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First Steps

Now that Tinko is installed, let's get you set up and familiar with the basics.

Accessing the Dashboard

Open a web browser and navigate to:

http://your-pi-ip-address:8000/

Replace your-pi-ip-address with your Raspberry Pi's IP address.

Finding Your Pi's IP Address

On the Raspberry Pi, run: 

hostname -I
This will display the IP address(es) of your Pi.

Logging In

If you haven't created an admin user yet, run:

uv run python manage.py createsuperuser

Follow the prompts to create your account.

Then log in at:

http://your-pi-ip-address:8000/admin/

Understanding the Dashboard

The main dashboard (/) shows all your installed apps. You'll see cards for:

  • Activity Timer
  • Noise Monitor
  • Routines
  • Touch Piano

Each card shows:

  • Plugin name
  • Icon
  • Brief description
  • Link to open the app

Changing the Language

Tinko supports English and Romanian:

  1. Look for the globe icon :material-earth: in the top navigation bar
  2. Click it to open the language selector
  3. Choose your preferred language

The interface will update immediately with translated text.

Configuring Global Settings

Personalize Tinko for your school:

  1. Click Settings in the top navigation
  2. You'll see tabs for:
  3. Global Settings: School name, logo, robot name
  4. Plugin Settings: Individual plugin configurations
  1. Go to the Global Settings tab
  2. Enter your school name
  3. Upload your school logo (max 400x400px, will be auto-resized)
  4. Set your robot's name (default: "Tinko")
  5. Click Save

Your school name and logo will appear on the dashboard.

Enabling Plugins

All plugins are installed by default, but you can enable/disable them:

  1. Go to Admin Panel (/admin/)
  2. Navigate to Plugins
  3. Toggle plugins on/off as needed

Disabled plugins won't show on the dashboard.

Your First Activity

Let's try the Activity Timer:

  1. From the dashboard, click Activity Timer
  2. You'll see preset buttons:
  3. Minute of Silence: 60 seconds, calming blue
  4. Break Time: 10 minutes, green theme
  5. Activity: 30 minutes, amber theme
  6. Click Minute of Silence to test
  7. Click the Start button

Watch the RGB LED change colors as time counts down!

Hardware Required

For the LED to light up, you need an RGB LED connected to pins 17 (red), 27 (green), and 22 (blue).

Testing Other Plugins

Noise Monitor

  1. Click Noise Monitor on the dashboard
  2. Click Start Monitoring
  3. Make some noise - watch the LEDs change color

Touch Piano

  1. Click Touch Piano
  2. Click keys on screen or use keyboard (A, S, D, F, G, H)
  3. Connect conductive materials to GPIO pins to play physically

Routines

  1. Click Routines
  2. Try a pre-built routine like Hand Warming Exercise
  3. Click Play to start text-to-speech

Understanding Background Activities

When you start an activity and navigate away:

  • ✅ Continues running: Timer counts down, noise monitoring, GPIO outputs
  • ❌ Pauses: Web interface updates, WebSocket data streams
  • 🔄 Resumes: When you return, the page shows current status

This means you can:

  1. Start a 30-minute activity timer
  2. Switch to Noise Monitor to check classroom levels
  3. Return to timer to see remaining time
  4. All physical LED feedback continues throughout

Learn more: Background Activities

Next Steps

Getting Help

You're ready to use Tinko in your classroom! 🎓