Software Setup

Raspberry Pi Initial Setup

1. Download Raspberry Pi OS per official instructions and flash to microSD card

• Raspberry Pi Imager
• We just use the official Raspberry Pi Imager tool but if you have a different / better way to manage and deploy a fleet of Pis, feel free to use that instead
• Select the current RASPBERRY PI OS (64-BIT) as your operating system to image (Bookworm as of this writing)
• Make sure not to select a LITE version of the OS, as you will need a GUI on your Pi
• Remember that you can pre-configure a user account and network access before creating your image
  • On the screen in Raspberry Pi Imager where you select the device, operating system, and storage, press CTRL-SHIFT-X (CMD-SHIFT-X on macOS) to open the image customization dialog
  • Configure wireless LAN settings, user account settings, and SSH access here; the configuration will be applied during the initial boot of the Raspberry Pi

2. Insert the microSD card into the Pi and connect power

• You'll want a display, mouse, and keyboard connected at this point
• The Pi may reboot a couple of times, especially if you applied a custom configuration
• After it is fully booted launch a shell or connect to it remotely via SSH

3. Run updates and install generally available packages

• Bring everything current with sudo apt update and sudo apt full-upgrade and sudo apt autoremove --purge
• REQUIRED
  • Switch from Wayland to X11 with sudo raspi-config then select Advanced Options > Wayland > X11 (reboot when raspi-config asks)
  • Choose the x-session-manager
    • Run sudo update-alternatives --config x-session-manager
    • Select 1 /usr/bin/lxsession
  • Rotate screen into portrait mode
    • Run ``
    • Switch screen orientation to right via display > touchscreen
  • Run sudo apt install unclutter (used to hide mouse pointer when not in use)
• OPTIONAL:
  • Enable VNC for remote GUI access via sudo raspi-config then select Interface Options > VNC > Enable VNC Serve Yes
  • If you use a management tool for multiple Pis, activate Raspberry Pi Connect or another remote management tool

Installing Airtable-Card-Checkin

Copy Current Checkin Code

We will install the checkin code using git. This should already be installed on your Pi if you are using the standard image.

• Run cd && git clone https://github.com/MITProjectManus/Airtable-Card-Checkin.git

You should now have a new directory Airtable-Card-Checkin in the /home/pi directory containing the current checkin code.

Install Python Dependencies

• Run cd Airtable-Card-Checkin to change into the repo directory
• Run pip install --break-system-packages -r requirements.txt to install package dependencies globally

Create a Launch Script

Creating Launch Scripts

Configuring Auto-launch

Managing a Fleet of Pis