Open a terminal on esieabot

Connect to the esieabot wirelessly

To connect to your esieabot wirelessly, you must first be connected to the same network as it. Either via its hotspot, or on the ESIEA Wi-Fi network if you are there, or on your personal Wi-Fi network.

Once on the same network as the esieabot, you should be able to open an SSH (“Secure SHell”) connection. This will give you access to the terminal of your esieabot, as if you had connected a keyboard and a screen, but remotely. To do this, open a terminal on your computer, regardless of your operating system (cmd or powershell on Windows). Type the following command:

ssh user@address

  • The user is found in the “pi.txt” file, it is by default “pi”.

  • The address is “10.42.0.1” if you are on the hotspot of your esieabot. Otherwise, it is the address of your esieabot on the network it is connected to. It is displayed on the screen of your esieabot if you have one.

  • The password that will be requested is also in the “pi.txt” file. When you type it, nothing will appear on the screen, this is perfectly normal.

During the first connection, you will be asked to confirm the identity of your esieabot, simply type “Y” then Enter. You should see an esieabot logo appear. If so, congratulations, you are connected to your esieabot. If not, check that your computer is still connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your esieabot and that the password is correct.

Warning

Warning, the commands you will execute on your SSH session are executed on your esieabot, not your computer. Be careful to differentiate what is happening on your computer from what is happening on your esieabot.

Connect to the esieabot by cable

The most reliable (but least convenient) method to open a terminal is to create a serial communication via a USB cable connected between your computer and the “USB” port of the Raspberry Pi of your esieabot.

Windows

On Windows:

  1. Before plugging in your esieabot, open the device manager and look at the “Ports (COM and LPT)” tab.

  2. Plug in your esieabot and notice that a new device appears in the “Ports (COM and LPT)” tab. Note the COM port number of this new device.

  3. Install the Putty tool, downloadable at https://www.putty.org/.

  4. On Putty, select the “Serial” mode and replace “1” in “COM1” with the COM port number noted previously. Then click on “Open”.

You should now have access to a serial terminal. You will then be asked for your username and password, they are in the “pi.txt” file.

Linux and macOS

On Linux and macOS:

  1. Install the “screen” tool.

  2. To find the path of your esieabot, type the command ls /dev/tty* before plugging it in and note the result.

  3. Plug in your esieabot and run the command ls /dev/tty* again. A new device should have appeared, note its path.

  4. Run the command sudo screen PATH 9600 to open your serial terminal from your computer. Replace PATH with the previously noted path (it should look like something starting with “/dev/”).

You should now have access to a serial terminal. You will then be asked for your username and password, they are in the “pi.txt” file.