ICub instructions

This article explains how to manage Chico for demos and experiments alike. We will describe the hardware setup that accompanies our iCub, how to turn things on and off, and how to run demos.

An older version of this article can be found here: Innovation Days 2009.

Setup

The inventory consists of:

machine	notes	IP address, username
Chico the robot (duh)	has a pc104 CPU in its head	10.10.1.50, icub
icubsrv Dell XPS laptop	don't worry about this machine, just keep it switched on. It contains a hard disk that gets mounted by Chico's read-only CPU at boot time	10.10.1.51, icub
chico3 Tsunami 17" laptop	we will use this machine for YARP and all demo management	10.10.1.53, icub

Below Chico's table, from top to bottom we have:

what	notes	IP address (server name), username
iCubBrain chassis	contains two servers used for computation	10.10.1.41 (icubbrain1), 10.10.1.42 (icubbrain2), icub
Xantrex XFR 35-35	thin power supply unit, to power pc104 and some motors. Voltage: 12.9, current: 02.6	-
Xantrex XFR 60-46	thick power supply unit, to power most motors. Voltage: 44.5 (initially it is 0 - it changes when you turn the green motor switch), current: 01.1	-
APC UPS	uninterruptible power supply	-

Switching on the robot

• Check that the UPS is on
• Turn on icubsrv (Dell XPS laptop)
• Turn on chico3 (Tsunami 17" laptop), the display machine that we will use to actually control the demos
• Turn on the Xantrex power supply units
• Check that the red emergency button is unlocked
• Turn on the green switches behind Chico
  • Safety hint: first turn on the pc104 CPU switch, wait for the CPU to be on, and only then switch the motors on
  • Second safety hint, after turning on motors: wait for the four purple lights on each board to turn off and become two blue lights – at this point you can continue to the next steps, namely starting iCubInterface
• Start the needed YARP components with the Cluster Manager GUI: one instance of yarpserver plus all necessary instances of yarprun (one per each machine that will do computation; for an explanation of this tool, see Cluster Management in VisLab)
• Depending on which demo you want to execute, you will probably need to start iCubInterface and the cameras
• Depending on your demo, you might need to power up icubbrain1 (left half of server chassis) and/or icubbrain2 (right half)

Shutting off the robot

• Stop your demo software and the cameras with the respective application manager GUIs; do not stop yarpserver yet
• Go to the (yellow) pc104 iCubInterface shell window and stop the program hitting ctrl+c, just once. Chico will thus move its limbs and head to a "parking" position. (If things don't quit gracefully, hit ctrl+c more times and be ready to hold Chico's chest since the head may fall to the front.)
• Now, with the Cluster Manager GUI stop the instances of yarprun, and then yarpserver (see Cluster Management in VisLab for details)
• Optionally, shut down the pc104 gracefully by typing this in the yellow pc104 shell window: sudo shutdown -h now
• Turn off the two green switches. Pay attention when turning off the 'Motors' switch: if iCubInterface was not stopped properly in the previous steps, then be ready to hold the robot when turning that switch
• Turn off the Xantrex power supply units
• Turn off chico3 (Tsunami 17" laptop)
• If necessary, turn off icubsrv (Dell XPS laptop) and the UPS

Stopping the robot with the red emergency button

The emergency button, as the name suggests, is to be used for emergencies only. For example:

• When the robot is about to break something
• When some components make nasty noises that suggest they are going to break

Use this button with great care, as it cuts power to all motors and controllers abruptly! In particular, be ready to hold Chico from his chest, because the upper part of his body might fall upon losing power.

To start using the robot again, it is convenient to quit and restart all the software components and interfaces; refer to #Switching on the robot for that. Don't forget to unlock the red emergency button after an emergency, otherwise the program #iCubInterface will start but not move any joint.

Starting YARP components

Launch the graphical Cluster Manager application on the chico3 laptop, by typing this in a terminal:

  cd $ICUB_ROOT/app/default/scripts
  ./icub-cluster.py $ICUB_ROOT/app/$ICUB_ROBOTNAME/scripts/vislab-cluster.xml

yarpserver

Click 'Run' to launch yarpserver on chico3. The light above the 'Stop' button will become green.

yarprun

Now we are ready to start yarprun on all the machines we need (necessary for several YARP modules distributed on different machines to communicate with one another). In the 'Select' column, make sure that only the following machines are selected with a red light:

• chico3
• pc104
• icubbrain1

Click 'Run Selected' and wait a bit so that all machines can turn on their green 'On' light. The pc104 can be slow and, sometimes, unpredictable (if it doesn't find the yarpserver, you will need to write the following line into yarp conf: 10.10.1.53 40000).

Do all the selected machines have their 'On/Off' switch green by now? If so, proceed to the next step. If not, click on 'Check All' and see if we have a green light from the pc104 at this point. You should see something like this:

Other components

Many demos and programs assume that components such as cameras, the iCubInterface driver or the facial expression driver have been launched. Here is how to run these blocks.

Cameras

Open a chico3 console and type:

  cd $ICUB_ROOT/app/default/scripts
  ./manager.py cameras_320x240.xml

That XML file is actually located in $ICUB_ROOT/app/$ICUB_ROBOTNAME/scripts/. Resource Finder gives priority to that directory, when $ICUB_ROBOTNAME is defined, as is the case for us (iCubLisboa01).

Alternatively, the second command can use the cameras_640x480.xml configuration, if you need a larger resolution.

iCubInterface

This program controls the motors and reads the inertial sensors. In practice, all demos assume that iCubInterface is already running in the background.

To start iCubInterface, check that the red emergency button is unlocked and type this on a pc104 console:

  iCubInterface --config $ICUB_ROOT/app/iCubLisboa01/conf/icubSafe.ini

Ugo Patacini suggests:

  iCubInterface --from icubInterfaceCartesian.ini

and wait for all boards to answer (which takes around 1 minute); after that, you are ready to move on. Note: in case the left arm/wrist is broken, use icubSafeLeftArmDisabled.ini, and so on if the right arm/wrist is broken.

Keep the pc104 shell window open or minimize it; you will use it again when you quit iCubInterface. For instructions about quitting, refer to section #Shutting off the robot.

There is a GUI application to interact with iCubInterface and command robot joints. Just invoke it from the display machine with:

robotMotorGui

Facial Expressions

Open a pc104 console and type:

cd $ICUB_ROOT/app/faceExpressions/scripts
./emotions.sh $ICUB_ROOT/app/iCubLisboa01/conf

Specific demos

Refer to Innovation Days 2009 for now.