rcb4

Prerequisite

Linux users have to install udev <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udev>_ rules for rcb4 supported boards/devices. The latest version of the rules may be found at https://github.com/iory/rcb4/tree/main/rcb4/assets/system/99-rcb4-udev.rules

This file must be placed at /etc/udev/rules.d/99-rcb4-udev.rules (preferred location) or /lib/udev/rules.d/99-rcb4-udev.rules (required on some broken systems).

Please open the system Terminal and type

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/iory/rcb4/main/rcb4/assets/system/99-rcb4-udev.rules | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-rcb4-udev.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

Or you can manually download and copy the file to a destination folder

sudo cp 99-rcb4-udev.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/99-rcb4-udev.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

Ubuntu/Debian users may need to add own “username” to the “dialout” group if they are not “root”, doing this issuing

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
sudo usermod -a -G plugdev $USER

Install

pip install rcb4

Write firmware

Connect st-link and run the following command.

rcb4-write-firmware

Change Servo ID (ics-manager)

The ics-manager command allows you to change servo IDs and configure servo parameters.

Requirements

• Kondo Dual USB Adapter HS
• ICS servo (KRS series, etc.)

Setup

1. Set the Dual USB Adapter to ICS mode

   Switch the mode selector on the Dual USB Adapter to ICS mode. When properly set, the LED will light up red.

   

2. Connect only ONE servo at a time

   ⚠️ Important: Connect only one servo when changing IDs. If multiple servos are connected, all of them will have their IDs changed simultaneously, which can cause conflicts.

Platform Support

• Linux: Works out of the box after installing udev rules (see Prerequisite section)
• macOS: Supported via pyftdi (automatically installed)

Usage

ics-manager

The interactive interface allows you to:

• View current servo ID
• Change servo ID using arrow keys (←→) and Enter to confirm
• Adjust servo angle, speed, and stretch parameters
• Toggle rotation mode (for continuous rotation servos)
• Toggle free mode (disable servo holding torque)
• Reset servo position

Keyboard Controls

Key	Action
↑↓	Navigate between options
←→	Adjust selected value
Enter	Confirm servo ID change
z	Reset servo to zero position
r	Toggle rotation mode
f	Toggle free mode
d	Reset to default EEPROM parameters
q	Quit

Contributing

Automatic Formatting

This repository uses ruff for both linting and formatting which is configured in pyproject.toml, you can run with:

pip install ruff
ruff format
ruff check --fix .

Clang-Format

To install clang-format, you can use the following command:

pip install clang-format

Once installed, you can format your files using a .clang-format configuration file. To format a file, run:

clang-format -i <filename>

Replace <filename> with the name of the file you want to format. The -i option tells clang-format to edit the file in place.

For JSK Users

Worm Gear Module Calibration Tool

armh7-tools provides a comprehensive solution for calibrating and managing worm gear modules connected via the ARMH7Interface. It facilitates the calibration of worm gears, reading of calibrated sensor data, and real-time display of sensor and worm gear values. Designed for flexibility, it supports operations like calibration data update and in-place modification of YAML configuration files.

YAML Configuration Format

The calibration tool requires an input YAML file for worm gear modules configuration. This file contains a list of worm gears with their associated parameters: worm_id, servo_id, sensor_id, and initial magnetic encoder value magenc_init. Each worm gear is represented by a line in the YAML file with its parameters encapsulated in curly braces and prefixed by a dash, indicating a list item in YAML syntax.

 - {worm_id: 0, servo_id: 0, sensor_id: 38, magenc_init: 6502}
 - {worm_id: 1, servo_id: 2, sensor_id: 40, magenc_init: 3039}
 - {worm_id: 3, servo_id: 6, sensor_id: 44, magenc_init: 9502}

Reading Worm Gear Modules's calibration data

armh7-tools read-calib [--device DEVICE] output_file_path

--device, -d: Specify the device port. (Default: None) output_file_path: Path to output the YAML file with calibration data.

Example

armh7-tools read-calib ./worm_calib.yaml

Calibrate Worm Gear Modules

armh7-tools calibrate [--device DEVICE] file_path [--inplace] [--update] [--output OUTPUT]

--device, -d: Specify the device port. (Default: None) file_path: Path to the input YAML file containing worm gear configurations. --inplace, -i: Overwrite the input YAML file with calibration results. (Optional) --update, -u: Ignore and overwrite the current magenc_init values in the input YAML. (Optional) --output, -o: Specify a path to save the calibrated data if not overwriting in-place. (Optional)

Example

When the update option is specified, the current posture of the robot will be modified, and upon pressing the Enter key, the angle at that moment will be set as the zero point. Consequently, the magenc_init value will be updated and written to the board,

armh7-tools calibrate ./worm_calib.yaml --update

Print Sensor Values

This command displays real-time sensor values in a table format.

armh7-tools print-sensor
+------|----------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|----------|----------|----------|----------+
|   ID |   Magenc |   Proximity1 |   Proximity2 |   Proximity3 |   Proximity4 |   Force1 |   Force2 |   Force3 |   Force4 |
|------|----------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|----------|----------|----------|----------|
|   19 |     7365 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |     1240 |     1167 |     1083 |     1037 |
|   20 |     3042 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |     1209 |     1106 |     1075 |     1025 |
|   21 |    13800 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |     1230 |     1106 |     1064 |     1003 |
|   22 |     9512 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |     1222 |     1144 |     1123 |     1085 |
|   23 |    14182 |            0 |            0 |            0 |            0 |     1238 |     1179 |     1083 |     1040 |
+------|----------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|----------|----------|----------|----------+

Print Worm Values

Displays real-time worm gear values in a table format.

armh7-tools print-worm
+------------|-------------|---------------|------------------|-----------------+
|   servo_id |   sensor_id |   magenc_init |   magenc_present |   present_angle |
|------------|-------------|---------------|------------------|-----------------|
|          0 |          38 |          6502 |             7368 |      -19.0283   |
|          2 |          40 |          3039 |             3039 |       -0        |
|          6 |          44 |          9502 |             9513 |       -0.241699 |
|          8 |          46 |          9783 |            14170 |      -96.394    |
+------------|-------------|---------------|------------------|-----------------+