Junhyeok Lee

Applies to v0.1.0.

Installation

Nano-sim ships as a prebuilt application for macOS and Linux. Download the build for your platform, unblock it once, and run. There is no engine or toolchain to set up.

Requirements

  • macOS (Apple silicon) or Linux x86_64
  • A GPU with up-to-date drivers (Vulkan / OpenGL)

Download

Download the build from the v0.1.0 release on GitHub. The source lives in the Nano-sim repository:

  • macOS · Apple silicon — Nano-sim-macOS.zip
  • Linux · x86_64 — Nano-sim-linux.zip

The app is not code-signed (research prototype), so your OS blocks it the first time you open it. This is expected. Follow the steps for your platform.

macOS

  • Unzip Nano-sim-macOS.zip.
  • Right-click (or Control-click) Nano-sim.app → Open → Open again. You only need to do this once.

If macOS says the app is “damaged and can't be opened”

Clear the quarantine flag in Terminal, then open it normally:

xattr -cr /path/to/Nano-sim.app

Linux

  • Unzip Nano-sim-linux.zip. Keep all files together — the executable, UnityPlayer.so, and the Nano-sim_Data/ folder must stay in the same directory.
  • Make the binary executable and run it:
chmod +x ./Nano-sim.x86_64
./Nano-sim.x86_64

If it doesn't start

Launch it from a terminal to see any error output, and make sure your GPU drivers (Vulkan / OpenGL) are installed.

Run it

The simulator is fully built. There is no separate “Play” step. Launching the app opens a small launcher: sign in with License ID nanosim and Access Key nanosim (the licence check), then press Simulate. A progress bar fills while the simulation loads, and the Configuration screen follows. Pick the map and vehicle. Today the choices are the IROC Track map and the 1/10 Platform vehicle.

The app starts windowed, not fullscreen. From your second launch onward the loading splash opens at the same size as the launcher window; only the very first launch is the exception.

Once it starts, the car is on the track and you can reach it two ways:

  • Python API on 127.0.0.1:7720 — drive the car, train a policy, or collect data (see Python API).
  • Foxglove on 127.0.0.1:8765 — live sensor visualisation (see Visualisation).

Neither server starts on its own. Both have a Start button in the Network panel and sit idle until you press it. A fresh session has nothing listening on either port.

Elsewhere in these docs, “start the simulator” simply means have the app running with a map and vehicle selected in the Configuration window.