ICub logbook

This page serves as a maintenance diary of the iCub humanoid robot in VisLab, Lisbon.

See also the related RedMine project http://rm.isr.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/projects/icub-robot (private access).

2018

• 2018-12-05: upgraded pc104 to iCub LIVE 7.9
• 2018-06-27: replaced the motor in the right wrist, thus fixing the r_wrist_pitch+r_wrist_yaw (j5+j6) motor problem (see also 2017-11-17 entry and https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/567).
• 2018-02-27: left shoulder steel tendon broke during calibration.
• 2018-02-08: l_wrist_pitch+l_wrist_yaw (j5+j6) electrical problem fixed (wire close to the board, far from the wrist).

2017

• 2017-11-23: right thumb middle phalanx broken due to collision with the torso during an experiment.
• 2017-11-17: r_wrist_pitch+r_wrist_yaw (j5+j6) motor problem, see also https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/567
• 2017-10-16: repaired right shoulder steel tendon.
• 2017-10-15: broke right shoulder steel tendon.
• 2017-10-13: broke and repaired r_wrist_pitch+r_wrist_yaw (j5+j6) steel tendon.
• 2017-09-2x: broke and repaired l_shoulder_pitch (j0) steel tendon, see also https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/541
• 2017-09-01: tightened right wrist cables.
• 2017-08-30: broke and repaired r_wrist_pitch+r_wrist_yaw (j5+j6) steel tendon.
• 2017-07-31: broke r_shoulder_yaw steel tendon.
• 2017-01-06: repaired r_thumb_oppose and l_index_proximal steel tendons.

2016

• 2016-12-1x: right hand joint 8 (r_thumb_oppose) and left hand joint 11 (l_index_proximal) steel cables broken.
• 2016-10-21: new USB Flash Drive installed in the robot head (Debian 6, https://github.com/robotology/QA/issues/136).
• 2016-07-19: left thumb proximal encoder wire fixed.
• 2016-07-12: left thumb proximal encoder wire fixed.
• 2016-07-08: left thumb tendon broken and replaced.
• 2016-05-30: left hand thumb proximal encoder and wire fixed (https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/218), right hand index distal spring replaced (https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/241).
• 2016-03-xx: right hand steel cable and metal piece with magnet for thumb opposition replaced (https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/195). Left hand steel cable replaced.
• 2016-01-xx: right hand CAN bus problem (CAN2). (i) Replaced the CAN bus splitter connected to 2B2 at the end of the line (closer to the hand), by installed a transparent instead of a black filter; transparent = closed filter i.e. terminator with resistor, black = no resistor. (ii) Installed a replacement MC4 board. More details at https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/156

2015

• 2015-12-02: left hand repaired.
• 2015-10-28: installed new icub-cuda server (10.10.1.51): 12 x i7-5820K, 16GB memory, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980.
• 2015-08-31: set GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT=5 on icubbrain1, icubbrain2, in order to boot successfully after a power failure. See also http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-Common-GRUB2-Issue
• 2015-05-xx: right wrist problem, see https://github.com/robotology/icub-support/issues/23
• 2015-02-20: replacement waist cable arrived and installed.
• 2015-02-16: waist cable broken.
• 2015-02-12: new machine icub-cuda (10.10.1.51), for now a desktop, set up to run CUDA-enabled modules of stereo vision and IOL, replacing cortex1.
• 2015-01-15: new Toshiba Qosmio iCub laptop deployed to replace chico3. This machine also acts as the new NFS server for the cluster.

2014

• 2014-11-12/13: Stefano Saliceti and Julien Jenvrin (IIT) at IST to repair both robot shoulders and the skin.
• 2014-11-03: left elbow broken.
• 2014-09-25: upgraded robot arrived after 8 weeks.
• 2014-07-31: iCubLisboa01 leaves the lab for hardware upgrades in Italy (skin).
• 2014-06-18: right camera image was going black from time to time. Replacing the flex cable fixed the problem.
• 2014-06-18: repaired forearm arrived after 27 days.
• 2014-05-22: left forearm sent to Italy for repair.
• 2014-05-08: backlash in left forearm wrist motor. Backlash video, Motor noise video, Wrist motion video
• 2014-05-06: icub-main (git) installed on all machines, including pc104.
• 2014-02-21: pc104 clock was off by one hour. Fixed ntp service by issuing sudo dpkg -i --force-overwrite /var/cache/apt/archives/ntp_1%3a4.2.6.p2+dfsg-1+b1_i386.deb and setting the timezone to Lisbon (sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata). See also 2011-11-18.
• 2014-02-06: repaired forearm arrived after three weeks.
• 2014-01-20: IIT technicians confirmed the problem at the encoder attached to the pronosupination motor.
• 2014-01-16: right forearm sent to Italy for repair.
• 2014-01-09: right arm pronosupination problem (j4).
• 2014-01-07: head/torso (CAN0) problem solved by manually setting CAN0 ID14 instead of ID15 in canLoader.

2013

• 2013-12-2x: head/torso (CAN0) problems, see this thread for details.
• 2013-11-xx: presently, chico3 acts as NFS server for chico3,icubbrains,cortex1, while icubsrv (to be retired in the future) still acts as NFS server for pc104.
• 2013-11-19: upgrading icubsrv (Dell XPS laptop) Ubuntu version, installing common repositories there, shared with NFS to the other machines.
• 2013-11-01: often experiencing a problem where the wholeBodyDynamics module does not start, due to force/torque sensors not being found at iCubInterface startup.
• 2013-07-03: CFW2 board problem (cfw2can error). Replacing the board solved it.
• 2013-06-25: following new requirements (see this email), manually installed a new version of CMake on pc104.
• 2013-06-2x: robot mounted on a new, lower metal base on the floor. Occasionally, iCubInterface does not start the motors. Possibly a loose contact after the transport.
• 2013-05-10: new setup where some machines (pc104, chico3, icubbrains, cortex1) are directly connected via a fast Cisco switch (http://10.10.1.252/, empty, qb...). Got 640x480@30Hz images with Bayer encoding working (see also 2012-08-15 entry).
• 2013-05-0x: new yarp and iCub repositories installed on all machines. Old configuration files are backed up.
• 2013-04-29/30: problems with arms (solved by swapping left/right flat cable), occasional Force/Torque sensor problem in impedance control (temporary solution: close and re-launch demoGrasp).
• 2013-04-26: replacement parts arrived from IIT (gearbox and pulley for hand, flat cable linking BLL and BLP for arm). After installing them, both arms and hands are working again.
• 2013-04-08: video conference with Italy (Julien Jenvrin) to analyze two ongoing issues: left fingers and right shoulder.
• 2013-04-02: iCubLisboa01 arms and new CFW2 boards arrived after about 2 months.
• 2013-01-24: iCubLisboa01 arms sent to Italy for repair (they reached their destination the next day).

2012

• 2012-12-18: replacement BLP board and adhesive tape arrived and installed, robot operational again.
• 2012-12-05: robot left shoulder and neck repaired. Torso: one BLP board is faulty. We are going to swap it with a functioning BLP board in the right leg, thus having a working torso and a disabled right leg.
• 2012-11-30: robot left shoulder, neck and torso malfunctioning.
• 2012-10-26: robot right shoulder fixed.
• 2012-10-15: robot right shoulder broken, right arm temporarily disabled in iCubInterface and demoGrasp configuration.
• 2012-08-15: pc104 configured to support 640x480@30Hz images with Bayer encoding. Requires libraw1394-dev libdc1394-22-dev packages. See also this email and this guide by Lorenzo Natale. Added the following line on chico3,pc104,icubbrains /etc/sysctl.conf: net.core.rmem_max=8388608
• 2012-07-11: problem in the CFW2 board FireWire interface to the two cameras: sometimes FireWire devices are not listed as available, not even at OS level. A pc104 reboot may or may not fix the problem, depending on your luck.
• 2012-07-0x: firmware of robot parts upgraded again, following this message by Ugo. CAN6, board #14 (MAIS) in the right hand sometimes is not responding, possibly a bad contact, however it was now upgraded too.
• 2012-05-2x: major reconfiguration from Ugo and Vadim (IIT). Environment variables and software (OpenCV, IPOPT) reconfigured on all machines. Firmware of robot parts upgraded.

2011

• 2011-11-18: Configured icubsrv laptop so that it sees the internet (DNS servers in /etc/resolv.conf). TODO: pc104 ntp
• 2011-10-xx: ongoing software updates and tests; currently there is a major mechanical issue with the head tilt (j0)
• 2011-10-12: upgraded iCubLisboa01 returns to the lab after about 3 months
• 2011-07-04: iCubLisboa01 leaves the lab for hardware upgrades in Italy (headV2, force/torque sensors, touch sensors)
• 2011-03-07: iCubInterface is shutting down gracefully. Was due to zombie processes (iKinCartesianSolvers on the icubbrain2). [The problem was trivial but I am not deleting these posts as it might help in troubleshooting in the future --ashish]. By the way, there are still some Can Errors on Boards 1 and 6.
• 2011-03-07: iCubInterface has not been shutting down gracefully. This behavior was seen earlier as well when we were having troubles with the iCub head (Last time it was probably due to a cable being pulled around the neck).

From the iCubInterface:-
pcan [0] thread ran 596 times, req.dT:10[ms], av.dT:10.05[ms] av.loopT :0.03[ms]
 Can Errors --  Device Tx:1 Rx:0 TxOvf: 1 RxOvf BusOff: 0 -- Driver Fifo Tx:0 Rx:0
pcan [0] printing boards errors:
None
pcan [2] thread ran 596 times, req.dT:10[ms], av.dT:10.05[ms] av.loopT :0.04[ms]
 Can Errors --  Device Tx:2 Rx:0 TxOvf: 2 RxOvf BusOff: 81 -- Driver Fifo Tx:0 Rx:81
pcan [2] printing boards errors:
None

• 2011-03-07: Joint 15 of the right arm is making noises (Nuno suspects that there is something wrong with the gearbox. Only 1 gearbox left in stock. Should order more)
• 2011-03-07: iCubInterface no more board errors (appears to be random: probably some cable is loose)
• 2011-03-07: iCubInterface could not contact boards 6, 8, 9, 10
• 2011-03-07: iCubInterface behaving wierdly: Board 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 could not be contacted
• 2011-03-07: right arm fixed
• 2011-03-07: right arm broken (cable broken near the elbow)
• 2011-02-08: head not working properly. Fixed (some cables connecting head to neck were not working well)
• 2011-01-25: eyes calibrated

2010

• 2010-12-30: robot right arm fixed; problem with torso though
• 2010-12-27: robot right arm broken
• 2010-11-08: left arm fixed. Joint j15 of right arm does not work correctly, though. iCubInterface can be executed safely with any config file.
• 2010-10-08: left arm broken. For the time being, disable it by running iCubInterface --from iCubInterfaceSimpleLeftArmDisabled.ini
• 2010-09-02: changed two of the software zeros head tilt and eye tilt to set the optical axis parallel to the robot X,Y coordinate axes. This change was made in the following file: $ICUB_ROOT/app/iCubLisboa01/conf/icub_head_safe.ini
• 2010-07-13: the problem with demoAffV2 was fixed: it is necessary to link to a specific version of /usr/local/lib/libcxcore.a for PNL to work.
• 2010-06-02: added the following line in $ICUB_ROOT/app/iCubLisboa01/conf/icubEyes.ini, under the groups CAMERA_CALIBRATION_LEFT and _RIGHT. This change makes camCalib run again at 30 fps, thus improving other vision modules e.g. ball tracker as well:

 fps 30

• 2010-02-08: changed one of the software joint limits of the torso to reflect our real (hardware) limit: 70->35 degrees. This change was made in the following files: $ICUB_ROOT/app/iCubLisboa01/conf/{icub_head_safe,icub_head_torso,icub_head_torso_raw,icub_head_torso_safe,icub_torso_safe}.ini
• 2010-02-04: updated yarp and iCub on: chico3, icubsrv (for pc104), icubbrains. Fixed ntp (time) hook script, hopefully for good this time.

2009

• 2009-12-21: right wrist is currently broken, left one is working. Please use iCubInterface --from iCubInterfaceRightArmDisabled.ini for the time being
• 2009-12-09: updated YARP and iCub on chico3 (current issue: openvislab libraries, Christian is looking into it) and on cortex1-5 (there was an issue with iKinCartesianSolver; toggling USE_ICUB_MOD to off fixed it for now)
• 2009-09-23: both arms working. You can safely use icubSafe.ini again.
• 2009-09-21: left wrist is currently broken, right one is working. Please use iCubInterface --config $ICUB_ROOT/app/iCubLisboa01/icubSafeLeftArmDisabled.ini
• 2009-09-21: checked controllers firmware build numbers - they match the latest releases. (alex)
• 2009-09-18: updated controllers firmware. (alex)
• 2009-09-18: both the iCub wrists are currently broken
• 2009-09-16: upgraded pc104, icubsrv and boot scripts. Still missing: ntp (time).
• 2009-09-16: installed yarp and iCub on chico3. Custom, uncommited files that used to be in /home/icub/iCub/app/{default,iCubLisboa01}/{conf,scripts} are backed up in /home/icub/iCub_cvs.
• 2009-09-14: installed yarp (2.2.5rc0, revision 7446) and iCub (revision 727) on cortex1-5. iKin was complaining about not finding libipopt.so.0; this was fixed by setting the environment variable

 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/Ipopt-3.5.5-linux-x86_32-gcc4.2.4/lib/

into /home/icub/.bash_env.

• 2009-09-11: installed yarp2 and iCub SVN on cortex6.