Installation

#Download

BlueOS is a ground-up rewrite software to replace Companion. To use it you'll need to download and flash an SD card. It is compatible with Raspberry Pi 3, 4, and 5.

Latest Stable Date

Latest Beta Date

Recommended operating system images of the latest stable version can be downloaded here:

Board Hardware	Image File (with Base OS)	Notes
Raspberry Pi 3B / Raspberry Pi 4B	ARMv7 (32-bit) Bullseye	Standard on Blue Robotics vehicles
Raspberry Pi 5	ARMv8 (64-bit) Bookworm	Limited testing

Additional prebuilt operating system images are available in the releases, along with Docker images for ARMv7/ARMv8 and AMD64 platforms, as well as details of the main changes between different versions.

#Flash

We recommend using a fresh SD card with at least 4GB capacity, although more storage is recommended for recording data.

Download and install Balena Etcher
Insert the SD card to your computer (you may need an SD card reader)
Open Etcher, select the image you just downloaded, and flash it onto the SD card

#Run

Eject your SD card with the new BlueOS software
Insert it into your Raspberry Pi, and power it up!
- The first boot may take a couple of minutes, as it expands the filesystem to the new SD card capacity
  - It should take around 2 minutes for a 16GB class 10 SD card
BlueOS is a headless operating system, and uses a web interface rather than HDMI to a monitor
- See the Getting Started section for how to connect

#Updates

Once BlueOS is installed, updating to a different version is simple via the Version Chooser.

#Manual Installation

For developers with alternative hardware, or who would rather install over a pre-installed base operating system / image, BlueOS provides an install directory with utilities to help perform manual/software-based installations.

Sponsored by Blue Robotics Code under AGPLv3 / BlueOS Custom

BlueOS Documentation