Installation

SuperDetectorPy is a command-line Python program that depends on Numpy, Scipy, Matplotlib, and h5py. Using a Python environment like Anaconda is recommended, since it guarantees that the correct versions are installed. Mesh generation is done in Matlab using the PDE toolbox.

This guide provides help with installing SuperDetectorPy and all its dependencies. The instructions have been tested on Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Windows 10.

Required programs

SuperDetectorPy requires the following programs to be installed on your computer.

Matlab with the PDE toolbox.
Anaconda (recommended), Miniconda, or virtualenv.
ffmpeg (optional, only used for generating animations).

Download SuperDetectorPy

Go to SuperDetectorPy’s release page, download the latest version (Source code (zip)), and unzip the file.

Alternatively, in a Linux terminal run

wget -O super-detector-py.zip https://github.com/afsa/super-detector-py/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.1.zip && \
unzip super-detector-py.zip && \
rm super-detector-py.zip

Setup a Python environment

It is recommended to setup a Python environment for SuperDetectorPy to guarantee that the correct versions of packages are used. The Python environment Anaconda is recommended for SuperDetectorPy, but virtualenv also works.

Using Anaconda / Miniconda (recommended)

Open a terminal with conda available (called Anaconda Prompt on Windows) and navigate to the root of the SuperDetectorPy repository. Run the following commands to setup the environment and install dependencies:

conda create -yn SuperDetectorPy python=3.8
conda install -n SuperDetectorPy pip
conda activate SuperDetectorPy
pip install -r requirements.txt

Verify that the installation was successful by running:

python simulate.py -h

Note

The SuperDetectorPy Anaconda environment needs to be active when running Python scripts in this repository. If the environment has been deactivated, then run the following command in terminal with conda available:

conda activate SuperDetectorPy

Using virtualenv

SuperDetectorPy only works with python3 and has only been tested using virtualenv with python3.8 on Ubuntu 20.04. If multiple Python versions are installed, then virtualenv’s --python option may be used to specify the version.

Open a terminal, navigate to the root of the SuperDetectorPy repository, and run:

virtualenv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Verify that the installation was successful by running:

python simulate.py -h

Note

The virtual environment needs to be active when running Python scripts in this repository. If the environment has been deactivated, then run the following command in the root of the repository:

source venv/bin/activate