What you will need

  • An SD card with at least 64 GB of space

  • An SD card adapter appropriate for the computer you are using to flash the SD card

  • A broadband internet connection

  • 5-15 mins, depending on your internet connection speed

  • At least 26 GB of free space on your hard drive before starting

What you will get

  • An initialized SD card for your Duckiebot with default configuration settings.

The Fast Way#

Use this procedure if you want a quicker result, and do not mind having default settings.

Tip

Robots on the same network must have unique names. Do not follow this procedure if you plan on having multiple Duckiebots on the same network.

Attention

By proceeding with these instructions you are accepting the Duckietown terms of use.

Duckiebot (DB21J) image download#

  1. Read and understand the Legal things - Accepting Duckietown legal terms before proceeding. For any questions or doubts, reach out.

  2. Download the Duckietown compressed image:

    The image is downloaded as a compressed .zip file. Programs like Balena Etcher allow flashing this format directly to the SD card. If you are using a different program, unzip the downloaded file to obtain a .img file to flash to the SD card.

  3. Install Balena Etcher or equivalent software.

  4. Use Balena Etcher to flash the downloaded image to the SD card.

    Open the Balena Etcher application you just downloaded, and follow the 3 steps instructions (select the file, select the sd card, press start).

  5. If Balena Etcher ejected the card, reinsert it, then set a password for the duckie account:

    dts sd_card update --type duckiebot --configuration DB21J --password

    DTS prompts you to enter and confirm the password. It must contain at least eight characters and cannot contain colons or line breaks. The characters you enter are not displayed. The password is applied when the Duckiebot next boots.

  6. Configure the network on the Duckiebot:

    This image is pre-configured so that the Duckiebot will connect to a network with SSID duckietown and password quackquack.

    To have the Duckiebot connect to a different network, you will have to edit the Wi-Fi settings on your Duckiebot.

    To access the /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file on your Duckiebot, choose one of these options:

    • If you have an Ubuntu computer set up, plug the Duckiebot SD card into your computer using the provided SD card adapter. Navigate to the /media/duckietown/[...]/etc/ folder, then edit the Wi-Fi settings with sudo nano wpa_supplicant.conf.

    • If you do not have an Ubuntu computer set up, create a temporary hotspot with your phone, Windows, or macOS computer using SSID duckietown and WPA-PSK password quackquack. Connect the Duckiebot to it after the first boot, which takes a few minutes. An Internet connection is not required at this stage, so you can disconnect a phone’s data plan. From your computer, SSH into the Duckiebot and edit the Wi-Fi settings.

    • If you have access to the router and an Ethernet cable, connect your Duckiebot to the router through the Ethernet cable. Connect your computer to the same network, then SSH into the Duckiebot to edit the Wi-Fi settings.

  7. Plug in the SD card into your Duckiebot (if not already done).

  8. Perform the Duckiebot first boot sequence (if not already done).

Default settings#

This image has the following default settings:

  • Default username: duckie.

  • No default user password; set one using the dts sd_card update --password command above.

  • Robot name (hostname): entebot208.

  • Robot type: duckiebot.

  • Robot configuration: DB21J (works only with the Jetson Nano 4GB developer kit).

  • The Duckiebot connects to Wi-Fi named duckietown with password quackquack.

  • Country: US.

For additional information on the meaning of these parameters, see: The Complete Way.

Troubleshooting#

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

  • The SD card does not appear to have been written.

  • The flashing process seemed too fast, and there is no data on my SD card.

RESOLUTION

  • Check if your SD card adapter has a write protection switch.

  • Make sure you selected the correct drive name during the flashing procedure.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

I am using a microSD-to-SD card adapter with write protection disabled, but the SD card does not appear to have been initialized after the procedure.

RESOLUTION

Try again, making sure that you enter the correct drive name during the procedure.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

The procedure fails due to a “Bad archive” error.

RESOLUTION

Try again using the --no-cache option.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

The verification process fails with the error Please set up a token using "dts tok set".

RESOLUTION

Make sure that you have completed the Duckietown token setup procedure Accounts.

Additional information is available at Network troubleshooting.