This guide provides detailed instructions for installing the Voyant API and development packages.

Installation Options

🚧 These docs are currently out of date. 🚧

They reflect the Meadowlark (Carbon dev kit) API and may not apply to Carbon systems.
Fully updated documentation will be published when Carbon Alpha ships in April 2026.

Questions? Reach out to us at: support@voyantphotonics.com

Option 1: Native Installation (Recommended)

Prerequisites (native)

• Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS
• Administrator (sudo) access

Install Voyant Packages

1. Download the latest voyant-api-debian-*.tar.gz from voyant-sdk/releases/latest

   ⚠️ Make sure you don’t have any previous Voyant release tarballs or .deb files in your Downloads folder before proceeding.

2. Extract and install the packages:

   cd Downloads/ # or location of downloaded tarball
   tar -xzf voyant-api-debian-*.tar.gz --one-top-level
   cd voyant-api-debian-*/
   sudo apt update && sudo apt install ./voyant-api*$(dpkg --print-architecture).deb
   

3. [Optional] Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/Voyant-Photonics/voyant-sdk.git
   

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Option 2: Docker Installation

The Docker container approach is recommended when:

• You are not on Ubuntu 22.04
• You want a consistent, dependency-free environment

Prerequisites (docker)

• Docker Engine — Docker installation guide

⚠️ Install Docker Engine, not Docker Desktop. Docker Desktop handles ethernet differently and will prevent connection to your Voyant device.

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Voyant-Photonics/voyant-sdk.git
   

2. Build the container:

   cd voyant-sdk/
   docker build -t voyant-sdk-container -f docker/Dockerfile .
   

   Note: You can force a rebuild with the latest release using --no-cache:

   docker build --no-cache -t voyant-sdk-container -f docker/Dockerfile .

3. Run the container:

   docker run --rm -it --name voyant-sdk-container --network host -v $(pwd):/workspace voyant-sdk-container /bin/bash
   

   If you get a permissions error, prefix with sudo.

   Note 1: The container gives you full access to send commands to the LiDAR and receive data, but limits some standard terminal commands (e.g. ip addr). Type exit to return to your regular terminal; re-run the docker run command to reopen it. Packages installed with apt inside the container will not persist after exit.

   Note 2: On Windows or macOS, --network host behaves differently — you may need to adjust networking settings.

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Option 3: Python Package (Recommended for Python users)

Note: The Python bindings do not replace the need for the compiled tools (like voyant_visualizer).

They should be installed alongside these tools for your development!

The Voyant API Python bindings are available on PyPI starting with v0.4.4:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install voyant-api

Requirements:

• Python 3.9 or later
• NumPy 2.0+, Pandas 2.0+
• Linux, Windows, or macOS

The PyPI package is compatible with both Meadowlark and Carbon systems. See the Python and C++ examples in voyant-sdk to get started.

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Verifying Installation

Python

import voyant_api
print(voyant_api.__version__)

Native / Docker

voyant_hello_world

Expected output:

Welcome to the Voyant Photonics, Inc. API!
You have successfully installed the voyant-api package with:
 - Proto version: 0.2.2 (Proto)
 - API version:   0.4.4 (API)

Viewing Header Files (native/Docker only)

Header files from voyant-api-dev are installed at /usr/include/voyant_api/. See also the full API reference.

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Uninstalling

Python:

pip uninstall voyant-api

Native:

sudo apt remove voyant-api voyant-api-dev

Docker:

docker rm -f voyant-sdk-container
docker rmi voyant-sdk-container

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Next Steps

Once installation is complete, refer to the Quickstart Guide to verify your setup.