The NorthIDE is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) built specifically for operating the N9 platform. Users can create projects reflecting the physical setup for a given experiment, write the code that drives the robot during the experiment, and visualize the experiment with the NorthIDE Simulator before running it on the physical platform. The Locator feature allows users to capture physical locations of the robot in the development environment, making experimental validation easy and accurate.

Simulator

The NorthIDE Simulator allows users to preview the outcome of their code on the N9 platform without the physical risk of procedural errors or collisions. The Simulator creates a 3D animated preview of all of the commands from the north_c9 library sent during the script’s execution, with playback speeds that accurately reflect the real-world behaviour of the platform.

Locator

The NorthIDE Locator stores a list user-generated robot positions that can be easily be referred to in code. All modules and other components of a project are given locations. For example, adding a Vial Clamp module named vial_clamp to a project prompts the user to define the module's location which is then added to the locator. Users can send the robot directly to the location of the vial clamp with the following code:

robot.goto(vial_clamp)

Users may add locations to this Locator by XYZ position or by manually posing the physical N9 Robot in the desired configuration and pressing the Capture button on the Locator. Using the Capture method, all key positions in an experiment can easily and quickly be recorded in the software for future reference.