Windows PC Installation

PhotonVision may be run on a Windows Desktop PC for basic testing and evaluation.

Note

You do not need to install PhotonVision on a Windows PC in order to access the webdashboard (assuming you are using an external coprocessor like a Raspberry Pi).

Install Bonjour

Bonjour provides more stable networking when using Windows PCs. Install Bonjour here before continuing to ensure a stable experience while using PhotonVision.

Installing Java

PhotonVision requires a JDK installed and on the system path. JDK 17 is needed. You may already have it if you installed WPILib, but ensure that running java -version shows JDK 17. You will likely have to add WPILib’s JDK to JAVA_HOME and the JDK’s bin directory to PATH. If you do not have a JDK 17 install, download and install it from here.

Downloading the Latest Stable Release of PhotonVision

Go to the GitHub releases page and download the winx86-64.jar file.

Running PhotonVision

To run PhotonVision, open a terminal window of your choice and run the following command:

> java -jar C:\path\to\photonvision\NAME OF JAR FILE GOES HERE.jar

If your computer has a compatible webcam connected, PhotonVision should startup without any error messages. If there are error messages, your webcam isn’t supported or another issue has occurred. If it is the latter, please open an issue on the PhotonVision issues page.

Warning

Using an integrated laptop camera may cause issues when trying to run PhotonVision. If you are unable to run PhotonVision on a laptop with an integrated camera, try disabling the camera’s driver in Windows Device Manager.

Accessing the PhotonVision Interface

Once the Java backend is up and running, you can access the main vision interface by navigating to localhost:5800 inside your browser.