03. Project Workspace Instructions

Running and submitting the Model Predictive Control (MPC) Project in workspaces

MPC project workspace

This workspace is designed to be a simple, easy to use environment in which you can code and run the MPC project. The project repo is already included so there is no need of downloading the project repo.
For tips on workspaces use, please review the Workspaces lesson in Term 1.

Accessing and using the workspace

Go to the workspace in the next lesson. You will be asked if you want to use a GPU-enabled workspace.
Click YES to run in GPU-enabled mode only if you:

  • want to test your performance in the simulator

Click NO to run in CPU-only mode if you:

  • Want to code your solution on the text editor.

Simulator

To run the simulator click on the button ** Simulator ** on the bottom right, then go to the newly opened tab in your browser and double-click on the simulator icon in the desktop (you may need to open the terminal within this new desktop for it to show up the first time). This will open the simulator's configuration window, finally, run and test your code or gather data.

Note: If you get an error when clicking on the Simulator button, please check that you have enabled the GPU.

Project submission when using the workspace

To submit your project, just click the button SUBMIT PROJECT and follow the instructions to submit!

Things to keep in mind

  • If you leave your workspace unattended, it will time out and need to be refreshed. Your most recent work will be restored, but the list of open files or any running shell sessions will not be restored.

Common Issues

  • "No VNC" or "Service is not running" error when launching simulator - this is related to either A) not having the workspace GPU enabled (the simulator needs a GPU to run), or B) the web browser being used. Safari is likely to produce this error, while Chrome should run the simulator fine.

  • "No session for PID" error when launching simulator - when the desktop simulator is opened, sometimes a "PID error" window will appear. This error does not impact the simulator itself and can be safely ignored or click OK, it is harmless.

  • Missing simulator icon - the simulator icon may fail to appear after a short wait within the Linux Desktop. If this is the case, click on the Terminal icon in the Desktop, and the simulator icon will typically appear. Please note that you still will use the actual Terminal within the primary workspace, and not the one in the Desktop.

Commit to GitHub

Students are highly encouraged to commit their project to a GitHub repo. To do this, you must change the upstream of the current repository and add your credentials. We have supplied a bash script to help you do this. Please open up a terminal, navigate to the project repository, and enter: ./set_git.sh, then follow the prompts. This will set the upstream remote to your own repository and add your email and username to the git configuration. At this time we are not configuring passwords, so you will need to enter your username and password for each push. Since credentials are not persistent, it will be necessary to run this script each time you open, refresh, or reset the workspace.

Using GitHub and Creating Effective READMEs

If you are unfamiliar with GitHub , Udacity has a brief GitHub tutorial to get you started. Udacity also provides a more detailed free course on git and GitHub.
To learn about REAMDE files and Markdown, Udacity provides a free course on READMEs, as well.
GitHub also provides a tutorial about creating Markdown files.

Project Support

If you are stuck or having difficulties with the project, don't lose hope! Remember to talk to your mentor, ask (and answer!) questions on Knowledge tagged with the project name, and reach out to your fellow students and mentors in the Model Predictive Control (MPC) channel in your Student Hub. We also have a previously recorded project Q&A that you can watch here!