Table of Contents

Getting Started

In general, when using the LinearDynamicalSystems package, you need to configure your Bonsai workflow to run the correct python environment which has the lds_python package installed.

If you followed the installation guide, you will have a basic Bonsai-python environment for using the LinearDynamicalSystems package. You will also have installed the basic dependencies required to build and run the Bonsai workflows. However, if you wish to run the examples, we highly recommend following this guide to create and configure the environments needed for each example. This guide has been made for users starting from scratch to get started. Alternatively, you can use the environment you created in the previous guide and install the necessary package dependencies required to run each workflow.

All of the examples are self-contained and can be found by going to the Bonsai.ML - Examples repo. For each example, you can bootstrap the python and Bonsai environments from within each example directory. Below, we demonstrate how to get started using the examples by bootstrapping the example environments that are needed to run the example workflow.

Windows

Dependencies

You must have the following installed on your PC in order to run the example workflows:

Tip

When running windows in a virtual machine, it is necessary to install the OpenGL mesa drivers on the windows VM. You can read more about it here

Instructions

Open the terminal or powershell. Start by cloning the Bonsai.ML - Examples repo with:

git clone https://github.com/bonsai-rx/machinelearning-examples.git

Change directory to one of the examples. For instance, this will bring you to the simulated data example from the LinearDynamicalSystems.Kinematics package:

cd .\machinelearning-examples\examples\LinearDynamicalSystems\Kinematics\SimulatedData

To create the python virtual environment and install the package, run the following:

python -m venv .venv 
.\.venv\Scripts\activate
pip install lds_python@git+https://github.com/joacorapela/lds_python@f761c201f3df883503ecb67acef35ba846e3524c
Tip

If you get an error during this step, you need to make sure that scripts are executable from the terminal. To do this, open a powershell terminal using Run as Administrator and enter this line, followed by yes:

set-executionpolicy remotesigned

To create the bonsai environment and install the packages, run the powershell script:

cd .bonsai
powershell .\Setup.ps1

Once installed, run the bonsai executable with:

.\Bonsai.exe

Open the workflow example and start the bonsai workflow.

Linux

Notes on Running Bonsai in Linux

Currently, the examples have only been tested on Ubuntu 22.04. Running Bonsai on Linux is still being tested and should be used with caution. We cannot guarantee that these instructions will work for all Linux distributions or versions. It is important that you consult the general Bonsai installation guide on Linux to ensure that the underlying Bonsai package dependencies are met and installed properly.

Dependencies

You must have the following installed on your PC in order to run the example workflows:

Tip

For installing OpenCV, the simplest method is to follow the instructions on installing OpenCV from pre-built binaries

Instructions

Open up a terminal and start by cloning the Bonsai.ML - Examples repo:

git clone https://github.com/bonsai-rx/machinelearning-examples.git

Change directory to one of the examples. For instance:

cd machinelearning-examples/examples/LinearDynamicalSystems/Kinematics/SimulatedData

Create the python virtual environment and install the lds python package with the following:

python3 -m venv .venv 
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install lds_python@git+https://github.com/joacorapela/lds_python@f761c201f3df883503ecb67acef35ba846e3524c
Tip

If you get an error during this step, it may be because you need to install python virtual environment package on your system. You can do so using the following:

sudo apt install -y python3.10-venv

Run the Setup.sh script using the following:

cd .bonsai
./Setup.sh
Tip

The Setup.sh script uses the xmllint and xmlstarlet packages to convert the assembly location paths in the bonsai config file from Windows to Linux paths. If you do not have these packages already installed on your computer, you can install the xmllint and the xmlstarlet packages using:

sudo apt install -y libxml2-utils xmlstarlet

Once the bonsai environment has been created, activate the bonsai environment and run the Bonsai executable:

source ./activate
bonsai
Tip

If your desktop theme is set to dark mode, the Bonsai GUI can display in weird ways due to the way that mono tries to use the desktop theme in applications. If you use the bonsai-clean command instead of the bonsai command, this will reset the theme that mono uses to the default theme, which can imporove the appearance of the Bonsai GUI.

Open the workflow example and start the bonsai workflow.

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