Run: ▶ Run (or 🔄 Restart while running), ⏹ Stop, ⏸ Pause / ▶ Resume, +10 ms, +100 ms, ⏩ Skip and Trigger idle.
- Speed: a slider and 1x, 10x, 100x buttons to make time go faster.
- Options: switches such as CircuitPython strict, Board speed, Servo speed limit, log_mode, Restart when firmware is saved and Model.
- On the right: 🗁 Firmware (which code to run), ⬆ Deploy (copy the code to the robot), ⌨ Shortcuts (the list of keys) and ⚙ View (panels, layouts, theme and size).
If the window is narrow, some groups fold into drop-down buttons, or a More menu. The buttons inside are the same.
Here Options has folded into a drop-down:
This is Lola. Drag with the mouse to turn around her, scroll to zoom. Click her to boop her!
Its small toolbar in the top-right corner has the camera buttons (Front, Side, Top, Eyes, Reset), Light, 📷 Screenshot, ⏺ Record and Overlays. See Camera, overlays and recording.
Each panel is a tab with a title. The ones you'll use most:
| Panel | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Motion (LIS3DH) | Poke her: Nudge, Hard shake, Boop, Tipped over, Rest. |
| Behaviours | One button per behaviour, to make her do it right now. |
| Log | Messages from the firmware and the simulator. |
| State | What she's doing right now, in words. |
| Audio | What sound is playing, and volume. |
The others, Scenarios, PCA9685, Board, Plot, Settings (settings.toml), Parts and Shortcuts, are explained on Speed, scenarios and panels.
Hidden a panel by mistake? Open ⚙ View and tick it again.
The left end shows the latest thing that happened, in words, such as Boop 1.0 g. Sound: noseBoops. Then whether it's running, the time, the speed, what Lola is doing and how much memory she's using.
Click Lola's head once. The status bar should say something like Boop 0.3 g and she flutters her wings. Next: Make her breathe, boop and more.
- A panel is missing. ⚙ View lists every panel with a tick. Or choose ⚙ View > Layouts > Reset layout.
- Everything is tiny or huge. Press Ctrl+0 to go back to Windows' text size, or Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- to change it.
- Clicking her turns the camera instead of booping. A drag turns the camera. Click without moving the mouse.
- Small cards in the bottom-right corner tell you about screenshots, reloads and errors. Click a red error card to jump to it in the Log.
- Every button has a tooltip that shows what it does and its key. All of them are also in the command palette (Ctrl+K).
- The status bar's behaviour is the one a Behaviours button started, or else the function a task is running (from the State panel), or else breathing.