AUTHOR: Kevin Shin

Visual chart made by Alexis

Outcome

Initial Goal: Configure Luos board (flash Luos Core firmware) & test access API using RPi

Realized Outcome: We are able to access Luos via RPi & Lessons Learned

Steps to achieve outcome

Outline/Framework/Recipe/Steps

• SETUP:

  1. Raspberry Pi 4 with the SD card image provided by Pollen
     • v1.3.0 image - https://github.com/pollen-robotics/reachy/releases/tag/v1.3.0
     • Instruction to setup RPi - https://pollen-robotics.github.io/reachy-docs/docs/getting-started/connect-to-your-robot/
  2. Luos Gate module & Dynamixel module with newly flashed firmware
     • Instruction for flashing Luos modules - https://pollen-robotics.github.io/reachy-docs/docs/appendices/flash-luos-module/
  3. Connect the RaspberryPi to the Luos Gate using a usb cable (no other power module was used)

• WHAT WE DID:

  1. Connect to the NUC (AnyDesk Remote Desktop Software) - https://www.notion.so/Nuc-a920e2c5419440c6889c4f9df79ce373

  2. Once you access NUC, SSH into the Raspberry Pi4 with the Reachy software (snapshot below)

     • ssh [email protected]

     • password:

       

  3. Use the command to discover attached Luos modules (snapshot below)

     • Command: pyluos-usb-gate discover

       Result: attached Luos modules will be listed - we have 2 Luos modules detected

       

  4. Launch Python3 (you may need to pip install Pyluos if the below import command does not work)

  5. From the Python (Pyluos) access the Luos API

     • from pyluos import Device

     • device = Device('/dev/ttyUSB0'). ←ttyUSB0 is the module address that was detected above

     • From here, you can use the Pyluos commands - we used 'device.modules' command to enumerate the Luos modules available on the board.

       

  • LESSONS LEARNED:

    1. Initially we took the above steps with only the Luos Gate module attached to the RaspberryPi. When we sent the "pyluos-usb-gate discover" command, it only returned one module - '/dev/ttyAMA0'

       When we tried to call it from the Pyluos, following error occurred.

       

    2. We suspect that it has to do with some type of handshake that happens between the Luos boards and you must have Luos Gate + another Luos board connected in order to access the API.

    3. Next Step: Since the Luos is open source, it maybe worthwhile to take a deeper look in the firmware (called Luos Core) if you are interested in learning more about the Luos Distributed Modular architecture.

  Reference material

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  Key Learning:

  • Better understanding of the Luos firmware

  Issues and Blockers:

  • Still lack the understanding of the different Luos electronics modules