donkeycar-rl-autoresearch/agent

DonkeyCar RL Batch Automation and Setup Guide

System Requirements

• Windows 10/11 machine (with DonkeyCar Unity Simulator installed)
• WSL2 with Ubuntu (Python 3.x installed)
• DonkeyCar Unity Simulator running in Windows, Remote Control enabled

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1. WSL (Linux) Setup

A. Install Python, pip, and core packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y python3-pip git
pip3 install --upgrade pip
pip3 install stable-baselines3 gymnasium gym-donkeycar numpy matplotlib
# If pip install gym-donkeycar fails, use:
pip3 install git+https://github.com/tawnkramer/gym-donkeycar.git

B. Place scripts

Copy these into /home/paulh/.pi/agent/:

• donkeycar_sb3_runner.py
• manual_multiepisode_batch.sh (and make executable)
• Any grid/outer loop script (donkeycar_outer_loop.py, as needed)

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2. Unity DonkeyCar Simulator Setup (Windows)

• Download/install Unity DonkeyCar sim (from DonkeyCar/tawnkramer Github or releases page)
• Open simulator, select "Donkey Generated Track" and enable Remote (SocketAPI) mode
• Ensure port 9091 is listening (default); leave sim running and visible

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3. Running Robust Batches (Best Practice)

Clean multi-episode approach:

Do NOT rapidly kill/restart agents. Use scripts that:

• Open one connection, run multiple episodes using env.reset() in a loop
• Cleanly call env.close()
• Batch script launches process, waits a couple seconds, repeats

Sample batch script (manual_multiepisode_batch.sh):

#!/bin/bash
for i in {1..20}; do
  echo "===== RUN $i ===== $(date)" | tee -a manual-multiepisode-batch.log
  python3 donkeycar_sb3_runner.py >> manual-multiepisode-batch.log 2>&1
  echo "===== END RUN $i ===== $(date)" | tee -a manual-multiepisode-batch.log
  sleep 2
done

Make executable:

chmod +x manual_multiepisode_batch.sh

Run in background:

nohup ./manual_multiepisode_batch.sh &

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4. Debugging/Recovery

• If sim blanks/hangs, first check for stuck agent processes: ps aux | grep donkeycar_sb3_runner
• Always allow scripts to call env.close()
• If hang persists: restart Unity DonkeyCar Sim in Windows

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5. Automation Flow Summary

Step	Where	Details
Install	WSL/Linux	pip install ...
Prepare	WSL/Linux	Place scripts, ensure Python dependencies
Sim start	Windows	Start DonkeyCar Unity Sim
Run batch	WSL/Linux	nohup ./manual_multiepisode_batch.sh ...
Monitor	Both	Car resets, batch log grows, check hangs

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See included Python scripts for reusable RL runner and grid search outer loop logic.