IDeATe Virtual Cluster¶
IDeATe Lending includes a ‘virtual cluster’ of Apple MacBook Pro and Dell Windows laptops available for checkout. Most of the course activities use open-source software you can run on your own laptop, but we occasionally make use of commercial software we have licensed and available on the cluster computers.
MacBook Pro¶
The OS X installation is configured to create user accounts on the local disk. This means that the first time you log onto any given laptop, all your settings will be the default, and none of your personal files will be directly available.
Please carefully consider your file management strategy to avoid stranding data on a specific laptop.
This might include:
Bring an external drive or USB stick to carry around your files.
Manually copy files to Google Drive or Box.
Python Setup¶
The MacBook Pro laptops include Python but our course scripts require additional packages to run. The following command line (in Terminal) should install the additional packages to your personal account:
pip3 install mido python-osc scipy matplotlib python-rtmidi PyQt6
Audio MIDI Setup¶
We are using MIDI software to create event timelines for operating robots. The primary means in macOS for communicating MIDI events from sequencing software to our Python scripts is an IAC Bus (Inter-Application Communication Bus). This can be enabled as follows:
Open Audio MIDI Setup.app
Show the MIDI Studio dialog
Open the IAC Driver Properties dialog
Enable the ‘Device is online’ checkbox
Please examine the default settings: the default Device Name is ‘IAC Driver’, with a default ‘Bus 1’ available under Ports. These names will be used to specify inputs and outputs.