Installation and Setup

This guide walks through setting up the RapidKit development environment on Windows.

RapidKit is open source (MIT). Get it from github.com/teslasuit/RapidKit.

System Requirements#

Hardware#

• Teslasuit: Teslasuit 4.x or XR5 with motion capture and haptic subsystems
• Power bank: External power bank for Teslasuit (required for operation)
• WiFi adapter: Teslasuit should be connected to the computer via WiFi
• Computer: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), multi-core CPU recommended, 8 GB RAM recommended

Software#

• Operating System: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
• Python: 3.10 or higher
• Teslasuit Python SDK (teslasuit_sdk): installed separately, see Step 2
• Teslasuit Control Center and Teslasuit Studio: installed and running before starting the application

Step 1: Install Python#

Download Python 3.10+ from python.org/downloads.

During installation:

• Check "Add Python to PATH"
• Check "Install pip"

Verify:

python --version   # should show 3.10.x or higher
pip --version

Step 2: Install the Teslasuit Python SDK#

RapidKit builds on the Teslasuit Python SDK (teslasuit_sdk) but does not bundle it. The SDK ships with Teslasuit Studio and is not on PyPI. Follow the Python API getting started guide to install it into the Python environment you will use for RapidKit.

Step 3: Install and Configure Teslasuit Control Center#

1. Download and install Teslasuit Control Center from the Teslasuit developer portal.
2. Connect the Teslasuit to its power bank.
3. Power on the suit.
4. Open Control Center and verify the suit appears as connected.
5. The suit and your computer must be on the same WiFi network.

Step 4: Get RapidKit#

Clone the repository and open a terminal in the project root:

git clone https://github.com/teslasuit/RapidKit.git
cd RapidKit

Create and activate a virtual environment (recommended):

python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate

Your prompt should change to (.venv) .... If you use a virtual environment, make sure the Teslasuit Python SDK from Step 2 is installed in it too.

Install in editable mode from the project root:

pip install -e .

This installs the teslasuit_rapidkit package and its core dependencies (numpy, pylsl).

To also install the optional GUI dependencies (PyQt5, pyqtgraph, matplotlib), used by the GUI examples:

pip install -e ".[gui]"

Step 5: Verify the Installation#

python -c "import teslasuit_rapidkit; print(teslasuit_rapidkit.__version__)"

Expected output:

Step 6: Verify the Hardware Connection#

With Control Center running and the suit powered on and connected, run the minimal atomic example from the repository root:

python examples/atomic/minimal_closed_loop.py

The engine connects to the suit and starts the closed loop. Press Ctrl-C to stop. The framework cleans up hardware state on exit.

If the script fails during engine initialisation, check:

• Teslasuit Control Center is running
• Suit is powered on and visible in Control Center
• Both devices are on the same WiFi network
• The Teslasuit Python SDK is installed in the active Python environment

Step 7: Run a Full Example#

Run the elbow flexion example (requires the [gui] extra):

python -m examples.elbow_flexion.main

Or the haptic navigation example:

python -m examples.haptic_navigation.main

Run all example commands from the repository root. See Examples for the full set.

Troubleshooting#

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'teslasuit_rapidkit'#

Run pip install -e . from the project root with your virtual environment activated.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'teslasuit_sdk'#

Cause: the Teslasuit Python SDK is not installed in this Python environment.

Fix: install it per the Python API getting started guide, in the same environment (or virtual environment) where you installed RapidKit.

Suit not detected / connection timeout#

• Is Teslasuit Control Center running?
• Is the suit powered on (LED indicators lit)?
• Are suit and computer on the same WiFi network?
• Try restarting Control Center and the suit.

pip install PyQt5 fails#

Try pinning the version:

pip install PyQt5==5.15.10

Application crashes on startup (hardware not ready)#

Increase the hardware initialisation timeout in launch() (default 30 seconds):

launch(MyStrategy, hardware_init_timeout=60.0)

Directory Structure After Installation#

RapidKit/
├── teslasuit_rapidkit/    <- The framework package (pip install -e . installs this)
├── examples/              <- Six runnable example applications
├── pyproject.toml         <- Package metadata
├── LICENSE                <- MIT license
├── README.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
└── SECURITY.md

The Teslasuit Python SDK is a separate install and is not part of the repository.