MachLab — AI for Robotics

AI-powered coding assistant for ROS 2, embedded C++, and drone development.
Phase 1 MVP — VS Code Extension

What it does

Feature	How to trigger
Ask AI about selected code	Highlight → `Ctrl+M` (or `Cmd+M` on Mac)
Auto-detect build errors	Just run `colcon build` — MachLab watches the terminal
Fix build error with AI	Click the status bar item or run `MachLab: Fix Last Build Error`
Open AI chat panel	Command Palette → `MachLab: Open AI Chat`
Show workspace context	Command Palette → `MachLab: Show Workspace Context`

Setup

1. Get a free NVIDIA NIM API key

Go to build.nvidia.com
Sign up / log in → click Get API Key
Copy the key (starts with nvapi-…)

2. Set your key in VS Code

Open Settings → search machlab.nimApiKey → paste your key.

Or via the command palette:

Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)

Add:

"machlab.nimApiKey": "nvapi-your-key-here"

3. Open your ROS 2 workspace

Open the folder that contains your src/ and (optionally) colcon.meta.
MachLab will auto-detect your packages on startup and inject them as context into every AI query.

How it knows your project

On activation, MachLab scans for:

package.xml — package name, build type (ament_cmake / ament_python), dependencies
CMakeLists.txt — add_executable() targets (node names)
setup.py — Python node entry points
Topic name string literals in src/ files

This context is injected into the AI system prompt so answers are specific to your workspace.

Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
`machlab.nimApiKey`	`""`	NVIDIA NIM API key
`machlab.nimModel`	`meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct`	Model to use
`machlab.errorSnifferEnabled`	`true`	Watch terminals for build errors
`machlab.autoAnalyzeWorkspace`	`true`	Analyse on startup

Build from source

cd machlab
npm install
npm run compile         # or: npm run watch
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host

To package a .vsix:

npm run package
# → machlab-0.1.0.vsix

Roadmap

Phase 2 — One-click Wi-Fi deploy to RPi/Jetson, Docker cross-compilation, .bag/ulog telemetry reader
Phase 3 — VS Code Marketplace launch, user metrics, community feedback
Phase 4 — Native standalone IDE (VSCodium fork), live sensor graphs, 3D physics simulator

machlab — AI for Robotics

mechLab