Quick Start Guide

Get from zero to a working autonomous car in minutes with this quick start guide

This guide will help you get started with Donkeycar quickly. You’ll create a car application, configure it, and be ready for your first drive.

This quick start assumes you have already built your Donkeycar hardware. If not, refer to the hardware build guide.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

• A Raspberry Pi, Jetson Nano, or PC/Mac with Donkeycar installed
• Basic familiarity with the command line terminal
• Your hardware assembled (for physical car)

Installation

Create Your Car Application

Basic Configuration

Calibrate Your Car

Before your first drive, you need to calibrate the steering and throttle.

Your First Drive

Train Your First Model

Once you have recorded driving data, you can train an autopilot model:

python train.py --tubs data/ --model models/mypilot.h5

Training can take 5-30 minutes depending on your hardware and dataset size. For Raspberry Pi, it’s recommended to train on a more powerful PC and transfer the model.

Drive on Autopilot

Test your trained model:

python manage.py drive --model models/mypilot.h5

In the web interface:

1. Switch mode to Autopilot or Local Pilot
2. The car will now drive itself using the trained model
3. You can take over control at any time

Always be ready to take manual control! Start with low throttle limits until you trust your model.

Next Steps

Installation Details

Detailed installation for your specific platform

Configuration Guide

Deep dive into all configuration options

Training Guide

Advanced training techniques and model tuning

Hardware Build

Build your own Donkeycar from scratch

Troubleshooting

Camera not working

• Check that the camera is properly connected
• For Raspberry Pi Camera: Ensure it’s enabled in raspi-config
• For USB camera: Try CAMERA_INDEX = 0 or CAMERA_INDEX = 1
• Test camera: raspistill -o test.jpg (Pi Camera) or v4l2-ctl --list-devices (USB)

Car not responding to controls

• Verify your DRIVE_TRAIN_TYPE is correct
• Check pin connections match your configuration
• Run calibration script to verify PWM output
• Check that motors are receiving power

Can't connect to web interface

• Verify car’s IP address: hostname -I
• Check firewall settings
• Try connecting from the same WiFi network
• Ensure WEB_CONTROL_PORT is not blocked

Import errors when starting

• Verify Donkeycar is installed: pip list | grep donkey
• Ensure you’re using Python 3.11: python --version
• Reinstall with correct extras: pip install donkeycar[pi]

Getting Help

If you run into issues:

• Check the official documentation
• Join the Discord community
• Search GitHub issues
• Ask questions in the #help channel on Discord