Crusty - WiFi Controlled Car with Raspberry Pi Pico W

Prerequisites, Setup, and Installation

Please follow the steps below to set up your development environment for Crusty Workshop. These steps can take time, so please complete them before the workshop begins. Use a computer with admin rights to install the necessary software. Firewalls or antivirus software may interfere with some installations, so if your company laptop has restrictions, consider using a personal device.

1. Install Rust

https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install

2. Install Node.js

https://nodejs.org/en/download

3. Install tools for building and flashing firmware to the Pico

We recommend using a debug probe for easier development, but it's optional. Our cars are all equipped with a debug probe.

If using debug probe, install probe-rs

https://probe.rs/docs/getting-started/installation

If not using debug probe, install elf2uf2-rs

cargo install elf2uf2-rs

4. Clone this repo

6. Install Tauri

Before running the GUI, ensure you have the required dependencies for Tauri https://tauri.app/start/prerequisites/chttps://tauri.app/

Install Tauri CLI cargo install tauri-cli or npm install -g @tauri-apps/cli

cargo install create-tauri-app --locked

npm install --global yarn

Starting with the car

When you have your hardware in front of you, you can proceed to set up the local network settings.

5. Configure Local Network Settings

Option 1. Using crate setup_wifi to automate finding a suitable ip address

cd setup_wifi
cargo run

When prompted, enter your WiFi network name (SSID) and WiFi password.
These will be securely written to your local configuration file and are required for the device to connect to your network. note: It must be the same wifi as your local machine is running on.

Option 2. Using script setup_wifi.rs with specific ip address and gateway

Run the setup_wifi.rs script in the project root to set a unique IP address for your device and a unique gateway, both within the same subnet as your computer.

Example:
If your PC has IP address 2.2.2.1 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0, and no other machine is using 2.2.2.2 or 2.2.2.3, you can use those as your device IP and gateway.

How to check:

• On Windows: Open a terminal and run ipconfig
• On Linux/macOS: Open a terminal and run ifconfig or ip addr
• To ensure the IPs are unused, run ping <chosen-ip> and ping <chosen-gateway>. If there is no reply, the address is available.

Set the IP and gateway: Linux/macOS

rustc setup_wifi.rs && ./setup_wifi 2.2.2.2 2.2.2.3

Windows

rustc setup_wifi.rs
./setup_wifi 2.2.2.2 2.2.2.3

(On Windows PowerShell, use .\setup_wifi.exe 2.2.2.2 2.2.2.3)

When prompted, enter your WiFi network name (SSID) and WiFi password.
These will be securely written to your local configuration file and are required for the device to connect to your network. note: It must be the same wifi as your local machine is running on.

7. Setup car

After configuring wifi, you can now flash the firmware to the Pico.

cd embassy/examples/rp

With debug probe

cargo run --bin crusty --release --target thumbv6m-none-eabi

Without debug probe

cargo build --bin crusty --release --target thumbv6m-none-eabi
elf2uf2-rs ./target/thumbv6m-none-eabi/release/crusty

this creates crusty.uf2 file in /crusty/embassy/examples/rp/target/thumbv6m-none-eabi/release

1. Hold the BOOTSEL button on your Pico and connect it to your computer via USB.
2. The Pico will appear as a USB drive.
3. Copy the extracted .uf2 file onto the Pico’s USB drive.
4. The Pico will reboot and run the new firmware.

8. Start dev environment and GUI

cd crusty-gui/src-tauri
yarn
yarn add --dev vite
yarn tauri dev

To get msi

yarn tauri build

Freenove car tutorial

hardware-instructions.pdf in root

Develop

In files:

• embassy/examples/rp/src/bin/crusty.rs
• embassy/examples/rp/src/car.rs

you can modify the code to change car behavior.

Embassy Framework

Our project uses the Embassy framework for embedded Rust development. Refer to the Embassy documentation for guidance on using the framework and its features.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during setup or development, please open an issue on the GitHub repository for assistance.