Skip to content

starting-webots.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
153 lines (106 loc) · 6.54 KB

starting-webots.md

File metadata and controls

153 lines (106 loc) · 6.54 KB

Starting Webots

The first time you start Webots, it will open the "Welcome to Webots!" menu with a list of possible starting points.

Linux

Open a terminal and type webots to launch Webots.

macOS

Open the directory in which you installed the Webots package and double-click on the Webots icon.

Windows

On Windows 10 and Windows 7, open the Start menu, go to the Program Files / Cyberbotics menu and click on the Webots {{ webots.version.full }} menu item.

On Windows 8, open the Start screen, scroll to the screen's right until you spot the Cyberbotics section and click on the Webots icon.

You can also start Webots from a DOS console (cmd.exe) by typing webots or webots.exe. This command works only if executed from the C:\Program Files\Webots\msys64\mingw64\bin directory (assuming Webots was installed in C:\Program Files). It can also work from any directory if the above directory was added to your Path environment variable. Note: Calling webots-bin.exe from a DOS console may not work, as some settings may be missing. Note: Calling webotsw.exe from a DOS console launches Webots in the background and returns immediately.

Command Line Arguments

Following command line options are available when starting Webots from a Terminal (Linux/Mac) or a Command Prompt (Windows):

Usage: webots [options] [worldfile]

Options:

  --help
    Display this help message and exit.

  --version
    Display version information and exit.

  --sysinfo
    Display information about the system and exit.

  --mode=<mode>
    Choose the startup mode, overriding application preferences. The <mode>
    argument must be either pause, realtime or fast.

  --no-rendering
    Disable rendering in the main 3D view.

  --fullscreen
    Start Webots in fullscreen.

  --minimize
    Minimize the Webots window on startup.

  --batch
    Prevent Webots from creating blocking pop-up windows.

  --clear-cache
    Clear the cache of Webots on startup.

  --stdout
    Redirect the stdout of the controllers to the terminal.

  --stderr
    Redirect the stderr of the controllers to the terminal.

  --port
    Change the TCP port used by Webots (default value is 1234).

  --stream[=<mode>]
    Start the Webots streaming server. The <mode> argument should be either
    w3d (default) or mjpeg.

  --extern-urls
    Print on stdout the URL of extern controllers that should be started.

  --heartbeat[=<time>]
    Print a dot (.) on stdout every second or <time> milliseconds if specified.

  --log-performance=<file>[,<steps>]
    Measure the performance of Webots and log it in the file specified in the
    <file> argument. The optional <steps> argument is an integer value that
    specifies how many steps are logged. If the --sysinfo option is used, the
    system information is prepended into the log file.

  convert
    Convert a PROTO file to a URDF, WBO, or WRL file.

Please report any bug to https://cyberbotics.com/bug

The optional worldfile argument specifies the name of a .wbt file to open. If it is not specified, Webots attempts to open the most recently opened file.

The --minimize option is used to minimize (iconize) Webots window on startup. This also skips the splash screen and the eventual Welcome Dialog. This option can be used to avoid cluttering the screen with windows when automatically launching Webots from scripts. Note that Webots automatically uses the Fast mode when --minimize is specified.

The --mode=<mode> option can be used to start Webots in the specified simulation mode. The four possible simulation modes are: pause, realtime, run and fast; they correspond to the simulation control buttons of Webots' graphical user interface. This option overrides, but does not modify, the startup mode saved in Webots' preferences. For example, type webots --mode=pause filename.wbt to start Webots in pause mode.

The --stdout and --stderr options have the effect of redirecting Webots console output to the calling terminal or process. For example, this can be used to redirect the controllers output to a file or to pipe it to a shell command. --stdout redirects the stdout stream of the controllers, while --stderr redirects the stderr stream. Note that the stderr stream may also contain Webots error or warning messages.

The --port option changes the default TCP port used by Webots for serving robot windows, web streaming and extern controllers. By default, Webots sets up its TCP server on port 1234. When starting multiple Webots instances, the ports are configured with consecutive values of 1234.

The --stream option enables the Webots streaming server in either w3d (default) or mjpeg mode. You can get more information about web streaming in this section.

For example, the following command will start Webots with the streaming server enabled on the TCP port '1235' in 'mjpeg' mode: webots --port=1235 --stream=mjpeg

The convert subcommand allows conversion of a PROTO file to a URDF, WBO, or WRL file. You can use a -p flag to override default PROTO parameters. Usage example:

webots convert -p extensionSlot="Box {}" ${WEBOTS_HOME}/projects/robots/adept/pioneer3/protos/Pioneer3dx.proto -o pioneer3dx.urdf

For more details use: webots convert --help.

Safe Mode

It may happen that Webots cannot start because it is blocked on a world causing a Webots or OpenGL crash. In this case, Webots can be started in safe mode. The safe mode forces Webots to start with an empty world, reduces all the OpenGL options, and stores those preferences. To do this, simply set the environment variable WEBOTS_SAFE_MODE in the environment running Webots.

Once successfully started this way, you must unset this environment variable, open again your world and increase the OpenGL preferences. This action may cause a new crash.

On Windows

From the Windows graphical user interface:

  1. Open the Environment Variables system dialog box. To do so, look for "environment variable" in the search bar of the Windows start menu, click on Edit the system environment variables, this will open up the System Properties dialog box to the Advanced tab. Click on the Environment Variables button at the bottom.
  2. Add a new WEBOTS_SAFE_MODE user environment variable. To do so, in the user variables panel, click on the New button and add a New User Variable named WEBOTS_SAFE_MODE with a value of true.
  3. Start Webots as usual.

From the cmd command prompt:

setx WEBOTS_SAFE_MODE true

On Linux and macOS

export WEBOTS_SAFE_MODE=true
webots