Connect a real SO-101 arm

Everything happens in the app: open Robot: SO101 → Mode: Real robot → Set up. This page explains each step. Try every step first with the Virtual SO-101 (pick it as the port): it behaves like a real arm, so you can learn the flow without hardware.

What you need

1 · Connect

Switch the arm's power on, plug its USB cable into the computer, pick the port and press Connect. The app checks that all six servos answer and shows the supply voltage and servo temperatures. On a Mac the arm appears as /dev/cu.usbmodem… or /dev/cu.usbserial….

Then press Run self-test. It checks that all six servos answer and are the right model, how fast and reliable the USB link is, each servo's mode, torque limit, supply voltage, temperature and error flags, and (once the arm is calibrated) that the saved calibration matches and the wrist really bends 6° and back. Every problem comes with what to do about it. Run it again whenever something feels off.

2 · Arm calibration (once per arm)

The app learns how each servo is mounted. The torque switches off, so hold the arm, then:

a) Reference pose

Move the arm into this "L" pose and press Record reference pose. It does not need to be perfect: the camera step later measures and corrects the small error.

b) Directions

For each joint the app shows one of these pictures. Move that joint the way the arrow shows, by about a quarter turn; the app moves on by itself.

c) Range

Move every joint slowly from one end of its travel to the other (as far as it goes without hitting the table) and open the gripper fully once. When the bars are full, press Finish. The limits are stored in the app and written to the servos, so they refuse to go further.

Check: with the torque off, move the arm by hand. The 3D arm must follow exactly. If one joint goes the wrong way, run the calibration again.

3 · Camera

Place the camera 40-55 cm from the base and 35-45 cm high, looking down at about 45°, so it sees the whole work area. Fix it firmly: if it moves, redo step 4. Light the table evenly.

4 · Camera calibration

Stick 6 small tape marks on the table at the positions in the layout above (measured from the centre of the robot's base; they do not have to be exact). Clear the table of objects. Then for each mark:

1. With the torque off, close the gripper and rest the jaw tips on the centre of the mark.
2. Click the same mark in the camera image.

Press Solve. The app finds where the camera is and how wide it sees, and uses the touches to correct small arm-posing errors. A GOOD result is within a few pixels; a mark far off means a mis-click or a slipped touch: remove it and redo it. Then Save.

5 · Test

Switch the torque on, press Home, tick click to hover and click a spot on the table in the camera image: the jaw tips go 2 cm above it. If they land on the spot, you are done. Also set the speed (start at 30-40 %).

Running tasks

Put the objects on the table, type a command and press Run. With the real robot, Claude plans and points at objects in the real camera image (the Demo planner only works with the virtual robot, which knows where its objects are). Tick Dry run in Options to see the plan and the motion in the 3D view without moving the arm. The first real run asks you to confirm.

Results on the real robot cannot be checked automatically; the app reports "Finished without errors" and you judge the outcome. With the virtual robot, results are verified.

Troubleshooting