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 - documentation will be expanded according to demand
 - some basic tests will be here as well, while full projects built on this repo will be in separate repos
 
+# installation and operating instructions
+For all of the listed items, consult their specific documentation in the docs folder, and do your own googling.
+Note that for most items you can install through the ubuntu package manager apt, or through the python
+package manager pip. Likewise, you can compile the libraries and install from local files. Both options
+are OK, just make sure to select a stable release for local compilation (just in case).
+All compilation is standard the standard cmake-make combo:
+mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make , followed by sudo make install to install.
+Most likely you can just copy-paste the commands given in the library docs to install. If not,
+and you can't fix it yourself in a reasonable amount of time, send an email.
+It's highly recommended that you download the source code of these libraries so that you have access to it,
+and their examples. Looking around and running these examples is the best way to a) verify installation 
+and b) get to know the libraries. Of course also follow this up with reading on their documentation.
+
+Here is a checklist of what to do together with the key remarks.
+- install ubuntu on metal, i.e. do a real install on your machine. if you want to play around with virtual machines,
+  or compile all the libraries on windows or something else, this is OK, but proceed at your own risk and with less support
+- install ur_rtde https://gitlab.com/sdurobotics/ur_rtde
+- create a fixed ip connection to verify that you can connect to the robot. create a new Ethernet connection,
+  and under IPv4 setting put 192.168.1.101 as the host (your) address, 255.255.255.0 under netmask
+  and 192.168.1.1 as gateway (just in case). the robot's ip is fixed to 192.168.1.102. connect to the network 
+  once you've created it. put the robot's IP into the examples given in ur_rtde and verify the connection (select
+  an example with the robot moving and see that it moves).
+- install pinocchio: https://gepettoweb.laas.fr/doc/stack-of-tasks/pinocchio/master/doxygen-html/index.html , 
+  https://stack-of-tasks.github.io/pinocchio/download.html , https://github.com/stack-of-tasks/pinocchio .
+- compile and run click in this repo. note to run gepetto-gui if you want visualization
+- run clik.py
+- install docker and the simulator. change flags in the code to simulation, go to 
+  the local website to see the teacher pendant emulation and put 127.0.0.1 as the ip,
+  and see whether the code works. the simulator accepts the same commands as the robot.
+  the only TODO is to add the gripper to the simulator somehow, but you can also just
+  skip using it when simulating.