GameController Setup

GameController is the official match control software used in RoboCup competitions to manage robot soccer games — including timing, game phases, penalties, and more. This guide covers the setup of the Humanoid Soccer League GameController.

Platform Notes

• This guide assumes a Linux environment with GUI support is available, as GameController requires a graphical interface.

• For Windows users:

  • On Windows 11, GUI support is built-in via WSLg.
  • On Windows 10, or for more control, use tools like XLaunch, as described in the Prerequisites section from here.

• For macOS users:

  • Install equivalent dependencies using Homebrew.
  • GUI behaviour and windowing may differ slightly from Linux.

Prerequisites

1. Install Rust and add Cargo to your shell environment:

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   curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh
   source $HOME/.cargo/env

2. Install required system dependencies:

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   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libgtk-3-dev libglib2.0-dev libsoup-3.0-dev \
     libpango1.0-dev libcairo2-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-dev \
     clang libclang-dev llvm-dev

3. (Optional) Install a modern Node.js version:

   Required if your system Node.js is missing or older than v18.

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   # Remove outdated Node.js if installed
   sudo apt remove --purge nodejs npm
   sudo apt autoremove
   
   # Install Node Version Manager (nvm)
   curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.4/install.sh | bash
   source ~/.bashrc
   
   # Install latest LTS Node.js and activate it
   nvm install --lts
   nvm use --lts

Building and Running GameController

1. Clone the RoboCup Humanoid Soccer League GameController repo:

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   cd ~
   git clone https://github.com/RoboCup-HumanoidSoccerLeague/GameController
   cd GameController

2. (Optional) If you want to use a specific branch or tag, check out the desired version:

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   git checkout <branch-or-tag-name>

3. Build the frontend:

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   cd frontend
   npm ci
   npm run build
   cd ..

4. Build and run GameController:

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   cargo run -r

   (Optional) To run in debug mode:

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   cargo run

Firewall

The GameController communicates over several UDP ports. The host machine's firewall needs to be disabled for communication to work properly:

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sudo ufw disable

Re-enable after the session if needed:

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sudo ufw enable

Using GameController

After launching, a graphical interface will appear:

• Interface: Select the network interface connected to the robot network (e.g. wlp1s0 in the NUbots lab).
• Competition settings: Select division, teams, and other game settings.
• Hit Start to begin the game.

For full usage instructions and supported commands, refer to the official README.

For competition-specific robot network configuration, refer to the RoboCup Setup guide.