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Standard Installation🔗

easy install

This page provides instructions for installing the most recent standard version of the PlanktoScope software distribution on a PlanktoScope.

Set up the SD card🔗

If you purchased a fully-assembled PlanktoScope or a DIY-assembly PlanktoScope kit from FairScope which includes a microSD card, then the SD card is already set up with the PlanktoScope software distribution, and you should skip to the next step.

Prerequisites🔗

In order to complete this step, you will need all of the following:

  1. A microSD card for your Raspberry Pi.
  2. A separate computer which can flash SD card images to your microSD card.

Download the PlanktoScope software SD card image🔗

For ease of setup, we provide an SD card image file with the PlanktoScope software distribution. You can download it from the latest software release on the releases page for the PlanktoScope project on GitHub.

Each released version of the PlanktoScope software distribution has downloadable SD card images under the "Assets" dropdown. Depending on whether your PlanktoScope uses an Adafruit Stepper HAT or the custom PlanktoScope HAT, you should download the corresponding .img.gz file. If you purchased a PlanktoScope or PlanktoScope kit from FairScope, it probably uses the custom PlanktoScope HAT.

Write the image to the SD card🔗

To write the image file to your microSD card, you can install balenaEtcher or the Raspberry Pi imager.

Here are instructions for using the Raspberry Pi Imager:

  1. Download, install, and start the latest version of the Raspberry Pi Imager.
  2. Plug your microSD card into your computer; you may need to use a microSD-to-SD-card adapter, and/or an SD-card-to-USB adapter.
  3. Press the "Choose Device" button. Select "No filtering" from the menu. It actually doesn't matter what you select here.
  4. Press the "Choose OS" button. Select "Use custom" from the menu (this is why it doesn't matter what you selected in the "Choose Device" menu). In the file dialog, open the PlanktoScope SD card image file you downloaded in the previous section of this setup guide.
  5. Press the "Choose Storage" button. Select your SD card from the menu.
  6. Press the "Next" button. A pop-up dialog should appear asking if you would like to customize the OS. You should probably press the "No" button unless you are already experienced with the PlanktoScope software, because most of the settings inside don't matter to typical users of the PlanktoScope software, and because it's possible to break the software with incorrect settings.
  7. A pop-up dialog should appear asking you to confirm whether you selected the correct SD card and want to wipe all data on the SD card in order to write the PlanktoScope SD card image to your SD card. If you are ready, press the "Yes" button.
  8. The Raspberry Pi Imager will begin overwriting your SD card with the PlanktoScope SD card image. This will take a while to finish.

Here are instructions for using balenaEtcher:

  1. Download, install, and start balenaEtcher.
  2. Plug your microSD card into your computer; you may need to use a microSD-to-SD-card adapter, and/or an SD-card-to-USB adapter.
  3. Open balenaEtcher
  4. Select the SD card image file which you had download in the previous section.
  5. Select the SD card you wish to write your image to.
  6. Review your selections and click 'Flash!' to begin writing data to the SD card.

Once flashing is complete, unmount the SD card and remove it from the computer.

Insert the SD card into the PlanktoScope🔗

Insert the microSD card into the Raspberry Pi computer installed in your PlanktoScope.

Connect to the PlanktoScope🔗

Power on your PlanktoScope, and wait for it to start up. Note that it may take a few minutes to start up. Once it has finished starting up, it should create a new isolated Wi-Fi network whose name starts with the word pkscope followed by the unique randomly-generated name of your PlanktoScope.

Note that you will not be able to access the PlanktoScope's graphical user interface by plugging in a display to the Raspberry Pi. This is because the SD card image we provide does not include a graphical desktop or web browser, in order to keep the SD card image file smaller and to keep the PlanktoScope's Raspberry Pi running more efficiently. Instead, you will need to connect another device (e.g. a phone or a computer) directly to the PlanktoScope's Raspberry Pi, either over its isolated Wi-Fi network or over an Ethernet cable.

After you connect another device directly to the PlanktoScope's Raspberry Pi, then you can open a web browser on the device to access the PlanktoScope's graphical user interface at one of the following URLs (try them in the following order, and just use the first one which works):

The web browser should show a landing page with some information about your PlanktoScope and a list of links, including links to apps running on your PlanktoScope.

Next steps🔗

Now that you have installed the software and accessed the PlanktoScope software's user interface from your web browser, you should proceed to our guide for configuring your PlanktoScope.