elodin

This monorepo contains the source code for all Elodin simulation and flight software:

• Flight software
  • aleph-os: Aleph NixOS modules for composing a Linux flight software stack that runs on the Orin.
  • elodin-db (FSW application): A time-series database which functions as a central telemetry store and message bus.
  • serial-bridge (FSW application): Reads sensor data being streamed over the serial port and writes it to elodin-db.
  • mekf (FSW application): A Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter implementation that fuses sensor data to estimate vehicle attitude.
  • sensor-fw: Aleph expansion board firmware that streams sensor data (IMU, mag, baro) to the Orin over USB/UART.
• Simulation software
  • nox-py: Python SDK (includes ECS and JAX integration).
• Editor: 3D viewer and graphing tool for visualizing both simulation and flight data.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Determinate Systems Nix for a consistent development environment
• Just: ( brew install just / apt install just )
• git-lfs: ( brew install git-lfs / apt install git-lfs ), and make sure to activate it globally with git lfs install from the terminal.
• STRONGLY prefer an Arm-based MacOS, nix works on x86 & Ubuntu but at much slower build speeds and worse DX.

Development Setup (Recommended: Nix)

The Elodin repository uses Nix to provide a consistent, reproducible development environment across all platforms. This is the same environment our team uses daily.

1. Install Nix

# Install Determinate Systems Nix (recommended)
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf -L https://install.determinate.systems/nix | sh -s -- install

2. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/elodin-sys/elodin.git
cd elodin

3. Enter the Nix Development Shell (this can take awhile to build the first time)

nix develop

[!TIP] The shell follows yours (bash or zsh; venv on PATH; no source needed). Override with ELODIN_SHELL=bash or ELODIN_SHELL=zsh. For Oh My Zsh + Powerlevel 10k: p10k configure if prompted.

4. Build and Install Elodin Editor and Elodin DB into your path

just install

elodin --version

python examples/rocket/main.py run

Open the Elodin editor in a new nix develop shell and connect to the local server

elodin editor

just install writes elodin / elodin-db and a Python venv into this shell's target/shells/$ELODIN_SHELL_ID/ so parallel worktrees and agent shells cannot overwrite each other.

Python SDK Development Setup (Nix-based continued)

5. Enter another Nix Development Shell, run the server & example simulation

Python SDK Development

# In a new terminal
nix develop
# build the SDK python wheel
just install py
python examples/rocket/main.py run

Open the Elodin editor and connect to the local server

[!NOTE] Local setup instructions were validated on Arm M2 MacOS & Intel x86 Ubuntu 24.04 on 2025-10-12.

Alternative Local Setup (Ubuntu/Linux)

[!WARNING] This setup is more complex and may lead to inconsistent environments across developers. We strongly recommend using Nix instead.

If you cannot use Nix, you can manually install dependencies on Ubuntu/Linux:

Prerequisites

# Install required tools via apt
sudo apt install just git-lfs pkg-config libasound2-dev libudev-dev cmake gfortran patchelf python3-dev

# Initialize git-lfs
git lfs install

After installing these packages, follow the same uvx maturin and cargo build steps above.

Additional Resources

• Elodin App Documentation
• Python SDK Documentation
• Internal Nix Documentation