RC_CAR_GUI

GUI for RC car telemetry and controls with high-performance C++ extensions and real-time 3D visualization.

Features

• PyQt6-based graphical interface for RC car control
• High-performance C++ extensions via pybind11 for robotics calculations
• GPU-accelerated 3D point cloud visualization using Open3D + CUDA
• OpenGL-backed 3D visualization widget with Python bindings
• CMake-based build system with MSVC/Ninja support
• Standalone C++ testing capabilities

Prerequisites

Python Dependencies

• Python 3.10+ with development headers
• PyQt6
• opencv-python
• pydualsense
• zeroconf

C++ Build Dependencies

• CMake 3.15+
• Visual Studio 2022 with "Desktop development with C++" workload (Windows)
• GCC or Clang on Linux/macOS
• Ninja (recommended, auto-installed via pip)
• OpenGL development libraries

Optional: GPU Acceleration

• CUDA 12.x (12.0-12.8) - Required for GPU-accelerated 3D processing
• ⚠️ CUDA 13.x is NOT supported (Thrust/cccl header incompatibility with Open3D's stdgpu)

Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/cduarte0306/RC_CAR_GUI.git
cd RC_CAR_GUI
git submodule update --init --recursive

2. Install Python Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install ninja  # Recommended for faster builds

3. Build C++ Extensions

CPU-only Build (simplest)

python setup_cpp.py build

GPU-accelerated Build (requires CUDA 12.x)

python setup_cpp.py build --cuda

Debug Build (debug symbols for your code, Open3D stays Release)

python setup_cpp.py build --debug --cuda

This will:

• Configure CMake with the appropriate compiler (Ninja preferred)
• Fetch and build Open3D with CUDA support (first build takes 30-60 minutes)
• Build the rc_car_cpp Python extension module
• Place the compiled module in python_modules/

Build Commands Reference

Command	Description
python setup_cpp.py build	CPU-only Release build
python setup_cpp.py build --cuda	GPU-accelerated Release build
python setup_cpp.py build --debug	Debug build (CPU-only)
python setup_cpp.py build --debug --cuda	Debug build with CUDA
python setup_cpp.py rebuild	Clean and rebuild
python setup_cpp.py rebuild --cuda	Clean rebuild with CUDA
python setup_cpp.py clean	Remove all build artifacts
python setup_cpp.py test	Build and run C++ tests
python setup_cpp.py install	Install the python package

Running the Application

From the project root:

cd src
python run.py

C++ Module Development

Project Structure

RC_CAR_GUI/
├── cpp/                      # C++ source code
│   ├── include/              # Header files
│   │   └── math_operations.h
│   ├── src/                  # Implementation files
│   │   ├── math_operations.cpp
│   │   └── bindings.cpp      # Pybind11 bindings
│   └── tests/                # Standalone C++ tests
│       └── test_math_operations.cpp
├── external/
│   └── pybind11/             # Pybind11 submodule
├── python_modules/           # Compiled Python modules (generated)
├── src/                      # Python application source
├── CMakeLists.txt            # CMake configuration
└── setup_cpp.py              # Build automation script

VSCode Tasks

The project includes VSCode tasks for easy C++ development:

• Build C++ Module (Ctrl+Shift+B) - Build in release mode
• Build C++ Module (Debug) - Build in debug mode
• Rebuild C++ Module - Clean and rebuild
• Clean C++ Build - Remove build artifacts
• Test C++ Module - Run standalone C++ tests

Access tasks via: Terminal > Run Task... or press Ctrl+Shift+P and type "Tasks: Run Task"

Using C++ Extensions in Python

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, 'python_modules')
import rc_car_cpp

# Use high-performance C++ functions
magnitude = rc_car_cpp.MathOperations.vector_magnitude(3.0, 4.0, 0.0)
angle = rc_car_cpp.MathOperations.angle_between_vectors(1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0)
x, y, z = rc_car_cpp.MathOperations.normalize_vector(3.0, 4.0, 0.0)

Standalone C++ Testing

The C++ code can be built and tested independently:

python setup_cpp.py test

Or run the executable directly after building:

# Windows
build\Release\test_cpp.exe

# Linux/macOS
build/test_cpp

Development Workflow

1. Make changes to C++ code in cpp/ directory
2. Rebuild the module: python setup_cpp.py rebuild or use VSCode task (Ctrl+Shift+B)
3. Test standalone: python setup_cpp.py test
4. Use in Python application

Troubleshooting

CMake not found

Install CMake from https://cmake.org/download/ and add it to your PATH.

Visual Studio not found (Windows)

Install Visual Studio 2022 with "Desktop development with C++" workload from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/

CUDA build fails with "Thrust" or "cccl" errors

You have CUDA 13.x installed. Open3D requires CUDA 12.x due to Thrust header reorganization in CUDA 13.

• Install CUDA 12.x alongside CUDA 13.x
• The build script auto-detects and uses CUDA 12.x when available
• Or build without CUDA: python setup_cpp.py build (no --cuda flag)

Build fails at CUDA compilation step with iterator errors

This happens with Debug builds + CUDA on MSVC. The --debug flag now automatically:

• Builds Open3D in Release mode (avoids MSVC iterator conflicts)
• Keeps debug symbols for your code (rc_car_app, test_cpp)

Module import fails

• Ensure the build completed successfully
• Check that python_modules/rc_car_cpp.pyd (Windows) or .so (Linux) exists
• Verify Python version matches the one used during build

First build is very slow

Normal! First build fetches and compiles Open3D + dependencies (~30-60 minutes). Subsequent builds are incremental and much faster.

License

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