Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide

5 | kinovarobotics.com

KINOVA

Gen3

Ultra lightweight

robot

User Guide

Contents

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 1

Welcome.................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Intended domains of application......................................................................................................................1

About this document.............................................................................................................................................1

Acronyms and abbreviations............................................................................................................................. 1

Warranty...................................................................................................................................................................4

EU Declaration of Incorporation...................................................................................................................... 4

FCC Declaration of Comformity........................................................................................................................6

Safety directives and warnings........................................................................................................................ 7

Disclaimer...............................................................................................................................................................10

Risk assessment.................................................................................................................................................. 10

Normal use deﬁnition......................................................................................................................................... 11

Applicable ﬁrmware and API versions..........................................................................................................11

Robot components............................................................................................................................................... 13

Overview..................................................................................................................................................................13

Base.......................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Quick connect base..................................................................................................................................15

Fixed base...................................................................................................................................................16

Base connector panel.............................................................................................................................17

Base mounting interface.......................................................................................................................18

Actuators................................................................................................................................................................20

Interface module.................................................................................................................................................20

Vision module....................................................................................................................................................... 23

Robot communications and network interfaces......................................................................................25

Getting started......................................................................................................................................................27

Overview.................................................................................................................................................................27

What's in the case?............................................................................................................................................ 27

Manipulating the robot joints when the robot is powered o............................................................29

Robot mounting options...................................................................................................................................29

Mounting the robot on a tabletop with mounting plate and table clamp........................... 29

Mounting the robot on a horizontal surface without the table clamp................................. 32

Mounting plate bolting pattern..........................................................................................................33

Base mounting interface bolting pattern.......................................................................................34

Mounting the robot on a wall or ceiling......................................................................................... 35

Robot power adapter and E-stop................................................................................................................. 38

Powering robot from a battery via a custom wiring harness............................................................. 38

Powering on the robot...................................................................................................................................... 39

Power-up, booting, and initialization sequence.......................................................................................40

Resetting the robot to factory settings.......................................................................................................41

Operating the robot............................................................................................................................................ 41

Overview of operating the robot........................................................................................................41

Supported control devices................................................................................................................... 41

Home and retract positions................................................................................................................. 51

Putting the robot into admittance using the interface buttons...............................................51

Connecting a computer to the robot............................................................................................................52

Connection options................................................................................................................................. 52

Connecting a computer to the robot via Ethernet (for the ﬁrst time)................................... 53

Kinova® Kortex™ Web App.................................................................................................................. 55

Changing the robot wired connection IP address and connecting the robot to a

LAN.......................................................................................................................................................... 57

Connecting a computer to the robot via Wi-Fi............................................................................. 58

Assigning a static IP address for Wi-Fi to the robot...................................................................59

Dimensions, speciﬁcations, and capabilities...............................................................................................61

Schematic and dimensions - 7 DoF spherical wrist................................................................................ 61

Schematic and dimensions - 6 DoF spherical wrist............................................................................... 62

Technical Speciﬁcations....................................................................................................................................63

Sensors................................................................................................................................................................... 66

Eective workspace........................................................................................................................................... 67

Payload vs. workspace......................................................................................................................................69

Wrist interface, tool expansion, and vision.................................................................................................70

Interface module expansion - tips for installing tools..........................................................................70

End eector reference design............................................................................................................. 71

Removing end cap from the interface module............................................................................. 74

Robotiq Adaptive Grippers installation (optional)....................................................................... 75

Robotiq 2F-85 and 2F-140 Gripper default conﬁguration settings reference.................... 79

Interface module bolting pattern......................................................................................................80

Interface module user expansion connector pinout.................................................................. 80

Using interface module expansion to control devices via API................................................ 82

Spring-loaded connector pinout........................................................................................................82

Accessing Vision module color and depth streams................................................................................83

Concepts and terminology................................................................................................................................85

Robot key concepts and terminology.......................................................................................................... 85

Robot control........................................................................................................................................................ 92

High-level and low-level robot control...................................................................................................... 92

High-level and low-level robot control methods reference................................................................92

Control features...................................................................................................................................................95

Singularity avoidance.............................................................................................................................95

Protection zones......................................................................................................................................96

Joint limits..................................................................................................................................................97

Cartesian limits...................................................................................................................................... 100

Conﬁgurable limits................................................................................................................................100

High-level control modes description........................................................................................................101

Trajectory control modes................................................................................................................... 102

Joystick control modes........................................................................................................................103

Admittance modes................................................................................................................................104

Force Control modes............................................................................................................................104

Low-level control detailed description..................................................................................................... 105

Low-level control implementation................................................................................................. 105

Low-level feedback.............................................................................................................................. 106

Low-level commands...........................................................................................................................109

Waypoint trajectories.......................................................................................................................................110

Angular waypoints.................................................................................................................................110

Cartesian waypoints.............................................................................................................................. 111

Validation of a waypoint list...............................................................................................................111

Conﬁgurations and safeties............................................................................................................................112

Conﬁgurable parameters................................................................................................................................ 112

Control library conﬁguration..............................................................................................................112

Base conﬁguration.................................................................................................................................114

Actuators conﬁguration....................................................................................................................... 115

Interface conﬁguration.........................................................................................................................117

Device conﬁguration..............................................................................................................................117

Vision conﬁguration...............................................................................................................................117

Safety items......................................................................................................................................................... 119

Base safeties........................................................................................................................................... 119

Actuators safeties..................................................................................................................................121

Interface module safeties.................................................................................................................. 123

Kinova® Kortex™ Web App User Guide....................................................................................................... 126

Introduction......................................................................................................................................................... 126

Purpose................................................................................................................................................................. 126

Device availability of Web App.....................................................................................................................126

Platform and browser support.................................................................................................................... 128

User login.............................................................................................................................................................128

Web App layout and navigation...................................................................................................................130

Robot control panel..........................................................................................................................................134

Pose virtual joystick control..............................................................................................................134

Angular virtual joystick control........................................................................................................136

Virtual joystick keyboard shortcuts................................................................................................ 137

Admittance modes panel....................................................................................................................139

Actions panel.......................................................................................................................................... 139

Camera panel.......................................................................................................................................... 139

Snapshot tool..........................................................................................................................................139

Main pages.......................................................................................................................................................... 140

Conﬁgurations page group................................................................................................................ 140

Safeties......................................................................................................................................................153

Operations page group........................................................................................................................153

Systems page group.............................................................................................................................167

Users...........................................................................................................................................................173

Kinova® Kortex™ Developer Guide............................................................................................................... 176

Introduction......................................................................................................................................................... 176

Devices and services........................................................................................................................................ 176

Available services.............................................................................................................................................. 177

Services, methods, and messages.............................................................................................................. 178

Kinova

Kortex™ API and Google Protocol Buer................................................................................. 178

Service client-server model...........................................................................................................................179

Blocking and non-blocking calls.................................................................................................................. 179

Users, connections and sessions.................................................................................................................179

Device routing and transport....................................................................................................................... 180

Robot servoing modes..................................................................................................................................... 181

High-level servoing............................................................................................................................... 181

Low-level servoing............................................................................................................................... 182

Low-level bypass servoing................................................................................................................182

Notiﬁcations........................................................................................................................................................ 183

Error management............................................................................................................................................183

Error codes.............................................................................................................................................. 183

Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub repository............................................................................................................187

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS packages and GitHub repository overview...................................................188

Kinova

Kortex™ MATLAB

API and GitHub repository overview....................................................188

Working with camera streams using GStreamer...................................................................................189

Windows command examples......................................................................................................... 189

Linux command examples................................................................................................................. 190

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS vision module package and Github overview...............................................190

Guidance for advanced users......................................................................................................................... 191

Overview................................................................................................................................................................191

Reference frames and transformations.................................................................................................... 191

Standard robot frames.........................................................................................................................191

Homogeneous transforms................................................................................................................. 192

Homogeneous transform matrices - 7 DoF spherical wrist................................................... 192

Homogeneous transform matrices - 6 DoF spherical wrist...................................................194

Vision module sensors reference frames.....................................................................................196

Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters............................................................................................197

Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters - 7 DoF spherical wrist............................................. 198

Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters - 6 DoF spherical wrist............................................. 199

7 DoF singular conﬁgurations.......................................................................................................................201

6 DoF singular conﬁgurations......................................................................................................................202

Inertial parameters deﬁnition......................................................................................................................203

Inertial parameters of the 7 DoF robot.................................................................................................... 204

Inertial parameters of the 6 DoF robot.................................................................................................... 207

Maintenance and troubleshooting............................................................................................................... 210

Maintenance........................................................................................................................................................210

Troubleshooting................................................................................................................................................. 212

Base LEDs interpretation....................................................................................................................213

How to respond to safety warnings and errors.........................................................................214

Contacting Kinova support.................................................................................................................216

Harmonized Standards, Declarations and Certiﬁcates.......................................................................... 217

Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 1

Introduction

Welcome

Welcome to the Kinova

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot.

Thank you for choosing our robot as a tool for your applications.

This document is meant to provide you with all the information you need to get up and running with

your new robot and get the most out of it.

We are here to help you in your journey. If you need any help or have any questions about how to

get to where you want to go with the robot, please feel free to contact our support team:

www.kinovarobotics.com/support

Intended domains of application

The robot is intended for speciﬁc domains of application.

This product is intended for the research and professional ﬁelds.

The robot should not be used as an assistance robot for people with reduced mobility.

The robot can be used for research on assistive tasks as long as no clinical trial is carried out.

About this document

General information about the user guide.

Read all instructions before using this product and any third-party options.

Read all warnings on the product and in this guide.

This document contains information regarding product setup and operation. It is intended for

Kinova product end users.

All third-party product names, logos, and brands appearing herein are the property of their

respective owners and are for identiﬁcation purposes only. Their use in this document is not meant

to imply endorsement by Kinova.

Kinova has made every effort to ensure that this document is accurate, accessible and complete. As

part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we welcome any comments or suggestions at

www.kinovarobotics.com/support.

From time to time, Kinova will make udpates to this document. To download the most up to date

version of this document, visit the product technical resources page on the Kinova website.

For general inquiries please contact us at +1 (514) 277-3777

Acronyms and abbreviations

API

Application Programming Interface

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 2

CIDR

Classless Inter-Domain Routing

CISPR

Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques

End Effector

EMI

Electromagnetic Interference

FOV

Field of View

fps

frames per second

GPI

General Purpose Input

GPIO

General Purpose Input/Output

HDMI

High-Deﬁnition Multimedia Interface

Integrated Circuit

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Inter-Integrated Circuit (bus)

I/O

Input / Output

Ingress Protection or Internet Protocol

Information Technology

ISO

International Organization for Standardization

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 3

LED

Light-Emitting Diode

NVRAM

Non-Volatile Random-Access Memory

Personal Computer

ROS

Robot Operating System

RPC

Remote Procedure Call

RPM

Revolutions Per Minute

Recommended Standard

Receiver

SSID

Service Set IDentiﬁer

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

Transmitter

UART

Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter

UDP

User Datagram Protocol

USB

Universal Serial Bus

Underwriters Laboratory

Ultraviolet light

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 4

VLAN

Virtual Local Area Network

WEEE

Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Warranty

This section describes the Kinova warranty terms.

Subject to the terms of this clause, Kinova warrants to End User that the Products are free of

defects in materials and workmanship that materially affect their performance for a period of two

(2) years from the date Kinova ships the Products to the End User ("Delivery Date").

Kinova agrees to repair or replace (at Kinova's option) all Products which fail to conform to the

relevant warranty provided that:

1. notiﬁcation of the defect is received by Kinova within the warranty period speciﬁed above;

2. allegedly defective Products are returned to Kinova, (at the End User’s expense, with Kinova's

prior authorization) within thirty (30) days of the defect becoming apparent;

3. the Products have not been altered, modiﬁed or subject to misuse, incorrect installation,

maintenance, neglect, accident or damage caused by excessive current or used with

incompatible parts;

4. the End User is not in default under any of its obligations under this Agreement;

5. replacement Products must have the beneﬁt of the applicable warranty for the remainder of the

applicable warranty period.

If Kinova diligently repairs or replaces the Products in accordance with this section, it will be

deemed to have no further liability for a breach of the relevant warranty.

Allegedly defective Products returned to Kinova in accordance with this contract will, if found by

Kinova on examination not to be defective, be returned to the End User. Kinova may charge a fee

for examination and testing.

The warranty cannot be assigned or transferred and is to the sole beneﬁt of the End User.

Where the Products have been manufactured and supplied to Kinova by a third party, any warranty

granted to Kinova in respect of the Products may be passed on to the End User.

Kinova is entitled in its absolute discretion to refund the price of the defective Products in the

event that such price has already been paid.

EU Declaration of Incorporation

EU Declaration of Incorporation for the robot.

The Declaration of Conformity is a self-declared assessment produced and signed by a

manufacturer of a product to assert that the product meets all of the requirements of the applicable

directives.

In the case of Kinova

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot, the applicable directives that are eligible for CE

declaration are the following:

• Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC

• Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive 2014/30/EU

The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC Article 2 (g) states that:

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 5

‘Partly completed machinery’ means an assembly which is almost machinery but which

cannot in itself perform a speciﬁc application. A drive system is partly completed machinery.

Partly completed machinery is only intended to be incorporated into or assembled with other

machinery or other partly completed machinery or equipment, thereby forming machinery

to which this Directive applies; is not eligible to CE marking by its own because it is an

“incomplete machine.”

Based on this deﬁnition, our product Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot is considered partly completed

machinery because it has no speciﬁc application. The robot application is determined when it is

incorporated in a system, given an and-effector and expected workpieces. Once the product is

incorporated into a complete system and the system complies to all applicable directives, then

the integrator is permitted to issue a Declaration of Conformity and afﬁx the CE marking to the

completed machine. For incomplete machinery, a Declaration of Incorporation (DoI) is required

from the manufacturer. The content of the declaration is also inserted below.

EU DECLARATION OF INCORPORATION (In accordance with ISO/IEC 17050-1:2004)

Manufacturer:

Kinova Robotics

4333 Boulevard de la Grande-Allée,

Boisbriand, QC J7H 1M7, Canada

Telephone: +1 514-277-3777

Manufacturer’s authorized EU representative :

Kinova Europe GmbH

Grosskitzighofer. Str. 7a,

86853 Langerringen

Telephone: +49 8248 8887-928

Description and identiﬁcation of the partially completed machine(s):

Product and function : Robot (Multi-axis manipulator)

KINOVA

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot L53 0007

Models :

KINOVA

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot L53 0006

KINOVA

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot shall only be put into service upon being integrated into a ﬁnal

complete machine (robot system, cell or application), which conforms with the provisions of the

Machinery Directive and other applicable Directives.

When this incomplete machine is integrated and becomes a complete machine, the integrator is responsible

for determining that the completed machine fulﬁls all applicable directives and updating the relevant

harmonized standards, other standards and documents.

It is declared that the above products, for what is supplied, fulﬁl the following directives as detailed

below:

The following essential health and safety

requirements are applied and fulﬁlled :

• Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC

1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.5, 1.2.1, 1.2.4.3, 1.2.6, 1.3.4, 1.3.8.1,

1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.6, 1.5.10, 1.6.3, 1.7.2, 1.7.4

• Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive

2014/30/EU

The partly completed machinery is also compliant with the following relevant standards:

• IEC 62368-1:2014/AC:2015

Audio/video, information and communication

technology equipment - Part 1: Safety requirements

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 6

• ISO 12100:2010

Safety of machinery - General principles for design -

Risk assessment and risk reduction

• IEC 61000-6-1:2016

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) - Part 6-1:

Generic standards - Immunity for residential,

commercial and light-industrial environments

• IEC 61000-6-3:2016

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) - Part

6-3: Generic standards - Emission standard

for residential, commercial and light-industrial

environments

The manufacturer or its authorised representative will undertake to transmit, in response to a reasoned

request by the national authorities, relevant information on the partly completed machinery.

The Technical Construction File is kept and maintained at the corporate headquarters of Kinova Robotics

located at 4333 Boulevard de la Grande-Allée, Boisbriand, QC J7H 1M7, Canada.

Boisbriand Canada, 08 August 2019

Louis-Joseph Caron L'Écuyer

Chief Operation Ofﬁcer & Co-Founder

FCC Declaration of Comformity

FCC Declaration of Conformity for the robot.

FCC Regulatory Disclosures: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits

for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to

provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This

equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used

in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If

this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be

determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the

interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna

• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is

connected

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help

The Declaration of Conformity for the robot is inserted below.

FCC SUPPLIER'S DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

Manufacturer:

Kinova Robotics

4333 Boulevard de la Grande-Allée,

Boisbriand, QC J7H 1M7, Canada

Telephone: +1 514-277-3777

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 7

Description and identiﬁcation of the devices:

Product and function : Robot (Multi-axis manipulator)

Models :

KINOVA

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot L53 0007

KINOVA

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot L53 0006

These devices contains the following certiﬁed modular transmitter : FCC ID A3LSIP007AFS00

These devices comply with Part 15 of the FCC Rules and Regulations for Information Technology

Equipment :

•

FCC 47 CFR Part 15, Subpart B – Veriﬁcation

Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

(1) these devices may not cause harmful interference, and

(2) these devices must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause

undesired operation.

We, the responsible party Kinova Robotics, declare that the products Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot

KR L53 0007 and Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot KR L53 0006 are to conform to the applicable

FCC rules and regulations. The method of testing was in accordance with the appropriate

measurement standards, and all necessary steps have been taken to ensure that all production

units of these devices will continue to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's

requirements.

Boisbriand Canada, 11 October 2019

Louis-Joseph Caron L'Écuyer

Chief Operation Ofﬁcer & Co-Founder

Safety directives and warnings

Directives, warnings and safety considerations for the Kinova

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot.

IMPORTANT

Before operating the robot for the ﬁrst time, ensure that you have read, completely understood and

complied with all of the following directives, warnings and cautionary notes. Failure to do so may

result in serious injury or death to the user, damage to the robot, or a reduction in its useful life.

Table 1: Safety

There are no mechanical brakes on the robot. If the power supply is cut or an unrecoverable error

occurs, be aware that the robot will fall. However, mechanisms are in place within the actuators that will

slow the descent in the absence of external power.

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 8

- risk assessment, before integration of the robot into a given

application.

For your personal

safety, and that of

others, it is strongly

recommended that the

following be carried out:

- hazard analysis, before integration into an environment which includes

atomized ﬂammable dust / particles or explosive / ﬂammable gases, etc.

- use the robot near a ﬂame or source of heat.

- use the robot to submerge objects in water.

- exceed the maximum speciﬁed payload.

- attempt to stop the robot or prevent its movement by holding it (except in

admittance mode).

- install the robot base within 20 cm of your body (base contains a Wi-Fi

transmitter).

For your personal

safety, and that of others,

never:

- power up and boot, reboot, or upgrade ﬁrmware of the robot unless the

robot is in a stable position.

- the robot does not encounter any obstacles (persons or objects). Although

inherently safe in its default conﬁguration, disabling the robot safeties

requires that the user be responsible for ensuring a secure working space.

- the end effector never collides with a hard surface.

- the grasping of objects by gripper ﬁngers is stable, to prevent the risk of

dropped or thrown objects (if using a gripper).

- the wrist is supported before turning the power off (otherwise it may fall

and cause damage).

- the working area is safe when containers of hot (or extremely cold) liquids

are to be manipulated with the robot.

- the robot working area is safe if sharp objects are to be handled by the

robot

- the robot has its base securely ﬁxed to the work surface when in operation.

- before using the robot, it is conﬁrmed that there are no warnings.

For your personal

safety, and that of others,

always ensure that:

- the robot is protected adequately before being used near any messy

process (e.g. welding or painting)

When using a payload with the robot, ensure that the robot is conﬁgured with the parameters of the

tool and payload using the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App or the Kinova.Api.ControlConfig API. For

more details, see the API documentation on GitHub and the "Interface, expansion, and vision" section of

the User Guide. The robot may behave in an unexpected manner if the payload parameters are not properly

conﬁgured.

When mounting the robot in a wall or ceiling mount, ensure that special considerations and

conﬁgurations set out in the User Guide are followed, including analysis of the mounting surface, use of

the base locking screw, orientation of the base connector panel, and conﬁguration of the gravity vector.

High-level force control is supported as an experimental feature. Users should exercise caution.

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 9

Low-level torque control is for advanced users only and should only be used by users who know what

they are doing. It is very important to carefully monitor the torque commands sent to the actuators to

ensure that excessive values are not sent. Incorrect use can lead to rapid movements that can be dangerous

for people and equipment. Make sure that the area around the robot is clear before experimenting with

torque control.

Do not power on the robot if any external damage to the vision module is apparent.

Do not attempt to open the vision module.

To avoid eyesight injury from wide angle infrared laser light, do not view the front-facing surface of the

vision module through magnifying optical elements.

The robot should not be used without the provided emergency stop connected.

Do not operate the robot when the relative humidity exceeds the maximum speciﬁed limit. In such

a case, remove any object in the gripper, bring the robot to a resting position and wait until the humidity

decreases to an allowable value.

The robot is not certiﬁed for use in applications in sterile environments (e.g. food production,

pharmaceuticals, medical, surgical).

Individual protection equipment, such as eye protection, should be used as determined by the user,

based on risk analysis.

Table 2: General

Do not connect the USB ports on the base to one another.

It is recommended that surge protection be used to protect the robot against external surges on the

main AC line which might be caused by lightning or other abnormal conditions.

The base must be mounted as speciﬁed in the installation section, with particular attention to the bolt

pattern, strength requirements and any table or tripod-speciﬁc mounting.

Any end effector must be mounted as speciﬁed in the installation section (including bolt pattern, power

requirements, etc.).

The table clamp must not be used for repeated movement as the mounting may eventually detach fom

its location, resulting in the robot falling. Mount the robot securely with screws as described in the "Getting

Started" section of the User Guide for a more permanent installation.

Table 3: Maintenance

Do not use the robot in heavy rain. If this happens, contact technical support to schedule

maintenance by an authorized Kinova technician.

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 10

Immediately following exposure to saline air conditions, contact technical support to schedule

maintenance by authorized Kinova technician.

The controller mating interface must be kept free of dust and moisture to protect the electrical

contacts. Wipe down the surface with a soft, dry cloth to keep the surface of the interface clean.

Disclaimer

Kinova

and the Kinova logo are registered trademarks of Kinova inc., herein referred to as Kinova.

Kortex™ is a trademark of Kinova inc.

All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective

owners.

The mention of a product name does not necessarily imply an endorsement by Kinova. This manual

is furnished under a lease agreement and may only be copied or used in accordance with the terms

of such lease agreement. Except as permitted by the lease agreement, no part of this publication

may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, modiﬁed in any form or by any

means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without prior written consent of Kinova.

The content of this user guide is furnished for informational use only and is subject to change

without notice. It should not be construed as a commitment by Kinova. Kinova assumes no

responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document.

Changes are periodically made to the information herein and will be incorporated into new editions

of this publication. Kinova may make improvements and/or changes to the products and/or

software programs described in this publication at any time.

Any questions or comments concerning this document, the information it contains or the

product it describes may be addressed through the support page on the Kinova website

www.kinovarobotics.com/support or via support@kinova.ca.

Kinova would like to thank you for your contribution, while retaining the right to use or distribute

whatever information you supply in any way it believes appropriate (without incurring any

obligations to you).

Risk assessment

Before proceeding it is imperative that a risk assessment be performed (note that this is required

by law in many countries). As it is a machine, the safety of the robot depends on how well it is

integrated with its environment and with other machines.

The recommended international standards for conducting a risk assessment are as follows:

• ISO 12100

• ISO 10218-2

The risk assessment should take into consideration all activities carried out in the context of the

robot application, including (but not limited to):

• teaching the robot (during set-up)

• development of the robot installation

• robot troubleshooting

• robot maintenance

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 11

• everyday robot operation

The risk assessment must be completed before integration of the robot in an application and must

be kept up to date with any changes in the parameter settings, work environment, or tasks of

the robot. The risk assessment should address conﬁguration settings as well as the need for any

additional emergency stop buttons.

Normal use deﬁnition

Deﬁnition of normal use of the robot.

The deﬁnition of normal use includes lifting, pushing, pulling, or manipulating (without a gripper or

other tool attached) a maximum load of:

• mid-range, continuous: 4.0 kg

• full-range, continuous 2.0 kg

The robot is designed to hold, move, and manipulate objects in the user environment. However, for

some loads in certain positions (near maximum load and reach), holding an object for an extended

period of time may result in heating. To protect the robot hardware from excessive heat, safety

thresholds shut down the robot if the temperature rises above a certain threshold. Before this is

reached, an API notifcation will be rendered as a user alert on the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App.

The robot includes a number of temperature-related safeties:

• base - CPU core and ambient temperatures

• actuators - CPU core and motor temperatures

• interface module - CPU core and gripper motor temperatures

If you receive any temperature warnings, put down any object as soon as is practical and place the

robot into a stable rest position to allow it to cool down.

During normal operation, the robot joints are subject to heating. The joints are normally covered in

plastic rings to protect the user from the metal surfaces which may become hot.

Applicable ﬁrmware and API versions

The contents of this user guide relate to speciﬁc ﬁrmware and software versions for the robot.

This information in this document is applicable to the following combination of ﬁrmware and API

versions of the Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot.

Table 4: Firmware and API versions

Firmware version 2.3.0

API version 2.3.0

If you are using an earlier ﬁrmware or software version, some of the features discussed in the

document may not apply to your setup. To upgrade ﬁrmware and software, see the downloadable

packages available on the product technical resources page on the Kinova website and installable

using the Kortex Web App Upgrade page.

In addition, refer to the following compatibility matrix to ensure that the ﬁrmware you are using

corresponds to the your hardware and API version.

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Table 5: Compatibility matrix

Robot ﬁrmware versionRobot / gripper hardware

conﬁguration and API version

1.1.7 2.0.0 2.0.1 2.2.0 2.3.0

6 DoF (ﬁxed base with

and without vision)

- - - supported supported

Quick connect

base with vision

supported supported supported supported

supported

Quick connect

base without vision

- - - supported

supported

Fixed base

with vision

- - - supported

supported

7 DoF

Fixed base

without vision

- - - supported

supported

Robotiq 2F-85 gripper supported supported supported supported supported

Robotiq 2F-140 gripper - - - supported supported

Recommended

Kortex API version*

1.1.7 2.0.0 2.0.0 2.2.0 2.3.0

* In order to access the full feature set of the corresponding ﬁrmware version.

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 13

Robot components

Overview

The robot consists of several main components, and is available in different models and hardware

conﬁgurations.

The robot consists of:

• base

• actuators

• interface module

• vision module (option)

The following image shows the main components of the robot. The robot is available in two models:

• 7 degrees of freedom (DoF)

• 6 degrees of freedom (DoF)

This document describes both models. Wherever there is information speciﬁc to only one particular

model, this will be indicated in the text.

Each of these DoF models come in multiple different hardware conﬁguration options. The details of

this will be discussed later in the document.

Figure 1: Robot main components (7 DoF model with quick connect base and vision module)

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Figure 2: Robot main components (6 DoF model with ﬁxed base and vision module)

Base

The robot base provides for physical mounting of the robot and for power and communication/control. The

base is the brains of the robot and contains a number of important internal components. The base comes in

two different versions, quick connect and ﬁxed base.

The robot base is the lower foundation of the robot and provides interfaces for:

• physical mounting of the robot

• power and communication/control

The base includes a connector panel at the rear for connecting to power and external devices and

mounting holes on the bottom surface for afﬁxing the robot at the mounting site.

The base includes a built-in controller that serves as the brain of the robot. The internal

components of the base controller include:

• CPU

• Wi-Fi / Bluetooth adapter (Only Wi-Fi is used at present)

• Ethernet switch

• USB hub

• temperature sensor

• accelerometer/gyroscope

A Linux web server runs on the base and manages connectivity between the base and the robot

devices, and between the robot and an external computer.

The robot base comes in two versions:

• quick connect base (7 DoF legacy model only)

• ﬁxed base (6 DoF and 7 DoF)

The table below summarizes the different base options.

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Table 6: Base options

Degrees of freedom model Base options

6 DoF Fixed base

Fixed base

7 DoF

Quick connect base (legacy only)

Quick connect base

The quick connect base is a two-part structure. This allows the robot controller to be mounted in one place

while allowing the robot to be quickly attached and detached. This base option is only available for the 7 DoF

robot model.

With the quick connect base, the base is a two-part structure securing the robot onto its physical

mounting point and connecting the robot to power and control signals. This consists of two parts:

• quick connect controller

• base shell

The two-part system enables simple connection and disconnection of the base shell and quick

connect controller. This allows the robot to be quickly detached from its mounting site and

controller without disconnecting any cables. This can be useful for transport, for removal of the

robot for servicing, or for convenient re-siting of robots between multiple installation sites.

The quick connect controller contains the robot controller and includes the base mounting

interface and rear connector panel. The quick connect controller can be mounted in place at the

mounting site with power and control cables connected.

The base shell is the bottom part of the robot shell connected to the ﬁrst actuator. It slides onto the

quick connect controller.

A mating interface on the top of the quick connect controller provides an electrical connection

between the quick connect controller and the rest of the robot.

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Figure 3: Quick connect controller

Note: Be careful to avoid damage to the electrical contacts on the mating interface of the

controller when the base shell is disconnected. Make sure to keep the surface dry and free

from dust. Wipe down with a soft dry cloth to keep the interface clean.

The base shell is secured in place on the controller by closing the clamp.

Figure 4: Connecting quick connect base

The clamping mechanism and mating interface allow the robot to be quickly and easily removed

from the controller while leaving the controller still mounted in place with cables connected.

Note: Currently the quick connect base option is only available for the 7 DoF robot model.

Fixed base

The ﬁxed base is a one piece base with the controller integrated with the robot. This base option is available

for both the 6 DoF and 7 DoF robot models.

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The ﬁxed base is a one piece base integrated with the robot. The ﬁxed base includes the same

controller internals and the same rear connector panel and mounting interface as the standard

quick connect base controller. This rigid, one part base allows for an added measure of stability and

precision compared to the quick connect base, but with less ﬂexibility and convenience when it

comes to mounting and dismounting the robot.

Figure 5: Fixed base

Base connector panel

The base connector panel is located on the back of the controller part of the robot base. This provides a

connection point for the power supply and various cables. It also contains the power on/off switch and an LED

indicator.

The connector panel is located at the rear of the base. The connector panel is the same for all Gen3

robot models It features the following elements:

• On/Off power switch

• blue power LED indicator

• red/amber/green status LED indicator

• HDMI Out (Internal use only)

• Micro USB (For ﬁrmware updates; internal use only)

• USB 2.0, type A - qty 2 - for wired controller. Top port 1 A for charging. Bottom port 500 mA max,

for peripherals.

• RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet (LAN)

• Binder-USA 09 0463 90 19 (Internal use only)

• Lumberg 0317 08 (power)

Note: Cables connected to the base controller must be less than 3 m in length. If not, you

must perform a risk analysis. Cables longer than 3 m can potentially have an effect on radio

frequency emissions and the immunity of the product.

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(Internal use on ly)

Figure 6: Base connector panel

Base mounting interface

The bottom of the base has a mounting interface for attaching the robot to a mounting plate or directly to a

surface.

The base has a mounting interface with four mounting holes (M6) on its underside allowing for a

few different mounting options.

Figure 7: Base mounting interface

For the standard quick connect base option, the quick connect controller is shipped detached from

the base shell and connected with screws to a circular mounting plate. This mounting plate has

multiple sets of through holes to allow for:

• attaching the mounting plate to the base mounting holes

• attaching the mounting plate to a surface

The mounting plate also includes a slot to insert a table clamp between the robot and the mounting

plate. The table mounting plate + table clamp mounting option allows for quick setup and takedown

tabletop mounting.

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Figure 8: Mounting plate

When attached, the mounting plate can be removed from the base by removing the screws, giving

access to the four mounting holes and allowing the controller to be mounted directly on the

surface.

For the ﬁxed base option, the mounting plate is detached from the base when shipped and needs to

be attached before mounting the robot using the mounting plate.

Quick connect base feature - locking screw

The quick connect base features an inset locking screw within the mounting hole on the front

bottom left (from the perspective of an observer behind the connector panel). Turning the locking

screw with a 3 mm hex key clockwise will cause the screw to go forward and protrude up to a few

millimeters through a hole above the top surface of the controller until it reaches the end of its

travel.

If the base shell is already clamped onto the controller when this is done, the set screw will

interface with a mechanism on the clamp, preventing the clamp from opening until the set screw is

withdrawn. This serves as a safety mechanism. There is a hole on the front face of the clamp where

the end of the lock screw can be seen when it is fully engaged. Conﬁrm visually that the lock screw

is not engaged before trying to open the clamp.

Figure 9: Locking screw mechanism

More details about the base mounting interface and its features can be found in the mounting

instructions in the Getting started section of this user guide.

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Actuators

The robot contains actuators which power the rotational movement at the robot joints. The robot contains

both large and small actuators with distinct performance capabilities. The actuators contain sensors.

The rotational motion at each of the joints of the robot is powered by rotary actuators. There

is one actuator for each joint. Each actuator allows for potentially unlimited rotation in either

direction. There are software limits, however, on some joints to avoid collisions between robot shell

segments.

There are two sizes of actuator:

• small

• large

Each actuator has:

• torque sensing

• current and temperature sensing on each motor phase

Wrist joints use small actuators, while large actuators are used for other joints. All actuators are

equipped with a 100:1 strain wave gear for smooth motion.

The actuators are connected to each other and to the interconnect board using a series of 41-pin

ﬂex cables. These cables convey:

• power

• 2 x full-duplex 100 Mbps Ethernet

º one for 1 kHz control

º one for vision / expansion data trafﬁc

Actuator Speciﬁcations:

• actuator speed (maximum, unloaded):

º 25 RPM (small)

º 13 RPM (large)

• actuator torque (small):

º 13 N·m (nominal)

º 34 N·m (peak)

• actuator torque (large):

º 32 N·m (nominal) for robots built before 2022-09, 39 N·m (nominal) for robots built after

2022-09

º 54 N·m (peak)

Interface module

The interface module is located on the wrist of the robot and provides an interface for connecting a gripper or

other tool. The interface module contains both mechanical and electrical interfaces.

The interface module provides an interface for connecting a gripper or other tools at the end of the

arm. The interface module also provides a mounting point and connection for the vision module.

The interface module has a connection interface at the end of the arm, and is surrounded on the

sides by a bracelet shell. The vision module (when present) is mounted on the top of the bracelet.

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 21

Note: While the vision module is standard on the interface module, there is an option to

purchase the robot without it. The interface module for this option otherwise has the same

components and connectivity as the standard interface module.

Figure 10: Interface module options

The bracelet includes two buttons used to activate admittance modes to interact with the robot.

By default the button on the right hand side (viewed from behind) puts the arm into Cartesian

admittance while the button on the left puts the arm into Joint admittance. The two buttons can

be distinguished easily by touch without looking; the Cartesian admittance mode button sticks out

from the surface in the center, while the joint admittance mode button is slightly indented in the

center and ring-shaped.

Note: Pressing the two buttons together will put the 7 DoF model into null space admittance

(but has no effect for the 6 DoF model).

The buttons are also used, in conjunction with the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App, in support of teaching

mode. There, the buttons are used to capture positioning snapshots for simpliﬁed creation of

motion sequences. For more information about teaching mode, see the Web App User Guide section

of this document.

The bracelet also includes two amber LEDs.

Note: For the no vision module model of the robot, the bracelet LEDs serve as useful visual

reference cue for the orientation of the wrist. In the reference frame of the interface module,

the LEDs will be "above" (positive y direction) their respective wrist buttons.

Figure 11: Bracelet features

The interface module takes a 41-pin input from the last actuator of the robot.

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The interface exposes connectors that allow different end effectors to be integrated with the robot.

It features:

• Kinova internal end-effector interface

• 10-pin spring-loaded connector with RS-485 (compatible with Robotiq Adaptive Grippers)

• 20-pin user expansion interface

Figure 12: Interface module

The interface also includes four mounting holes for physical mounting of an end effector and a

position key hole used for alignment of the end effector in the right orientation.

Figure 13: Mounting holes and positioning key hole

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The interface module includes a 6-axis accelerometer / gyroscope. The module also includes an

Ethernet switch to route connectivity and control data between the interface module and the

vision module (if present) and any connected tool (e.g. gripper).

Note: The printed circuit board (PCB) of the interface module is partially covered with

a touch shield with holes to expose only the output connectors - 10-pin spring loaded

connector, 20-pin user expansion connector, and Kinova internal end effector interface.

Note: When there is no end effector present, it is recommended to place an end cap over

the face of the interface module. Kinova provides an end cap with the robot. This end cap is

attached to the interface with screws using the mounting holes on the interface. The end cap

needs to be removed to attach an end effector to the robot.

Figure 14: End cap

Vision module

The vision module enables computer vision applications with the robot. The vision module contains a depth

sensor with two stereo imagers and an RGB color sensor.

The vision module is a module provided by Kinova to enable robotic computer vision applications.

For robots including the vision module, the vision module is mounted on the top side of the

interface module. A housing containing sensors protrudes from the top of the interface module.

The sensors are contained on the front face of the housing, facing out parallel to the axis of the last

actuator.

The vision module is used to capture and stream image data captured looking in the direction

the end of the robot (or attached tool) is pointed. The Vision module includes both a color sensor

(Omnivision OV5640) and a stereo depth sensor (Intel® RealSense™ Depth Module D410).

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Figure 15: Vision module sensors

The color sensor captures a 2D array of RGB pixel data representating the ﬁeld of view from the

perspective of the sensor.

The depth sensor includes an IR projector and two stereo imagers - left and right. Here left and

right are from the perspective of an observer looking out from the sensor toward the imaged

region. The depth sensor captures a 2D array of pixels and the depth for each pixel within the ﬁeld

of view of the sensor.

Together, the two sensors allow the capture of RGBD (color and depth) data. Both camera sensors

can be conﬁgured using the Kinova

Kortex™ VisionConfig interface.

Note that performance for the Vision module depth sensor may be degraded at temperatures

below 0° C. For more details, please consult the depth sensor data sheet.

The color and depth sensors data streams are made accessible to developers through a

computer with a connection to the robot. For more information on accessing these data streams

programatically, see here.

Vision module speciﬁcations

Color sensor:

• resolution, frame rates (fps), and ﬁelds of view (FOV):

º 1920 x 1080 (16:9) @ 30, 15 fps; FOV 47 ± 3° (diagonal)

º 1280 x 720 (16:9) @ 30, 15 fps; FOV 60 ± 3° (diagonal)

º 640 x 480 (4:3) @ 30, 15 fps; FOV 65 ± 3° (diagonal)

º 320 x 240 (4:3)@ 30, 15 fps; FOV 65 ± 3° (diagonal)

• focusing range - 30 cm to ∞

Depth sensor:

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 25

• resolution, framerates (fps), and ﬁelds of view (FOV):

º 480 x 270 (16:9) @ 30, 15, 6 fps; FOV 72 ± 3° (diagonal)

º 424 x 240 (16:9) @ 30, 15, 6 fps; FOV 72 ± 3° (diagonal)

• minimum depth distance (min-Z) - 18 cm

Robot communications and network interfaces

The robot is made up of a number of devices. These devices contain Ethernet switches and are connected

together in a network. There are three VLANS present for control, expansion/vision, and external

connections.

The devices in the robot, from the base of the arm through the chain of actuators, to the interface

module at the end of the arm, are daisy chained together using 41-pin ﬂex cables which carry power

and communications.

The base, actuators, and interface module each contain an Ethernet switch. The Ethernet port on

the connector panel of the base controller allows an external computer to connect to the Ethernet

switch of the base.

The Kinova vision module and any 3rd party tool that makes use of Ethernet communications

user expansion pins in the interface connect directly to the interface module Ethernet switch.

Other tools (for example any gripper interfacing using the 10-pin spring loaded connector on the

interface) will interface instead with the interface module CPU (which is connected to the Ethernet

switch).

Together, this enables dual Ethernet networks between all the devices (base, actuators, interface,

Vision module, and end effector tools) with data carried between the base and interface over the

41-pin ﬂex cables. This is accessible from a client computer via the 1 Gbps Ethernet port on the

base controller connector panel.

The ﬂex cables carry two distinct 100 Mbps Ethernet communications channels.

• one is for control and monitoring of actuators, interface module, and gripper (if present)

• the other is for data transmission for the vision module and expansion.

Each device connected to one of the Ethernet switches has an IP address to allow routing of

communications, transmitted using UDP.

The actuators and interface module have the following default IP addresses:

Table 7: Actuator and gripper IP addresses

Device IP address

Actuator 1 10.10.0.10

Actuator 2 10.10.0.11

Actuator 3 10.10.0.12

Actuator 4 10.10.0.13

Actuator 5 10.10.0.14

Actuator 6 10.10.0.15

Actuator 7 (for 7 DoF model) 10.10.0.16

Interface module 10.10.0.17

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The expansion devices (Vision module and expansion tool peripherals) have the following IP

addresses:

Table 8: Expansion IP addresses

Expansion Devices IP address

Vision module 10.20.0.100

Expansion device 10.20.0.200/24*

The robot Ethernet network features three VLANs:

• VLAN 10 : control

• VLAN 20 : expansion

• VLAN 30 : external

The base has network interfaces to all three of these VLANs:

Table 9: Base network interface IP addresses

VLAN IP address

CTRL interface IP address 10.10.0.1/24*

EXP interface IP address 10.20.0.1/24*

EXT interface IP address 192.168.1.10/24*

The graphic below illustrates the topology of the networks.

Figure 16: Networks diagram (7 DoF model shown)

* CIDR notation

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Getting started

Overview

Overview of the getting started contents.

The pages that follow lead you through getting started with the robot. This includes:

• unboxing

• physically mounting the robot securely

• provisioning electrical power

• controlling the robot using an Xbox gamepad

• moving the robot in admittance using physical buttons

• connecting a computer to the robot

•

connecting to the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App

What's in the case?

Description of robot shipping case contents.

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Figure 17: Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot shipping case contents (quick connect base option shown)

The shipping case contains the following contents.

At the top of the interior of the box, you will ﬁnd the Quick Start Guide. The Quick Start Guide is a

large printed visual guide.

The Quick Start guide provides a handy reference for ﬁrst steps, and should have you up and

running within 30 minutes. Make sure to keep the Quick Start Guide as a reference for people in

your team or organization getting newly acquainted with your robot. The Quick Start Guide is also

available on the Kinova website.

The contents of the box are arranged in three layers from top to bottom. These packing layers can

be removed from the box to unpack the contents.

In the top layer:

• Robot

In the second layer:

• Power adapter and cable with integrated emergency stop (E-stop) button

• Table clamp

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 29

• Mounting plate alone (ﬁxed base option)

• Mounting plate with robot controller attached (quick connect base option)

The bottom area contains:

• Ethernet (RJ-45) cable

• Power cable

• Bag with useful tools and fasteners

º hex keys: 3, 4 and 5 mm

º M5 x 40 mm screws (qty. 4)

An Xbox gamepad and cable are shipped with the robot, but packaged separately.

There is also space for storage of papers and other items.

Note: The shipping case is also useful for transportation and storage of the robot. Make sure

to save it and the packing layers within for future use.

Manipulating the robot joints when the robot is powered o

The robot joints can be manipulated by hand when the robot is powered off. This is useful when setting up the

robot for the ﬁrst time.

When the robot is powered on, the actuators will hold their position and prevent the joints from

moving in response to external forces and torques. When the power is on, the arm will not move

except when commanded. The arm joints are stiff and you will not be able to rotate the joints with

your hands.

When the robot is powered off, as it is when you ﬁrst receive the robot, the joints can be moved by

hand slowly.

Note: The shoulder joint (joint 2) is more stiff than the others, but can still be moved.

This moveability of the joints when the robot is unpowered is useful when taking the robot out of

the box and setting it up to get started. This lets you arrange the joints of the robot into a stable,

balanced position prior to mounting and powering on the robot.

Robot mounting options

Overview of the physical mounting options for the robot.

The ﬁrst step to getting started with the arm after unboxing is to physically mount the arm in a

stable manner so that the robot can be connected and used.

The most basic mounting option uses the mounting plate and a table clamp to quickly mount the

robot on a tabletop in a "right side up," vertical orientation on a ﬂat horizontal surface. This allows

for a quick, temporary installation allowing setup, light operations, and troubleshooting.

For more permanent installations, the robot can be mounted to a surface using screws.

Note that it is also possible to mount the robot in different orientations, depending on the needs of

your particular application. The sections that follow will describe this in more detail.

Mounting the robot on a tabletop with mounting plate and table clamp

Describes the steps to mount the robot oriented vertically on the edge of a tabletop using a table clamp.

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Before you begin

The robot should have the joints of the robot unfolded so that it is in a stable, balanced position ready for

mounting. The mounting plate must be attached to the robot base.

• For the quick connect base option, the robot is shipped with the mounting plate already

connected to the base controller.

• For the ﬁxed base option, the robot is shipped without the mounting plate attached and it will

need to be attached to the bottom of the base. See the base and mounting plate bolting patterns

later in this section for more details.

For a robot with a ﬁxed base, you will need a second person to help with some of the steps.

About this task

The robot is mounted to a tabletop using the base mounting plate and a table clamp.

Note: The table must be large and sturdy to support a tabletop edge mounting. If the

table is too small or too ﬂimsy, the weight of the robot at the table edge combined with the

movement vibrations may render it unstable.

Note: The table clamp is only intended for light operations (low payload, low speed, low

acceleration), quick demonstrations, and troubleshooting. Mounting using the table clamp

may affect repeatability and accuracy, since the base may move from its original location due

to force induced on the clamp from the back and forth manipulation of heavier payloads. For

permanent installations involving medium / heavy duty manipulation, the base must be ﬁxed

securely to the mounting surface as described in Mounting the robot on a horizontal surface

without the table clamp on page 32.

Procedure

1. Place the mounting plate with robot base attached on the tabletop, next to the edge.

Note: You can place the robot base in one of two orientations. Either with the connector

panel facing out toward the edge of the table, or with the front side of the base controller

facing out.

Note: For the robot with ﬁxed base, one person will need to hold the robot upright on the

table during this step and the next two steps while another person attaches the clamp.

2. Turn the tightening knob on the table clamp to open up the clamp and then slide the clamp into

the slot between the mounting plate and the bottom of the base controller.

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 31

3. Turn the tightening knob by hand until the mounting plant is ﬁrmly clamped to the table top.

Note: Do not overtorque.

4. (For robot with quick connect base) Make sure that the quick connect clamp at the bottom of

the robot base shell is opened. While holding the robot, you can now lower the base shell of the

robot onto and over the quick connect controller.

5. (For robot with quick connect base) Once the robot is fully lowered onto the quick connect

controller, close the quick connect clamp to secure the robot in place on the quick connect

controller.

Note: The quick connect clamp must be properly closed to ensure stability of the robot.

Damage can potentially be done to the robot if it is operated while unstable.

Results

The robot is now mounted on the tabletop.

What to do next

You can now proceed to connect the robot to the power supply and E-stop.

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Mounting the robot on a horizontal surface without the table clamp

Describes the steps to mount the robot on a horizontal surface without the table clamp, with or without the

mounting plate.

Before you begin

The robot should have the joints of the robot unfolded so that it is in a stable, balanced position ready for

mounting. If you want to use the mounting plate, the mounting plate will already need to be attached to the

robot base.

• For the quick connect base, the robot is shipped with the mounting plate already connected to

the base controller.

• For the ﬁxed base, the robot is shipped without the mounting plate attached and it will need to

be attached to the bottom of the base. See the base and mounting plate bolting patterns later in

this section for more details.

For a robot with a ﬁxed base, you will need a second person to help with the procedure.

About this task

Here, we describe mounting the robot in a vertical orientation on a ﬂat, horizontal surface, afﬁxing either the

mounting plate or the base to the surface using screws and sunk holes in the surface. This provides for a much

more stable and robust permanent mounting option compared to using the table clamp, and is the option to

use for precision and safety if you want to operate the robot at high speeds and with high payloads.

Procedure

1. Choose whether to mount the robot base directly onto the surface, or whether to use the

mounting plate.

2. Using either the mounting plate bolting pattern or the controller bolting pattern or as a guide,

drill holes into the surface. If the base is to be mounted directly to the surface, the holes will

have to be drilled all the way through the mounting surface.

3. Place the robot base (with mounting plate, if applicable) onto the table. Carefully line up the

holes drilled in the surface with the holes on the mounting plate or the underside of the robot

base, as applicable.

Note: For the robot with ﬁxed base, one person will need to hold the robot upright on the

table during this step and the next step while another checks the positioning and ﬁxes the

robot base in place.

4. Use appropriate screws to ﬁx either the base or the mounting plate to the surface. If the base is

mounted directly, the screws will need to go through the mounting surface from the other side.

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5. (For robot with quick connect base) Make sure that the quick connect clamp at the bottom of

the robot base shell is opened. While holding the robot, you can now lower the base shell of the

robot onto and over the quick connect controller.

6. (For robot with quick connect base) Once the robot is fully lowered onto the quick connect

controller, close the quick connect clamp to secure the robot in place on the quick connect

controller.

Note: The quick connect clamp must be properly closed to ensure stability of the robot.

Damage can potentially be done to the robot if it is operated while unstable.

Mounting plate bolting pattern

Describes the bolting pattern of the mounting plate. This is useful when mounting the robot to a surface using

the mounting plate.

Overview

The mounting plate can be attached to the robot base using four M6 x 30 socket head cap screws

passing through the bottom of the mounting plate into corresponding holes in the bottom of the

base. The mounting plate has two sets of M8 screw holes (4 holes) and one set of counter-sunk M6

screw holes (4 holes) available for afﬁxing the mounting plate to a surface.

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Mounting details

Figure 18: Mounting plate bolting pattern

Base mounting interface bolting pattern

Describes the bolting pattern on the mounting interface on the underside of the base. This is useful when you

want to afﬁx the robot base directly to a surface.

Overview

The underside of the base has a mounting interface with four M6 screw holes for mounting

purposes. These holes are used for attaching the mounting plate to the base. When the mounting

plate is removed, these holes can be used for mounting the base directly to a surface. In that case,

holes must be drilled through the surface so that screws can go through from the other side and

into the base mounting holes from underneath.

Mounting interface details

Note: The pattern of the mounting interface is the same for both quick connect and ﬁxed

base options. However, for the quick connect base option, one of the screw holes in the

base (front left) features an inset locking screw. Turning the locking screw clockwise to the

end of its travel (using a 3 mm hex key) while the base shell is clamped to the quick connect

controller will lock the two together and prevent the clamp from being opened.

Note: Two of the mounting holes can optionally be used with shoulder screws. This allows

the robot to be mounted and dismounted with a more repeatable positioning.

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Figure 19: Base mounting interface holes (quick connect base shown)

Figure 20: Base mounting interface holes pattern

Mounting the robot on a wall or ceiling

Describes how to mount the robot on a wall or ceiling.

The procedure for mounting is generally similar to that of mounting onto a horizontal surface:

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1. Choose whether to mount the controller directly to the surface, or using the mounting plate.

2. Drill holes in an appropriate pattern in the surface based on the appropriate bolting pattern

diagram.

3. Afﬁx the controller or mounting plate to the surface with appropriate screws.

There are however important differences.

Follow all special considerations for wall and ceiling mounting. Perform a careful analysis of the

proposed mounting surface. Also, if your robot has a standard quick connect base, make sure to

mount and clamp the base shell onto the quick connect controller with the locking screw engaged

before mounting the robot on the surface. The details of this are described in the following sections.

Special considerations for wall and ceiling mounts

Describes special considerations that are important for wall and ceiling mounting of the robot.

For safety reasons, there are special preparations and steps that need to be undertaken before

mounting the robot on a wall or ceiling.

Before trying to mount the arm on a wall or ceiling, perform a comprehensive analysis of

weight, torque, and vibrations and ensure the material of the mounting surface structure is stable

enough.

If the robot uses a quick connect base, the locking screw on the bottom left front of the

controller must be screwed in fully with a hex key while the base shell is clamped on. This will

prevent the quick connect clamp from being opened while the arm is mounted on a wall or ceiling,

and provides an added measure of security. The robot therefore needs to be clamped to the base

controller and the lock screw must be adjusted before trying to mount the robot to the surface.

For wall mounting, the robot needs to be mounted with the controller connector panel facing

downwards. This is to prevent water ingress at the connector panel.

In a wall or ceiling mount, the gravity vector will have a different orientation than usual with

respect to the base reference frame. It will be necessary to set the gravity vector using the Web App

or API.

Note: A robot mounted in a ceiling mount is not certiﬁed for ingress protection.

Note: The Cartesian control of the robot is in relation to the base reference frame, which

will be rotated relative to the natural reference frame of the perspective of the user /

operator. You will need to apply the appropriate coordinate transformations to control the

robot in these orientations.

Adjusting the locking screw to secure the base clamp (quick connect base only)

Describes steps for adjusting the base locking screw of the quick connect base. The locking screw is used for

securing the clamp on the base. This increases safety in wall and ceiling mountings.

Before you begin

You will need a 3 mm hex key.

About this task

Adjusting the locking screw while the base shell is attached and clamped locks the clamp shut and prevents it

from being inadvertently opened. This improves the safety of the robot when mounted on a wall or ceiling.

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Note: This procedure only applies in the case of the standard quick connect base.

Procedure

1. If the mounting plate is attached to the controller, one of the screws connecting the mounting

plate to the controller from below has to be removed to get at the locking screw. Identify the

mounting hole with the lock screw and remove it using the 3 mm hex key.

2. If the base shell and the robot are not already installed onto the quick connect controller, slide

the base shell onto the controller and close the clamp.

3. Using the same hex key, insert the end of the key into the mounting hole until the hex key

engages with the head of the lock screw. Turn the lock screw until it stops at the end of its travel.

There is a hole on the front of the clamp where the end of the lock screw can be seen when the

lock screw is engaged with the clamp mechanism. Conﬁrm that you can see the screw.

4. Test the clamp to ensure that you can not open it.

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Robot power adapter and E-stop

The robot comes with a power adapter and cable to supply the robot with power from a wall outlet. The cable

includes an integrated E-stop.

The power adapter allows power to be supplied to the robot using a wall outlet as a source. The

cable from the power adapter connects to the power connector on the base controller using a

Lumberg 0322 08 connector.

The cable from the power adapter to the robot includes an integrated push-button E-stop

connected in series. The E-stop allows users to shut down the robot quickly in case of an

emergency.

To engage the E-stop, press down on the red button on top of the E-stop. This will cut the power to

the robot, causing it to shut it down.

When the power is cut, the robot will descend. There are mechanisms within the actuators

to slow the fall of the arm for safety purposes. However, it is recommended that if possible, users

cradle the robot as it falls.

To disengage the E-stop, rotate the button clockwise until it pops up.

Powering robot from a battery via a custom wiring harness

This section describes how to provide power to the robot from a battery using a custom wiring harness.

The most straightforward way to supply power to the robot is using the supplied power adapter and

cable to feed the robot from a nearby electrical outlet. This is the recommended solution for robot

power supply for the vast majority users.

In some applications, however, for example, for integration of the robot with a mobile platform, a

wall outlet will not be feasible as a source of power, and users will want to supply the robot with

power from a battery (24 V battery required).

The following information is intended for advanced users only.

Certiﬁcation of the robot is under the assumption of power supply from a wall outlet using

the supplied power adapter. Use of a battery as power source may result in departure from these

standards. If you have a wall outlet available, use it as a power source.

Powering the robot using a battery power supply is done at the user's risk, and Kinova is not

responsible for any damage that might occur. We recommend that users contact Kinova technical

support for any questions related to powering the robot with a battery source.

For those who want to explore this option and understand the risks involved, Kinova provides (sold

separately) a power cable (p/n KR9764) to connect the robot to a battery. The details are as follows:

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Figure 21: KR9764 power cable

Table 10: KR9764 cable pinout

# Signal Wire color

1 24V_INPUT Red

2 24V_RETURN Black

3 CANL No connection

4 24V_RETURN Brown

5 CHASSIS Green

6 CHASSIS White

7 24V_INPUT Blue

8 CANH No connection

9 Connector backshell Shield wire

Powering on the robot

Describes steps to connect the robot to an electrical power source and power on the robot.

The robot is powered by a 24V power supply (P/N DTM300PW240D2).

To power up the robot:

1. Connect the captive cable from the power supply to the circular Lumberg connector on the rear

connector panel in the controller of the robot, rotating the outer cylindrical locking shell of the

connector until it is just tight enough to secure the connector.

2. Plug the power supply into a wall outlet.

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3. Push the power button and hold in for 3 seconds to power up the robot. This will initiate the

power up sequence.

Note: When the robot is properly powered on, the blue power LED will be illuminated

green.

Note: Do NOT hold the power button down for too long. Holding the button for 10

seconds will result in a factory reset.

Power-up, booting, and initialization sequence

On pressing the power button of the robot, the robot goes through a boot up and initialization sequence. The

LED indications on the base give visual feedback during the power-up sequence.

When the power button is held in to initiate a power-up, the robot will go through a regular boot up

and initialization sequence.

The base LEDs will provide visual feedback as to the progress through the sequence, as follows:

Table 11: Power-up sequence LEDs indications

Sequence step LEDs indications

System booting

• Blue power LED, blinking

• Status LED, off

System initializing

• Blue power LED, solid

• Status LED, amber, solid

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Sequence step LEDs indications

System operating normally

• Blue power LED, off

• Status LED, green, solid

From start to ﬁnish, the process should take no more than 30 seconds, except during a ﬁrmware

update.

Resetting the robot to factory settings

The robot can be reset to factory settings using the following steps. This returns the robot to the state it was

in when ﬁrst received.

About this task

At some point you may ﬁnd it useful or necessary to roll back conﬁgurations on the robot to factory defaults.

This will return the robot to the state it was in when you received the robot.

Note: This procedure describes how to reset the robot to factory settings using the robot

hardware power button. You can also reset the robot to factory settings on the Web App

Robot Configurations page.

Note: This procedure assumes you are starting with the robot powered on. If the robot is

already powered off, you can start at step 3.

Note: Be sure that that this is what you want to do. This will erase all user-deﬁned

conﬁgurations including protection zones, network settings, actions, user proﬁles, etc.

Procedure

1. Place the robot in a stable position.

2. Press and hold the base power button to power off the robot.

3. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds.

4. The green status LED will go on to conﬁrm the factory reset.

5. Release the power button. The robot will then boot with factory default conﬁguration settings.

Operating the robot

Overview of operating the robot

This section describes the supported control devices for the robot.

There are three ways to operate the robot:

• physical gamepad (Xbox controller)

•

virtual joysticks over a network connection (Kinova

Kortex™ Web App virtual joysticks)

•

programmatically (Kinova

Kortex™ API)

Supported control devices

This section describes the supported control devices for the robot.

The robot currently supports the Xbox gamepad (USB wired connection only).

The wrist buttons on the robot can also be mapped to functionalities.

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Connecting an Xbox gamepad to the robot

This section describes how to connect an Xbox gamepad to the robot.

Before you begin

You will need:

• Xbox gamepad

• micro-B USB to USB type-A cable (included)

About this task

An Xbox gamepad can be used to operate the robot.

Note: The robot currently only supports a wired connection for the gamepad.

Procedure

1. Connect the micro-B USB connector plug of the cable into the micro USB port on the Xbox

gamepad.

2. Connect the USB type-A end of the cable into one of the two USB-A connectors on the base

controller of the robot.

Default control device mapping - Xbox gamepad

This section describes the default control device mappings between the Xbox gamepad and the actions on the

robot. Customize the mapping between the gamepad and the robot using the API or the Web App.

Gamepad maps overview

The robot has three default control maps for the Xbox gamepad.

1. Twist linear (controls the robot end effector translations by velocity)

2. Twist angular (controls the robot end effector rotations by velocity)

3. Joint (controls the robot joint by joint by velocity)

4. Wrench Force (controls robot end effector with force commands)

5. Wrench torque (controls robot end effector with torque commands)

General controls

Some controls apply the same across all maps. These are controls for:

• Changing the active control map to the next or previous map in the list

• Opening and closing the gripper (if gripper is mounted)

• Clearing faults or E-Stop - a fault state or the triggering of an E-Stop signal will make itself

known through a red LED on the base controller of the robot. The robot cannot be moved this if

state is present. Pressing the left bumper clears the fault (removes the E-Stop) and returns the

LED to green, returning normal control.

• Applying emergency stop signal - this will stop the robot. As with a fault, the LED will change to

red and control of the robot will be prevented until this state is cleared.

• Reaching home or retract position

The available control maps are in a sequential list, starting with Twist linear and ending with Joint.

Pressing the View or Menu buttons will cause the active control map to switch to the previous or

next control map on the list. The list can be thought of as circular - selecting previous when on the

ﬁrst map will cycle around to the last map, and conversely, selecting the next map when on the last

map will cycle around to the ﬁrst.

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Table 12: General control map elements (common controls applying to ALL maps)

Action Control

Retract pose A (hold down)

Reach deﬁned pose

Home pose B (hold down)

previous View button

Navigate controller maps

next Menu button

button

close Left

Gripper command

open Right

trigger

Clear fault or remove E-Stop Left

Stop robot Right

bumper

Figure 22: General control map elements with Xbox gamepad

Twist linear map

Twist linear is the default gamepad map when the robot is turned on and the controller is

connected. In this mode the tool is translated in space with respect to the conﬁgured Cartesian

translation frame (by default the base frame). The tool orientation does not change in this map. The

user controls the linear velocity of the tool, including the linear speed.

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-->

Table 13: Twist linear - general controls plus

Action Control

- downCartesian X translation

+ up

+ leftCartesian Y translation

- right

Left stick

- downCartesian Z translation

+ up

Right stick

decrease downSpeed

increase up

D-pad

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Figure 23: Twist linear controls with Xbox gamepad

Twist angular map

The twist angular map is used to change the orientation of the gripper/tool without translating the gripper/

tool.

Twist angular can be thought of as a companion to the Twist linear control map. In Twist linear,

the tool is translated with respect to the conﬁgured Cartesian translation frame while leaving

the orientation unchanged. In Twist angular, the control is pure rotation of the tool within the

conﬁgured Cartesian orientation frame (by default the tool reference frame), around the three axes

of that frame. The user controls the angular velocity of the tool in relation to those three axes.

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Twist linear and Twist angular together specify a twist (consisting of three linear velocity terms and

three angular velocity terms) to be applied to the end effector (Cartesian control).

Table 14: Twist angular - general controls plus:

Action Control

Cartesian X

Toggle admittance

Nullspace Y

button

- left

Cartesian Y rotation

+ right

- down

Cartesian X rotation

+ up

L stick

- left

Cartesian Z rotation

+ right

R stick

decrease downSpeed

increase up

D-pad

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Figure 24: Twist angular controls with Xbox gamepad

Twist combined map

Twist combined brings together the two Twist control maps into one map so that Cartesian

translation and orientation can be controlled from the same map. Instead of toggling to a

completely new map, the orientation controls can be accessed by pushing in the left and right sticks

while moving the stick.

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Table 15: Twist combined - general controls plus:

Action Control

Cartesian X

Toggle admittance

Nullspace Y

button

- down

+ up

+ left

- right

L stick

- down

Cartesian

translation

+ up

R stick

- hold in + down

+ hold in + up

- hold in + left

+ hold in + right

L stick

- hold in + left

Cartesian rotation

+ hold in + right

R stick

decrease downSpeed

increase up

D-pad

Figure 25: Twist combined controls with Xbox gamepad

Joint map

The joint map allows actuators to be chosen and moved one by one.

Joint control offers direct control of the rotational movement of the joint actuators. In this mode

you can toggle through the joints (actuators) one by one, starting with the ﬁrst and going through in

increasing order. On reaching the last actuator, it will then cycle back to the ﬁrst. The joint angular

speed (ω) can be controlled.

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Table 16: Joint - general controls plus:

Action Control

Toggle admittance Joint X button

ω-

left

Joint speed

ω+

right

L stick

increase up

Speed

decrease down

Previous left

Navigate joints

Next right

D-pad

Figure 26: Joint controls with Xbox gamepad

Wrench Force control map

In this control mode, the force portion of a wrench applied at the end effector can be speciﬁed by

the user.

Table 17: Wrench Force - general controls plus:

Action Control

- X -

Wrench force command X

+ X +

- Y -

Wrench force command Y

+ Y +

L stick

- Z -

Wrench force command Z

+ Z +

R stick

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Figure 27: Wrench Force control with Xbox gamepad

Wrench Torque control map

In this control mode, the torque portion of a wrench applied at the end effector can be speciﬁed by

the user.

Wrench Force and Wrench Torque together specify the wrench (consisting of three force terms and

three torque terms) to be applied to the end effector at the end effector.

Table 18: Wrench Torque - general controls plus:

Action Control

- X -

Wrench torque

command X

+ X +

- Y -

Wrench torque

command Y

+ Y +

L stick

- Z -

Wrench torque

command Z

+ Z +

R stick

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Figure 28: Wrench Torque control with Xbox gamepad

Home and retract positions

Pre-conﬁgured Xbox gamepad maps set aside two buttons to move the robot to the home and retract

positions of the robot.

The robot includes two pre-conﬁgured poses that can be reached using the Xbox gamepad.

The home position sets the robot into a convenient "ready" position. The home position is reached

by holding down the B button on the Xbox gamepad.

The retract position folds the robot up into a compact pose. This can be a useful position to out the

robot into for periods when it will not be in use. The retract position is reached by holding down the

A button on the Xbox gamepad.

Figure 29: Reach home and retract controls

Putting the robot into admittance using the interface buttons

The wrist buttons on the sides of the interface module can be used to put the robot into admittance modes.

Three different admittance modes are accessible, depending on the buttons used.

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The interface module has two buttons on its side that by default can be used to temporarily put the

robot into admittance. This can be a convenient way to take ahold of the robot and move it into a

desired position, or to explore the ﬂexibility of the robot at a particular position.

The two interface module buttons each offer access to one admittance mode.

Figure 30: Interface module admittance buttons

Button 1 ( ) has a raised solid circle shape. This button by itself is used to activate Cartesian

admittance, in which the end effector of the robot moves in response to force exerted on it.

Button 2 ( ) has an indented or ring shape. This button by itself is used to activate joint

admittance, in which the joints of the robot rotate freely in response to forces exerted on them.

For the 7 DoF model, button 1 and button 2 can be used together ( + ) to activate null space

admittance. In this mode the end effector stays in a ﬁxed position and orientation, while the other

joints move within the null space available at the given end effector (seven degrees of freedom to

specify six coordinates of position and orientation gives a free degree of liberty to move within

different solutions of the inverse kinematics of a given pose).

Note: Since the 6 DoF robot model does not have this redundant degree of freedom, null

space admittance is not supported on the 6 DoF model.

Table 19: Wrist button admittance modes map

Button Effect

button 1 enter Cartesian admittance

button 2 enter joint admittance

button 1 + button 2 enter null space admittance (7 DoF robot only)

To engage one of the admittance modes, hold down the appropriate button(s) and exert a moderate

amount of force on the robot. The robot will be in admittance mode as long as the button is held

down. When the button is released, the robot will no longer be in admittance mode and will return

to the previously engaged control mode.

Connecting a computer to the robot

Connection options

The robot can be connected to a computer via either wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Wired connections can be

point to point or over a small local area network.

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There are two ways of connecting a computer to the robot arm:

• Ethernet (direct or over a local network)

• Wi-Fi

Connecting a computer to the robot via Ethernet (for the ﬁrst time)

Describes the steps to connect a computer to the robot via a wired connection for the ﬁrst time. This

procedure requires some conﬁguration of the computer's network adapter.

About this task

This procedure is required to connect a computer to the computer for the ﬁrst time via a wired Ethernet

connection. This requires some conﬁguration of the computer. The following procedure describes details for

Windows 10. The details will be somewhat different for other OS platforms, but the high level steps will be

the same.

Procedure

1. Connect an RJ-45 Ethernet cable from your computer's wired network adapter to the base

Ethernet port.

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2. On your computer, open Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center

3. Select Change adapter settings

4. Select wired Ethernet adapter (i.e. Local Area Connection) and choose Properties.

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5. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and choose Properties.

6. Select Use the following IP address and enter IPv4 address and the Subnet mask.

IPv4 address is 192.168.1.XX, where XX is another from 11 and larger. Subnet mask is

255.255.255.0

7. Press OK.

Results

Your computer is now connected physically to the robot and ready to communicate.

What to do next

You can now access the Web App.

Kinova® Kortex™ Web App

This section is an overview of the Web App. The Web App allows you to interact with the robot and perform

basic tasks wuthout using programming commands.

The Web App provides a HTML Web browser based GUI to interact with the arm and perform basic

tasks without using programming commands.

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The Web App allows users to control and conﬁgure the robot via the GUI.

This includes:

• Real-time control of the robot in different modes using different virtual joysticks

• Setting the arm into admittance modes to manipulate the arm using external forces / torques

• Viewing the feed from the Vision module color sensor

• Conﬁguring

º robot performance parameters and safety thresholds

º protection zones

º network settings

º backup management

º user proﬁles

• Reading

º system information

º notiﬁcations

• Deﬁning robot poses and trajectories

• Managing control mappings for physical controllers

• Monitoring robot parameters

• Upgrading the robot ﬁrmware

The Web App can be run from a desktop or laptop PC connected by wired connection to the robot,

or from any device on the same local network. Devices include desktops, laptops, smartphones, and

tablets. The local network type includes local Wi-Fi neworks.

The Web App is described in detail in the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App User Guide section.

Accessing the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App

This section describes how to launch the Web App.

Before you begin

You should be using a computer that is connected to the robot either over a wired (direct or over local area

network) or wireless connection and you should have the IP address of the robot on the network over which

you are connected.

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About this task

Procedure

1. From the computer web browser, enter the appropriate IP address for the arm base to access

the Web App.

Note: By default, the IP address to use here is:

• 192.168.1.10

If you have conﬁgured the robot with a different IP address so that the computer and

robot are both connected to the same local area network, whether wired or over Wi-Fi,

use the newly conﬁgured IP address.

2. If the connection between the arm and computer is conﬁgured correctly, the Web application

should launch and present a login window. In the login window, enter the following credentials:

Note: By default, the username-password pair is admin/admin.

3. Click CONNECT. The application will initialize. If all is successful, the application will open to a

Monitoring screen that displays live parameters for the robot.

Teaching mode

Teaching mode provides a way to build sequences of robot movements by moving the robot by hand uisng a

combination of the Web App and the wrist buttons on the interface module.

Teaching Mode support provides a user-friendly interface to build sequences by moving the robot

by hand using admittance modes and capturing pose, joint, and gripper snapshots. This sequence

can be edited and conﬁgured.

This is done using a combination of the Web App Actions page and the wrist buttons on the

interface module.

Teaching mode is entered using the Web App. Entering teaching mode changes the map of the wrist

buttons so that the buttons can be used to capture snapshots.

For more details, see the Web App Actions page documentation.

Changing the robot wired connection IP address and connecting the robot

to a LAN

Describes steps to change the robot's wired connection IP address and connect the robot to a local area

network (LAN).

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Before you begin

You need to have already to your computer via Ethernet cable and the computer's local network adapter port.

You will need information about the available IP addresses on the local area network (LAN) to which you want

to connect the robot.

About this task

This procedure is used to conﬁgure the robot so that you can connect a computer to the robot remotely over

your local area network.

Note: For security reasons, we do not recommend connecting the robot to a WAN. The

network should be a simple local area network with low trafﬁc.

Procedure

1. Open the Web application and go to the Networks page. Open the Ethernet tab.

2. Modify the IPv4 address, IPv4 subnet mask, and IPv4 gateway to match an available IP address

with the IP address range of your network.

Note: Once you modify the robot network parameters, your client computer will lose

connection with the robotic arm.

3. Physically disconnect the robot from your computer and connect it via Ethernet cable to your

LAN at a network switch.

4. Restore IP settings compatible with the LAN on your computer's local network adapter and

connect your computer physically to the LAN.

5. From your computer, ping the robot at its newly conﬁgured robot IP address to conﬁrm that

communication is established.

What to do next

From your computer web browser, enter the new robot IP address to access the Web App.

Connecting a computer to the robot via Wi-Fi

This section describes how to connect a computer to the robot via Wi-Fi.

Before you begin

You will need to have a wired connection between the computer and robot prior to carrying out this

procedure. The Wi-Fi router will need to be set to broadcast its SSID so that the robot can ﬁnd the network.

The router will also need to be conﬁgured to accept new devices. You will also need the Wi-Fi password.

About this task

The robot features an integrated Wi-Fi adapter. This allows the arm to connect to a local Wi-Fi connection.

Once this connection is established, other devices on the same Wi-Fi network can then connect to the robot

wirelessly using the IP address assigned for the robot on the wireless network.

Procedure

1. On a computer connected to the robot via wired Ethernet, open the Web App and connect to the

robot.

2. Under the Conﬁgurations page group, select Wireless & Networks in the main navigation panel

of the Web App to go to the Wireless & Networks page.

3. Once on the page, select the Wi-Fi tab.

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4. The Wi-Fi tab will list all of the detected Wi-Fi networks. Choose one of the networks, and click

the corresponding Connect text button.

Note: It is not recommended to connect to Wi-Fi networks which are potentially

insecure. Security settings of at least WPA2 are recommended.

5. A pop-up window will appear to sign in to the network, with information about the signal

strength and security settings. Enter the password for the network and click the CONNECT

button.

Note: A Connect Automatically toggle is available here. Toggling this on will allow the

robot base to automatically connect to the wireless network using the previously entered

password whenever the robot is powered on.

6. Take note of the wireless network IPv4 address that the robot obtains after clicking the

CONNECT button.

7. On any wireless device (laptop, tablet, smartphone) connected to the same Wi-Fi network,

open a Web browser and type the IP address that the robot obtained at Step 6 (This address

corresponds to the robot's address on the Wi-Fi network).

8. The Web App login screen will appear. At the login screen, enter the appropriate user name and

password, and click the CONNECT button.

Results

You are now connected to the Web App through the Wi-Fi network adapter of the robot. You can now

conﬁgure, monitor, and control the robot wirelessly via either the Web App or via API control.

Note: A Wi-Fi connection is not recommended for 1 kHz (low-level) control of the robot due

to potential latency issues - a wired connection must be used for this purpose.

Assigning a static IP address for Wi-Fi to the robot

This sectin describes how to assign a static IP address to the robot for Wi-Fi connection. This makes it

possible to always connect to the robot over Wi-Fi using the same IP address.

Before you begin

You will already need to have connected over Wi-Fi to the robot.

About this task

A previous section of the document describes how to connect to the robot via Wi-Fi. By default, when

conencting, the robot will be assigned an IP address dynamically by the router. However, this means that

in general the robot will receive different wireless IP addresses on different sessions. Sometimes, it will

be advantageous to ﬁx an IP address on that Wi-Fi network. You will need to obtain the MAC address

for the robot base and use this to conﬁgure an assigned static IP in your Wi-Fi router. Depending on your

organization, local IT may need to perform this step for you.

Procedure

1. Connect to the robot via the Web App, logging in to the application.

2. Navigate to the System Information page in the Systems page group.

3. Select the Arm tab, and then open the Base section on this tab.

4. Take note of the MAC address information. You will need this to conﬁgure a static IP address.

5. Login as an administrator to your Wi-Fi router via the web interface.

6. The details will differ from router to router. Find the MAC address entry for the robot base

in the LAN settings. Change the lease type to static and either choose or manually enter an

available IP address from the valid range. Apply the changes.

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Results

The router is now set to assign the same conﬁgured IP address every time the robot connects to Wi-Fi.

What to do next

On any wireless device (laptop, tablet, smartphone) connected to the same Wi-Fi network, you will be able to

connect to the robot via the Web App by entering the assigned IP in a browser. Similarly you will be able to use

the static IP address in applications developed using the API.

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Dimensions, speciﬁcations, and capabilities

Schematic and dimensions - 7 DoF spherical wrist

Schematic diagram of the 7 DoF robot and the key physical dimensions of the robot.

Figure 31: 7 DoF spherical wrist frames deﬁnition and dimensions

The image above deﬁnes reference frames for the base, joints (when all joint angles = 0) and end

effector. Each frame is deﬁned in terms of the previous frame via a transformation matrix. The

diagram also indicates the link lengths and lateral offset values (measurements in mm).

The maximum reach of the robot, as deﬁned by the distance from the shoulder (actuator 2 frame) to

the interface module frame, is 90.2 cm.

Table 20: 7 DoF spherical wrist robot geometric parameters

Description Length (mm)

Base to actuator 1 156.4

Base to shoulder (actuator 2) 284.8

First half upper arm length (actuator 2 to actuator 3) 210.4

Second half upper arm length

(actuator 3 to actuator 4)

210.4

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Description Length (mm)

Forearm length - elbow to

wrist (actuator 4 to actuator 5)

208.4

First wrist length (actuator 5 to actuator 6) 105.9

Second wrist length (actuator 6 to actuator 7) 105.9

Last actuator to interface module 61.5

Joint 1-2 offset 5.4

Joint 2-3 offset 6.4

Joint 3-4 offset 6.4

Joint 4-5 offset 6.4

Schematic and dimensions - 6 DoF spherical wrist

Schematic diagram of the 6 DoF robot and the key physical dimensions of the robot.

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Figure 32: 6 DoF spherical wrist frames deﬁnition and dimensions

The image above deﬁnes reference frames for the base, joints (when all joint angles = 0) and end

effector. Each frame is deﬁned in terms of the previous frame via a transformation matrix. The

diagram also indicates the link lengths and lateral offset values (measurements in mm).

The maximum reach of the robot, as deﬁned by the distance from the shoulder (Actuator 2 frame)

to the end effector frame, is 89.1 cm.

Table 21: 6 DoF spherical wrist robot geometric parameters

Description Length (mm)

Base to actuator 1 156.4

Base to shoulder 284.8

Upper arm length 410.0

Forearm length (elbow to wrist) 208.4

First wrist length 105.9

Second wrist length 105.9

Last actuator to interface module 61.5

Joint 1-2 offset 5.4

Joint 3-4 offset 6.4

Technical Speciﬁcations

Technical speciﬁcations for the Kinova

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot, categorized for ease of reference. Some

of these also appear within the main body of the text.

Table 22: Safety / Security

Feature Detail

Safety alarm (power monitor) ≥ 10A (maximum current)

Position monitor default and user-deﬁned protection zones

Thermal monitor

warning / shutdown above

maximum operating temperature

Table 23: Environmental

Parameter Value(s)

-30 °C to 35°C (operating)

Temperature

-30 °C to 50 °C (storage)

Relative humidity (non-condensing) 15% to 90% (operating)

Pressure 70 kPa to 106 kPa *

Sound pressure level (nominal) < 55.5 dBA

Universal Power Supply (external) 300 W

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Parameter Value(s)

Power supply input voltage 100 - 240 VAC

Power supply input frequency 50 - 60 Hz

Power supply ingress protection IP42

Table 24: Controller (base)

Feature Detail

power indicator blue LED

status indicator red/amber/green LED

USB 2.0 (two ports)

Xbox gamepad connect; 1 A charging

(top), 500 mA USB peripherals (lower)

Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) for development PC connection

Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n)

Kinova

Kortex™ Web App and API

HDMI 1.4a (Internal use only)

circular connector [Binder-USA 09 0463 90 19] Internal use only

circular connector [Lumberg 0317 08] power

sensors

voltage, current, temperature,

accelerometer and gyroscope

Table 25: Robot

Parameter Value(s)

7 DoF 8.2 kg

Mass (without gripper

and with vision module)

6 DoF 7.2 kg

mid-range continuous; no gripper: 4.0 kg

7 DoF

full-range continuous; no gripper: 2.0 kg

mid-range continuous; no gripper: 4.0 kg

Payload

6 DoF

full-range continuous; no gripper: 2.0 kg

7 DoF 902 mm

Maximum reach (fully extended)

6 DoF 891 mm

Maximum Cartesian

translation speed

50 cm/s

Degrees of freedom 7 DoF, 6 DoF

small: qty 3 (small)

Actuators

large: qty 4 (7 DoF), 3 (6 DoF)

Wrist interaction buttons

qty 2 (user-conﬁgurable; default for

admittance control; teaching mode controls)

Power supply voltage 24 VDC (nominal, 20 to 30 V)

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Parameter Value(s)

Carbon ﬁber shell

Materials

Aluminum

100 Mbps Ethernet for real-time 1 kHz control

Communciations and control

100 Mbps Ethernet for Vision module / expansion

Table 26: Actuators

Feature Value(s)

Sensors

current sensors (motor), temperatures

(motor), voltage, torque, position

Table 27: Interface module

Feature Function

Vision module color and depth sensing

Wrist status LEDs admittance mode indication

Wrist pushbuttons admittance modes; teaching mode

Kinova internal end-effector interface connector (Internal use only)

10-pin spring-loaded connector RS-485 (compatible with Robotiq Adaptive Grippers)

100 Mbps Ethernet

UART (3.3V)

C (3.3V)

GPIO (3.3V, qty 4)

24V @ 0.5A

20-pin user expansion connector

[AVX/Kyocera 046288020000846+]

3.3V @ 0.1A for signaling

Sensors accelerometer and gyroscope, voltage, temperature

Table 28: Vision

Feature Detail

Depth sensor

480 x 270 (16:9) @ 30, 15, 6 fps

424 x 240 (16:9) @ 30, 15, 6 fps

FOV: 72 ± 3° (diagonal)

minimum depth distance - 18 cm

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Feature Detail

Color sensor

1920 x 1080 (16:9) @ 30, 15 fps; FOV 47 ± 3°

(diagonal)

1280 x 720 (16:9) @ 30, 15 fps ; FOV 60 ± 3°

(diagonal)

640 x 480 (4:3) @ 30, 15 fps; FOV 65 ± 3°

(diagonal)

320 x 240 (4:3) @ 30, 15 fps; FOV 65 ± 3°

(diagonal)

focusing range - 30 cm to ∞

* subject to change

Sensors

The robot contains a number of different sensors. There are sensors in the base, actuators, and interface

module. Sensors data can be accessed using the cyclic communications with the base.

The robot contains a number of sensors to provide feedback on the status of the robot. This data is

used by the robot for internal monitoring and control.

The robot components contain the following sensors:

Base sensors

• Voltage

• Current

• Temperature

• 6-axis accelerometer/gyroscope

Actuator sensors

• Motor phases current sensors (one per phase)

• Motor phases temperature sensors (one per phase)

• CPU temperature sensor

• Input voltage sensor

• Hall effect sensors for BLDC motor drive

• Absolute rotary position encoder

• Incremental rotary position encoder

• Applied torque

Interface module sensors

• Temperature sensor (CPU, accelerometer and dedicated)

• 6-axis accelerometer/gyroscope

Access to sensors data

Data from some sensors can be read by users using the APIs or through the Monitoring page of the

Web Application.

The API method RefreshFeedback() in the BaseCyclic API returns a data structure with

readings from sensors in:

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• Base

• Actuators

• Interface

For detailed information on how to unpack this data in an application, see the BaseCyclic API

documentation on the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub repository.

The following tables give more information about the sensor data.

Eective workspace

Description of the effective workspace of the robot. The effective workspace is the region in space reachable

by the tool.

Eective workspace overview

The effective workspace refers to the region in three-dimensional space which is reachable by the

robot tool. This is impacted by several factors, including the number and length of the links, the joint

ranges, and the shape of the links.

There are two deﬁnitions of effective workspace, the ﬁrst being larger than the second.

1. Nominal (or reachable) workspace - the set of all locations in the three-dimensional space

reachable by the tool through at least one combination of end effector position and orientation

2. Dextrous workspace - the subset of the nominal workspace in which the tool still has the full

freedom to move, both in translation (three degrees of freedom) and in rotation (three degrees

of freedom)

Detailed information

The following graphic illustrates a two-dimensional cross-section of the nominal workspace for the

robot.

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Figure 33: 6 DoF robot nominal workspace (measurements in mm)

Figure 34: 7 DoF robot nominal workspace (measurements in mm)

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Payload vs. workspace

Describes the variation of payload over the workspace and depending on the type of use.

Overview

The payload of the robot is the maximum mass that the robot can hold up at the end effector. The

actuators must apply high torques. The payload is limited by the heat produced by the actuators.

The payload is limited by distance and duration because of the high torque heat that is produced.

This is generally not one constant ﬁgure, but will depend on a few factors.

• radial distance from the base - the payload will be highest closest to the base, and will go down as

the end effector gets farther out from the base axis.

• temporary vs. continuous - the robot will have a maximum payload that can be handled

temporarily for a short period of time. However, continued use of the arm with that payload

for an indeﬁnite period will cause the arm to heat up, as the heat generated by the strain on

the actuator exceeds the rate at which heat can be dissipated. However, a smaller mass can be

handled for an indefninite period. This is referred to as the continuous payload limit.

The payload will also depend on whether a gripper is attached or not, with some of the payload

capability reduced to lift the weight of the gripper.

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Wrist interface, tool expansion, and vision

Interface module expansion - tips for installing tools

Describes steps needed to install and integrate a new tool onto the interface module.

At some point, you may want to install a new tool such as a gripper or sensor onto the robot.

Generally, this involves two steps.

1. Physically mounting the tool using the screw holes available on the Interface module face.

Note: The holes on the Interface module face are laid out to allow easy installation of

Robotiq Adaptive Grippers using the four supplied M5 Socket Head Cap Screws (SHCS

include O-rings for compliance with the IP rating for sealing). For other third-party tools,

it may be necessary to create a mounting structure matching the provided interface

module bolting pattern, as discussed in the End effector reference design section.

2. Intergrating the tool to robot power and control. Integration of Robotiq Adaptive Grippers

to the robot power and control signals uses the 10-pin spring-loaded connector. Other third-

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party tools can be powered through the pogo pins. Power, Ethernet, UART, I2C, and GPIOs are

available via the user expansion connector. The pinout details are described in later sections.

Note: If designing or installing your own tool or end effector, remember to take into

consideration the ﬁeld of view of the depth sensors when designing the length of the tool

to avoid hindering the effectiveness of the vision module depth sensors.

End eector reference design

An end effector reference design package is on the Kinova website. The package provides developers

guidance on developing and integrating a new tool with the robot. The reference design includes a mechanical

and electrical interface. Steps are required to conﬁgure the tool and its payload. Control of the tool is carried

out using the interface module expansion interface.

Introduction

The Kinova

Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot is designed for maximum extensibility. As such, the robot

has a user expansion interface designed to simplify the development required to incorporate

different sensors, end effectors or other tools/boards. The supported user interfaces are listed in

the section Interface module user expansion connector pinout.

Kinova provides a reference design package which includes mechanical and electrical modular

interfaces.

Mechanical interface

The mechanical interface is a ﬂanged circular structure which converts the interface module bolting

pattern to the ISO 9409-1-A50 mounting plate pattern common to many industrial robots.

Kinova recommends that the mechanical interface part of your end effector be machined from solid

aluminium, though for applications where no payload will be attached (only sensors or PCBs), a 3D-

printed interface part may sufﬁce.

Note: If a 3D printed interface is used, perform an evaluation of the forces involved to

ensure that adequate safety factors are observed.

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Note: The structure includes openings at the top and bottom of the structure for the

passage of cabling for the electrical interface. As a result, the mounting structure does NOT

in itself provide ingress or EMI protection.

Figure 35: Reference design mechanical interface (details in reference design package)

The ﬂange includes four mounting holes corresponding to the four mounting holes on the interface

module. The rear face of the structure also includes a positioning key corresponding to the

positioning key hole on the interface module to ensure that the structure is aligned with the right

orientation.

Electrical interface

The electrical reference design acts as a breakout, giving access to:

• 24 V / 0.5 A

• 5 V / 2 A / 10 W, from 24 V (through a DC-DC buck converter)

• Expansion Ethernet (100 Mbit, through a RJ-45 port)

•

GPIO, I

C and UART

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Figure 36: Reference design electrical interface (details in reference design package)

Mounting structure installation overview

The following general steps are required to install the reference design mounting structure on the

robot:

• If you have not already done so, remove the end cap from the interface module, preserving the

four screws and the O-ring. The screws and O-ring are used for the installation of the mounting

structure.

• Align the rear face of the mounting structure with the interface module.

Note: Ensure that the positioning key aligns with the positioning key hole on the interface

module.

• Use a 20 pin ﬂat ﬂex cable to connect the user expansion port on the interface module to the

input connector on the mounting structure electrical interface.

• Place the O-ring around the mounting structure.

• Bring the mounting structure together with the interface and attach using the four screws.

With the mounting structure in place, an end effector tool can be mounted and integrated

electrically.

Reference design package

The reference design package is available for download on the Kinova website: https://

artifactory.kinovaapps.com/artifactory/generic-documentation-public/Documentation/Gen3/

CADS%20%26%20Drawings/End_Effector_Reference_Design.zip. Other resources are available

online: https://www.kinovarobotics.com/product/gen3-robots#Product__resources

The package includes several useful ﬁles to help you with building an end effector. You may use

these ﬁles as is or as a starting point to design your own end effector. The package contents include:

• STL ﬁle of the mechanical interface, for 3D-printing

• STEP ﬁle and PDF drawing of the mechanical interface, for machining

• STEP ﬁle of the Kinova breakout PCB for integration into CAD programs

• KR13933.ASY ﬁle which directs the assembly of the PCB (including the BOM)

• KR13933.PCB which directs the PCB fabrication (including Gerber ﬁles)

• KR13933.SCH which includes the circuit board schematic diagrams

Tool conﬁguration

To fully integrate an end effector tool with the robot control and cyclic feedback, you will need to

conﬁgure the tool information using either the Web App Robot Configurations page or the

API via the SetToolConfiguration() function in Kinova.Api.ControlConfig.

You will need to conﬁgure:

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• transform for the reference frame of the tool in relation to robot interface module frame

• mass of mechanical interface + end effector tool

• coordinates of center of mass of mechanical interface + end effector tool in terms of the

interface module reference frame

Conﬁguring the transform ensures that the robot is aware of the geometry of the tool in relation to

the rest of the robot to calculate and accurately report the tool position.

Conﬁguring the mass and center of mass coordinates of the tool ensures that the control libraries

of the robot can properly take into account the presence of the tool mass in the control of the robot.

Payload conﬁguration

If you want to carry a known payload mass with the tool, you will need to conﬁgure the payload

information using either the Web App Robot Configurations page or the API via the

SetPayloadConfiguration() function in Kinova.Api.ControlConfig.

For this you will need to conﬁgure:

• mass of the the payload

• coordinates of the center of mass of the payload in terms of the tool frame.

Similar to the conﬁguration of tool mass and center of mass coordinates, conﬁguring the payload

ensures that the control libraries of the robot can properly take into account the presence of the

tool mass in the control of the robot.

Controlling the end eector via interface expansion

With your end effector tool physically mounted on the mechanical interface, integrated electrically

via the electrical interface, and properly conﬁgured, you can communicate with and control the end

effector tool via the expansion interface. For more details, see Using interface module expansion to

control devices via API on page 82.

Removing end cap from the interface module

The interface module ships with an end cap to protect the interface. This needs to be removed to expose the

interface for connecting a tool.

Before you begin

You will need a 3 mm hex key.

About this task

The robot ships originally with an end cap over the interface. Attaching an end effector to the robot requires

removing the end cap ﬁrst. Removing the end cap exposes expansion and end-effector connection points.

When removing the end cap, there is an O-ring exposed which must be conserved. The O-ring

is used to provide protection against water ingress and EMI at the junction between the robot

interface and the end effector.

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Procedure

1. The end cap is held onto the robot interface using four M5 button head cap screws. Using a 3

mm hex key, remove the screws and preserve them.

2. Remove the end cap, and set aside with the screws.

3. You will see an O-ring on removing the end cap.

Note: Set aside the O-ring with the screws and end cap for safe keeping. The screws and

O-ring will be used when attaching an end effector tool (as described in the end effector

reference design). The cap needs to be replaced whenever an end effector is not installed.

Robotiq Adaptive Grippers installation (optional)

The mechanical and electrical interface of the robot makes it easy to install a Robotiq Adaptive Gripper

(2F-85 or 2F-140 gripper) on the robot. Some conﬁguration is required.

Before you begin

You will need four M5 Socket Head Cap Screws and 4 mm hex key (supplied).

You will also need to have removed the interface end cap (robot comes with end cap connected).

You will need the O-ring that was exposed when the end cap was removed.

You will need a computer connected to the robot to perform some conﬁguration.

About this task

This procedure describes the installation for Robotiq Adaptive Grippers on the interface module of the robot.

The interface module allows easy mounting of Robotiq Adaptive Grippers, and the Robotiq 2F-85 and 2F-140

Gripper models are fully supported on the robot and relatively simple to integrate. This procedure describes

how to:

• mechanically mount the gripper on the robot

• integrate the gripper with the robot in terms of electrical power and control

• conﬁgure the robot as using the particular gripper model in the Web App

The interface module has four mounting holes corresponding to the bolt pattern on the gripper. The 10

spring-loaded pins on the interface mate with a contact plate on the inside of the Robotiq Gripper to establish

electrical supply and controls.

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Figure 37: Robotiq Adaptive Gripper (Robotiq 2F-85 Gripper shown)

Procedure

1. Prepare the four supplied M5 Socket Head Cap Screws and a 4 mm hex key.

2. Place the O-ring around the diameter of the gripper. The O-ring protects the junction between

the interface module and gripper from water ingress and EMI.

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3. Locate the positioning key on the Robotiq Gripper and the corresponding hole on the interface

module face.

4. Position the gripper interface against the Interface module interface so that the positioning

key of the gripper is in the positioning key hole of the interface module and the 10-pin spring-

loaded connector of the interface module is aligned with the corresponding mating interface

on the gripper.

5. Insert the four screws through the front face of the gripper. Tighten each screw in sequence

until they are all snug (do not overtighten).

6. Next, some conﬁguration is required to integrate the gripper at the software level. You need to

tell the robot what gripper model is connected. With the robot connected to a computer, open

the Web App and log in.

7. In the menu, access the Robot conﬁguration page from the Configurations page group.

8. On the Robot conﬁgurations page, open the Arm conﬁgurations tab and the Product

section. There is a ﬁeld End Effector Type, with a dropdown menu selector. You will see two

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options: Robotiq 2F-85 gripper, 2 fingers and Robotiq 2F-140 gripper, 2

fingers. Choose your gripper type from the list.

9. Once you select the gripper type, you will be prompted to reboot the robot to apply the

changes to the conﬁguration.

10. The robot will go through a reboot, and the Web App will refresh, waiting for the reboot to

ﬁnish. When the process is done (about 30 seconds), the End Effector Type will appear on the

Robot conﬁgurations page.

Note: You can change the transform of the tool to move the default TCP set for the

gripper.

Results

The Robotiq Gripper is now be mechanically installed on the robot. The gripper is also fully integrated with

the robot for power and controls, and the gripper type is set in the software conﬁguration of the robot. The

robot provides power to the gripper, and the gripper can be controlled using either the provided gamepad

or the Web App virtual joysticks. The robot control library will now take into account the mass and center of

mass of the gripper in controlling the robot. As well, the robot will take into account the gripper reference

frame (between the two ﬁngers) when reporting back updates for the tool position.

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What to do next

For your personal safety, it is strongly recommended that you read the user documentation for the

Robotiq Gripper before use.

Robotiq 2F-85 and 2F-140 Gripper default conﬁguration settings reference

Reference for tool conﬁguration settings to use for the Robotiq 2F-85 and 2F-140 Grippers. This information

is provided as a reference for advanced users and is not needed for general setup and use of the Robotiq

gripper with the robot.

The following information represents the tool conﬁguration settings used by the robot for the

Robotiq 2F-85 and 2F-140 gripper. The gripper is fully supported on the robot, therefore there

is no need to explicitly enter the details in the tool conﬁguration section of the Web App Robot

Configuration page or via the Kinova.Api.ControlConfig API as you would have to do

when adding another tool.

Selecting the gripper model under Arm > Product > End Effector Type on the Robot

Configuration page of the Web App and rebooting the robot sufﬁces to apply these settings.

The information below is provided as a reference for advanced users who need to account for the

information in computing dynamics and kinematics of the robot + gripper.

Table 29: Robotiq 2F-85 Gripper tool conﬁguration settings

Setting Value

X 0

Y 0

Z 0.120 m

Transform (from interface

module frame to gripper frame)

Tool mass 0.925 kg

X 0

Y 0

Center of mass coordinates

(in interface module frame)

Z 0.058 m

Table 30: Robotiq 2F-140 Gripper tool conﬁguration settings

Setting Value

X 0

Y 0

Z 0.200 m

Transform (from interface

module frame to gripper frame)

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Setting Value

Tool mass 1.025 kg

X 0

Y 0

Center of mass coordinates

(in interface module frame)

Z 0.073 m

Interface module bolting pattern

Reference for the interface module bolting pattern (mechanical interface). This is useful for mounting a tool

on the robot.

Drill pattern for mounting screws and position key

The drill pattern below is for the four mounting screws. Openings to accommodate the required

cables connections with the connectors also need to be added. The use of a 4 mm dowel pin to

accurately localize the positioning key hole is optional but strongly recommended.

Figure 38: Mounting holes for gripper/tool (all dimensions in mm)

Interface module user expansion connector pinout

Pinout reference for the interface module user expansion connector.

The interface module user expansion connector pin assignment is described in the table below.

These expansion pins provide power to devices connected at the interface module, as well as

offering connectivity to enable control of devices via the APIs.

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Figure 39: Interface module user expansion connector

Table 31: Interface module user expansion pinout

Pin Name Comment

1 +24V USER

2 +24V USER

24V / 0.5A power; a protection device limits current shared between gripper and

user expansion port to 1A total.

3 GND

4 GND

power return path

5 ETH_RX_P

6 ETH_RX_N

Ethernet Rx 100Mbps (connected with EXP bus)

7 GND signal return path

8 ETH_TX_P

9 ETH_TX_N

Ethernet Tx 100Mbps (connected with EXP bus)

10 GND signal return path

11 +3V3 3.3V / 100 mA; can be used for small IC or sensor

12 UART_TXD signal 3.3V

13 UART_RXD signal 3.3V

14 GND signal return path

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Pin Name Comment

15 I2C_SCL

C clock - 3.3V

16 I2C_SDA

C data - 3.3V

17 GPIO1

18 GPIO2

19 GPIO3

20 GPIO4

General Purpose Input / Output 3.3V

Using interface module expansion to control devices via API

References for additional information on how to make use of interface module expansion pins for bridging to

connected devices via UART, I2C, or GPIO.

Overview

The interface module expansion connector offers three interfaces for bridging to connected

devices:

• UART

• I2C

• GPIO

The reference design section gives guidance on connecting an end effector device mechanically and

electrically.

Controlling the end eector device via UART, I2C, or GPIO

Controlling the interfaced device via UART, I2C, or GPIO is done via the Kinova

Kortex™ API using

the Kinova.Api.InterconnectConfig service.

Examples of using UART, I2C, and GPIO as a bridge to communciate with and control a device can

be seen on the Kiniova

Kortex™ GitHub repository.

• C++ examples

• Python examples

Spring-loaded connector pinout

Pinout reference for the spring-loaded connector.

The spring-loaded connector pin assignment is described in the table below.

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Figure 40: Spring-loaded connector

Table 32: Spring-loaded connector pinout

Pin Name Comment

1 GND

2 GND

power return path

3 +24V

4 +24V

24V / 1A power for end device (current limit shared with interface module user

expansion port)

5 PRESENT end device presence detection (connect to GND on end device)

6 N/C no connection

7 RS485_N

8 RS485_P

RS-485 signal pair (bidirectional; Robotiq devices only)

9 GND signal return path

10 N/C no connection

Accessing Vision module color and depth streams

The vision module color and depth streams can be accessed from a computer connected to the robot base.

The video module sensors capture two video streams:

• color

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• depth

The data from these streams is sent from the vision module back to the base controller via the

vision / expansion channel carried over the internal ﬂex cable links.

These two streams are accessible via the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) on a computer

connected to the robot (with transport over real-time transport protocol (RTP)).

Using the default IP address settings for the base controller, the two streams are accessible via:

• color sensor stream: rtsp://<base IPv4 address>/color

• depth sensor stream: rtsp://<base IPv4 address>/depth

For the default conﬁguration of the base controller network interface, this would give:

• rtsp://192.168.1.10/color

• rtsp://192.168.1.10/depth

Note: Examples in the documentation will use the default base controller IP setting for

simplicity.

Streams speciﬁcations

• pixel format: Z16 pixel format - 16 bits LSB transferred as grayscale

• H.264 baseline proﬁle (constant bitrate)

• RTSP server listening on port 554 (default)

• maximum of two simultaneous connections per stream

• inactivity timeout of 30 seconds

The Kinova

Kortex™ Developer Guide section of the user guide describes in more detail how to

work with the vision module camera streams.

For more guidance on conﬁguring the vision module using the Kinova

Kortex™ API, see the vision

examples on the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub repository:

• C++ vision examples

• Python vision examples

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Concepts and terminology

Robot key concepts and terminology

Actions

An action is something that the user wants the robot to do. This can include (but is not limited to):

• Reaching an end effector pose or set of joint angles

• Reaching or passing through or near a waypoint

• Toggling admittance mode

• Changing a position or motion parameter

• Applying emergency stop or clear faults

• Adding a delay

• Sending a gripper command

The full set of action types is deﬁned in the Kinova.Api.Base API.

Admittance

In this document, admittance is used to refer to human-robot interaction modes. In these modes, the robot

will respond to external efforts applied on the body and tool and generate a motion to follow these efforts.

Angular mode

Independent joint control, whereby each axis of the manipulator is controlled separately.

Axis

A ﬁxed line with direction. It is used for the measurement of coordinates or angles, in relation to which is

speciﬁed the robot motion (in linear or rotational fashion).

Base

Refers to the stationary base structure of a robot arm that supports the ﬁrst arm joint.

Base frame

The reference frame located at the center of the bottom surface of the arm's base. This serves as the origin

frame in Cartesian space.

Base support

The stable platform to which the base is attached

Blending

Blending is the process used by the robot to smooth the transition when reaching a waypoint that creates a

change in direction in a trajectory. Blending at a waypoint is deﬁned by a blending radius that dictate at which

distance from the associated waypoint does the trajectory start transitioning to the next one.

Cartesian admittance mode

Allows the application of external force to the tool, so as to guide the arm to a new position.

Cartesian mode

Mode used to control the velocities (translation and orientation) of the tool in Cartesian space.

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Cartesian space

The Euclidean space described by x, y and z axes of the Cartesian coordinate system.

Center of mass

Unique point of a rigid body where an applied force will generate only linear acceleration (and no angular

acceleration)

Closed loop control

Control of a device where the device is controlled in relation to the different between sensed current state

and goal state. Used on the robot for control of actuators.

Control modes

A control mode is one of several modalities of controlling the motion of the robot while it is in

run mode. Different modes provide different means to describe or guide the desired motion. The

control modes for the arm are:

• Angular joystick

• Angular trajectory

• Angular waypoint trajectories

• Cartesian joystick

• Cartesian trajectory

• Cartesian waypoing trajectories

• Cartesian admittance

• Joint admittance

• Null space admittance

• Force control

Coordinate system

A system used to represent a position in three-dimensional space, consisting of three coordinate axes and an

origin. The term "frame" is also used to designate a coordinate system.

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)

The number of independent directions or joints of the robot, which would allow the robot to move its end

effector through the required sequence of motions. For arbitrary positioning, six degrees of freedom are

needed: three for position and three for orientation.

Endpoint

The nominal commanded position that the robot will try to reach with the tool center point at the end of a

motion path.

End eector

The device at the end of a robot, designed to directly interact with the environment. When nothing is

attached to the arm, the end effector is the ﬂange; when a tool is attached to the arm, the end effector is the

tool.

Euler angle

Describes the rotation in three dimensions of a rigid body in terms of a sequence of three rotations with

respect to a coordinate system.

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Factory settings

Factory settings are the conﬁguration settings of the robot as they were when the robot arrived

from the manufacturer. A robot can be restored to factory settings, which includes the base

conﬁguration and the network settings.

Force control

The tool is controlled by sending wrench commands (force and torque) to the tool.

Gravity vector

Vector representing direction and magnitude of the local force of gravity, expressed in terms of the robot

base frame.

Joint

Section of the manipulator system which allows one rotational degree of freedom.

Joint admittance mode

Allows the application of external force at the links to rotate joints.

Joint angle

Describes the position of every joint of a robot as as series of angles.

Joint space

The set of all possible joint positions.

Map

A map is a set of associations between controller device inputs and actions to be triggered by those

inputs when the map is active.

Mappings

A mapping is a full deﬁnition of the possible correspondances between controller device inputs

and actions that are triggered by those inputs when the mapping is active. A mapping can consist of

multiple maps, for example to enable multiple different modes on the same controller device.

Notiﬁcations

A notiﬁcation is a log of an event related to a particular topic that happens while a user is using the

robot.

A notiﬁcation will include the user proﬁle, type of event, details of the event (if applicable), and a

timestamp.

Null space

The mathematical space of joint speeds where the robot can change its conﬁguration (generate joint speed

and motion) without changing the end-effector pose (Null Twist at the end effector).

Null space admittance mode

Robot conﬁguration can be changed by applying external forces at the links without affecting the tool pose.

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Operating mode

Operating modes are the different operational states of the robot. The operating modes for the arm

are:

• Update - in process of update

• Update completed - update is completed successfully

• Update failed - update process started but failed to complete successfully

• Shutting down - arm is in process of shutting down

• Run - normal operating mode. Arm is ready to accept control inputs.

• Fault - robot is in an error state

Orientation

The orientation of a rigid body describes the pure rotations that should be applied to the body to move it from

a reference placement to its current placement.

Path

The continuous locus of points (or positions in three dimensional space) traversed by the tool center point

and described in a speciﬁed coordinate system.

Path (Angular)

The set of at least two angular poses, through which the actuator values angles should pass during motion.

Path (Cartesian)

The set of at least two Cartesian poses, through which the tool of the robot should pass during motion.

Path planning

Computation of a path to reach a goal pose subject to applicable constraints and criteria.

Payload

The object that is carried or manipulated by the robot tool.

Payload - Maximum

The maximum mass that the robot can manipulate at a speciﬁed speed, acceleration/deceleration, center of

gravity location (offset), and repeatability in continuous operation over a speciﬁed working space, speciﬁed in

kilograms.

Pinch point

Any location on the robot (or its accessories) which poses a risk of injury to ﬁngers or other appendages close

by.

Pose

Describes the position and orientation of a rigid body in Cartesian space.

Position

The deﬁnition of an object's location in 3D space, usually deﬁned by a 3D coordinate system using X, Y, and Z

coordinates.

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Protection zone

A protection zone deﬁnes a three-dimensional region with respect to the robot base where the end

effector or the arm is prevented from entering. The speed at which the end effector and arm travel

as it approaches a protection zone is dictated by the protection zone. Protection zones are used for

preventing collisions. For the robot, protection zones can be one of three shapes (or combination

thereof):

• Cylinder

• Rectangular prism

• Sphere

Redundancy

Occurs when a manipulator (robot) has more degrees of freedom than it needs to execute a given task.

Applicable to robots with 7 or more DoF.

Redundancy Optimization

Method used to avoid a singularity by using redundant degrees-of-freedom motion (if available).

Safeties

Hardware limitations which are monitored to increase robot safety.

Sequence

A sequence is an ordered list of actions executed one after the other. A sequence can be started,

paused, resumed, and stopped.

Servoing mode

A servoing mode is a modality through which commands are transmitted to robot devices during

operation. The servoing modes are as follows:

• High-level servoing - user(s) control the robot by sending a single command to the base. The

base manages the low-level details of executing the command, breaking it down, applying

any relevant high-level protections, and routing commands to the desired devices via a 1 kHz

communication loop with the devices.

º Single-level - a single user sends commands to a base

• Low-level servoing - the user controls the robot by sending a series of actuator commands to the

base via a user-controlled loop. The base routes these commands to the desired device via its

own 1 kHz communication loop with the actuators.

Singularity avoidance

Strategy to avoid conﬁgurations where the robot loses its ability to move the end effector in a given direction

no matter how it moves its joints.

Snapshot

A snapshot is a capture of the instantaneous position of the robot. This can be of different types:

• Cartesian position

• Joint angles

• gripper position

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• Combined robot position and gripper position

Teaching mode

Teaching mode is a feature available via the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App. Teaching mode allows users to put

the robot into admittance, move the robot by hand, and capture position and gripper snapshots within a

sequence.

Tool

The device attached to the end of a robot, designed to directly interact with the environment.

Tool conﬁguration

Conﬁgurations made to enable use of a tool at the end effector position of the robot. This consists of the mass

and center of mass of the tool, and the tool transform.

Tool frame

A coordinate system attached to the end effector tool.

Tool transform

Transformation (translation and orientation) between the interface module reference frame and the

reference frame of the tool attached to the end of the robot.

Topic

A set of related robot events to which the user can subscribe and receive notiﬁcations as part of a

Publisher-Subscriber (pub-sub) arrangement. There are a number of different topics, including:

• User

• Controller device input

• Safety

• Action or sequence

• Connection/disconnection of arm, controller, or tool

• Conﬁguration change or backup

• Factory restore

• Protection zone

• Control, operation, or servoing mode

For a full list of events, refer to https://github.com/Kinovarobotics/kortex/blob/master/linked_md/

NotiﬁcationTopics.md

Torque control

The motion of the robot joints is controlled by sending low-level torque commands to the actuators.

Trajectory

A time-parametrized path in the robot workspace that can be deﬁned by the user.

Trajectory mode

Mode allowing user to specify an endpoint (in joint space or Cartesian space) that the robot should reach.

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Twist

Generalized velocity vector, which is a combination of translational velocity and rotational velocity. Term

comes from Screw Theory.

Upgrade package

An upgrade package is a ﬁle with the extension .swu. It contains ﬁrmware updates for all modules

on the robot (base, actuator, interface, vision).

User proﬁles

A user proﬁle is a collection of basic information about the person using the robot, along with

credentials (username and password) for access. A user proﬁle allows access to the robot to be

controlled based on login credentials, and allows permissions for reading, updating, and deleting

different conﬁguration items to be controlled. The user proﬁle also allows notiﬁcations for events

happening during a user's session to be associated with the user. Notiﬁcations that were sent by

the robot can be viewed in the Web App > Notifications page if the Web App is open and

connected to the robot before the notiﬁcations were sent.

Vector

Mathematical representation of physical quantities that have both magnitude and direction, expressed in a

coordinate system.

Waypoint

A waypoint is a desired intermediate point to be reached during a robot movement, either a Cartesian pose

or a set of joint angles. A list of waypoints can be created to make a trajectory that changes direction without

reducing velocities to zero by smoothing changes in direction.

Wrench

Generalized force vector, which is a combination of linear force and torques. Term comes from Screw Theory.

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Robot control

High-level and low-level robot control

The robot can be controlled in either high-level or low-level robot control. There are beneﬁts to both forms

of control. High-level control is easier with more protections, while low-level control offers faster commands

and ﬁner-grained control with less protection.

High-level is the default on boot-up and offers the safest and most straight-forward control.

In both high-level and low-level, commands are sent through the robot base.

In high-level control, commands are sent to the base via a single command using the

Kinova.Api.Base API. These commands are processed by Kinova robot control libraries.

The robot control library applies high-level control features like:

• Singularity avoidance

• Protection zones

• Cartesian and joint limits

• Conﬁgurable speed and acceleration limits

The control library also breaks down the command into smaller commands that the base will

send incrementally to the individual robot actuators via its 1 kHz communication loop with the

actuators.

In low-level control, the user sends a series of small commands to each actuator and the gripper as

part of a user-deﬁned loop, at a rate up to 1 kHz, using the Kinova.Api.BaseCyclic API. The

base receives these commands and routes them to the appropriate actuators and the gripper via its

own 1 KHz communication loop with robot devices.

High-level control is simpler to use and offers added protections. However, it is slower due to the

overhead of processing by the Kinova control library. High-level control runs at 40 Hz.

Low-level control offers faster commands and ﬁner-grained control of the robot. The user's

commands can be applied directly to the actuators without being changed by the high-level control

features, which is useful, for example, when implementing a controller external to the robot. The

user should be aware that the protection offered by the high-level control libraries will not be

applied as a result.

For detailed information on the implementation of high- and low-level control, see Robot servoing

modes on page 181 in the Kinova

Kortex™ Developer Guide section of this User Guide.

High-level and low-level robot control methods reference

Control robot movement by using key methods in the API. For the full API documentation and code examples,

please see the KORTEX GitHub repository or watch our videos on https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=zQewb08M4sA&list=PLz1XwEYRuku5rZjJWBr6SDi93jgWZ4FHL

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High-level (Kinova.Api.Base)

Table 33: Send or play a trajectory (Cartesian or joint)

Method Description

PlayCartesianTrajectory

(ConstrainedPose)

Moves to the specifed pose (with speciﬁed Cartesian

constraint on trajectory)

Note: This method will be deprecated in

a future software version.

PlayCartesianTrajectoryPosition

(ConstrainedPosition)

Moves to the specifed position (with speciﬁed

Cartesian constraint on trajectory)

Note: This method will be deprecated in

a future software version.

PlayCartesianTrajectoryOrientation

(ConstrainedOrientation)

Moves to the specifed orientation (with speciﬁed

Cartesian constraint on trajectory)

Note: This method will be deprecated in

a future software version.

PlayJointTrajectory

(ConstrainedJointAngles)

Moves to the speciﬁed joint angles (with speciﬁed

joint constraint on trajectory)

Note: This method will be deprecated in

a future software version.

PlaySelectedJointTrajectory

(ConstrainedJointAngle)

Moves specifed joint to the specifed joint angle (with

speciﬁed joint constraint on trajectory).

Note: This method will be deprecated in

a future software version.

PlayPreComputedJointTrajectory

(PreComputedJointTrajectory)

Play pre-computed angular trajectory

ExecuteWaypointTrajectory(WaypointList) Executes a trajectory deﬁend by a series of

waypoints in joint space or in Cartesian space

Table 34: Send Cartesian command to tool

Method Description

SendTwistCommand (TwistCommand) Sends a twist command to tool (velocity and angular

velocity)

SendTwistJoystickCommand

(TwistCommand)

Sends a twist joystick command to tool. The twist

values sent to this call are expected to be a ratio of

maximum value (between -1.0/+1.0)

(EXPERIMENTAL) SendWrenchCommand

(WrenchCommand)

Force control. Sends a wrench command to tool

(force and torque)

(EXPERIMENTAL)

SendWrenchJoystickCommand

(WrenchCommand)

Force control. Sends a wrench joystick command to

tool. The wrench values sent to this call are expected

to be a ratio of maximum value (between -1.0/+1.0)

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Note: High-level force control is supported, but as an experimental feature only. Users

should exercise caution.

Table 35: Send command to joints

Method Description

SendJointSpeedsCommand (JointSpeeds) Sends a joint speeds command, that is the desired

speed of one or many joints

SendSelectedJointSpeedCommand

(JointSpeed)

Sends a speed command for a speciﬁc joint

SendJointSpeedsJoystickCommand

(JointSpeeds)

Sends the desired joystick speeds for one or multiple

joints. Values sent to this call are expected to be a

ratio of maximum value (between -1.0/+1.0)

SendSelectedJointSpeedJoystickCommand

(JointSpeed)

Sends a joystick speed for a speciﬁc joint. Value sent

to this call is expected to be a ratio of maximum value

(between -1.0/+1.0)

Table 36: Initiate admittance control

Method Description

SetAdmittance (Admittance) Sets the robot in the chosen admittance mode

(Cartesian, joint, null space)

Table 37: Send gripper commands

Method Description

SendGripperCommand (GripperCommand) Sends a command to move the gripper. Commands

the ﬁngers of the gripper in either position or

velocity.

Low-level (Kinova.Api.BaseCyclic)

Table 38: Low-level cyclic commands

Method Description

Refresh (Command) Send a new incremental refresh command to the

actuators and gripper for the current 1 ms interval.

Command actuators position, angular velocity,

torque (ADVANCED USERS ONLY), and motor

current, as well as gripper ﬁnger motors. Receive

feedback on current status of base, actuators, tool,

and gripper.

RefreshCommand (Command) Send a new incremental refresh command to

the actuators and gripper for the current 1 ms

interval. Command actuators position, angular

velocity, torque (ADVANCED USERS ONLY), and

motor current, as well as gripper ﬁnger motors. No

feedback provided.

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Method Description

RefreshFeedback () Receive feedback on current status of base,

actuators, tool, and gripper.

Note: Low-level actuator torque control is for advanced users only and should only be

used by users who know what they are doing. It is very important to carefully monitor the

torque commands sent to the actuators to ensure that excessive torque values are not sent.

Incorrect use can lead to rapid movements that can be dangerous for people and equipment.

Make sure that the area around the robot is clear before experimenting with torque control.

Control features

Overview of control features of the robot.

The robot has the following control features that improve the safety and usability of the robot, and

protect it from damage:

• Singularity avoidance

• Protection zones

• Angular limits

• Cartesian limits

• Conﬁgurable kinematic limits

Singularity avoidance

The singularity avoidance feature of the robot control library handles or avoids singularities in Cartesian

control modes. The robot behavior, including tool speed may be altered near a singularity.

A singularity refers to any robot conﬁguration (set of joint angles) that causes the Jacobian matrix

relating actuator rotation speed to end effector velocities to be ill-conditioned, thus rendering the

solution mathematically unstable. The ill-condition comes from the determinant approaching zero

or the matrix losing rank.

At a singularity, the mobility of the robot is reduced, meaning the arbitrary motion of the

manipulator in a Cartesian direction is lost (losing a degree of freedom). This occurs when two

or more robot axes become colinear, leading to unpredictable / extreme joint velocities when

trying to attain a certain Cartesian pose. For example, when two axes become colinear in space,

rotation of one can be canceled by counter-rotation of the other, leaving the actual joint location

indeterminate. Near a singularity a small linear end effector motion requires disproportionately

large angular velocities of the actuators.

Note: The robot controller ﬁrmware features capabilities to handle / avoid singularities in

any 'Cartesian' mode. As a singularity cannot occur unless inverse kinematics are calculated,

singularities do not occur in any of the 'joint' modes.

Note: The robot behavior may change somewhat at or near a singularity. For example, the

tool speed may be reduced or the motion may deviate from the commanded motion.

Note: The robot has singularity avoidance algorithms. However, the robot cannot use any

Cartesian mode to move and must use a Joint angular mode to exit the singular if the robot is

driven and stopped in the singularity.

For more information on robot singularity conﬁgurations, see here.

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Protection zones

Users can deﬁne geometric protection zones where the movement of checkpoints on the robot is either

prevented. These can be deﬁned using either the Web App or developer API.

Overview

With this feature, the user deﬁnes protection zones programmatically or by using the Web App,

based on a few basic geometric shapes. Moreover, the user can specify a speed limitation in the

envelope of deﬁned thickness surrounding each protection zone.

One or more protection zones can be conﬁgured to deﬁne geometric volumes about the robot base,

where the motion of the robot end effector is either limited or precluded.

By deﬁning suitable protection zones, the robot can be set to prevent collisions with known ﬁxed

obstacles in the immediate environment of the robot while in operation.

Note: Protection zones are active only in Cartesian control modes. These protections are

not available in angular control modes.

Note: If multiple protection zones are used, we recommend that the same envelope speed

limitations be used for each.

Note: There is no hard limit on the number of protection zones that can be simultaneously

active, but for best results it is recommended to activate no more than four protection zones

at one time.

Note: Envelope-only protection zones, where all the dimensions of the protection zone are

set to zero but the envelope thickness is set to a non-zero value are NOT supported.

Robot tool behavior

The tool of the robot will never enter protection zones. If the robot is commanded to stop in or pass

through a protection zone and if it is conﬁgured, any motion of the tool will toward the inside of

the protection zone will stop at the outer boundary of the protection zone. The tool will be able to

"slide" on the outer surface of the zone but not enter inwards.

The tool can move within the surrounding envelope, but at a reduced speed.

Checkpoints and behavior of checkpoints

Additional checkpoints are used for protection zones and are deﬁned for the robot at the center of

the reference frames of joints 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Warning: The reference frame is centered on actuators. The checkpoint is on the reference

frame. Conﬁgure protection zones with additional space to take into account the physical

dimensions of the actuators.

Note: The vision module is NOT currently included in the deﬁned checkpoints. It is possible

that the vision module can enter into a protection zone. Use caution when moving the end of

the robot near a protection zone.

For these checkpoints, the motion will stop at the outer surface of the protection zone. Checkpoints

will move within the envelope surrounding a protection zone, but at a reduced speed.

Protection zone shapes

Protection zones can be deﬁned using one of three basic shape types:

• Rectangular prism - position of center, length, width, and height dimensions, and angular

orientation of the rectangular prism are conﬁgurable

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• Cylindrical - position of center, radius, height, and angular orientation of the cylinder are

conﬁgurable.

• Spherical - position of center and radius of sphere are conﬁgurable

A planar or disc-shaped protection zone can be deﬁned by setting the thickness of the zone to zero

in either a rectangular prism or cylindrical protection zone.

Editing protection zones

Protection zones can be deﬁned, edited, and deleted using either the Web App or the developer API.

Joint limits

The robot has joint limits used in robot high-level control. This impacts the position, speed, acceleration, and

torque applied by the joints.

Overview

When controlling the robot in high-level, the robot control library applies a number of different

joint limits for safety purposes. This includes limits on:

• joint position

• joint speed

• joint acceleration

• joint torques

The limits applied in a particular situation depend on the current high-level control mode.

Gen3 7 DoF spherical wrist robot joint limits

Table 39: Joint position limits

Angular range

Actuator

Lower limit Upper limit

1 - ∞ + ∞

2 - 128.9° + 128.9°

3 - ∞ + ∞

4 - 147.8° + 147.8°

5 - ∞ + ∞

6 - 120.3° + 120.3°

7 - ∞ + ∞

Table 40: Joint speed limits (general limits)

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 4) 79.64 °/s (1.39 rad/s)

small (joints 5 - 7) 69.91 ° / s (1.22 rad/s)

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Table 41: Joint speed limits (admittance and force control modes)

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

all joints 50.0 °/s (0.8727 rad/s)

Table 42: Joint acceleration hard limits

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 4)

297.94 °/s

(5.2 rad/s

)

small (joints 5 - 7)

572.95 ° / s

(10.0 rad/s

)

Table 43: Joint acceleration limits (angular joystick and joint trajectory)

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 4)

57.3 ° / s

(1.0 rad/s

)

small (joints 5 - 7)

572.95 ° / s

(10.0 rad/s

)

Table 44: Joint torques soft limits

Actuators Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 4) 39.0 N * m

small (joints 5 - 7) 9.0 N * m

Gen3 6 DoF spherical wrist robot joint limits

Table 45: Joint position limits

Angular rangeActuator

Lower limit Upper limit

1 - ∞ + ∞

2 - 128.9° + 128.9°

3 - 147.8° + 147.8°

4 - ∞ + ∞

5 - 120.3° + 120.3°

6 - ∞ + ∞

Table 46: Joint speed limits (general limits)

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 3) 79.64 °/s (1.39 rad/s)

small (joints 4 - 6) 69.91 °/s (1.22 rad/s)

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Table 47: joint speed limits (admittance and force control modes)

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

all joints 50.0 °/s (0.8727 rad/s)

Table 48: Joint acceleration hard limits

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 3)

297.94 °/s

(5.2 rad/s

)

small (joints 4 - 6)

572.95 °/s

(10.0 rad/s

)

Table 49: Joint acceleration limits angular joystick and joint trajectory)

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 3)

57.3 ° / s

(1.0 rad / s

)

small (joints 4 - 6)

572.95 ° / s

(10.0 rad / s

)

Table 50: Joint torques soft limits

Actuator Limit (magnitude)

large (joints 1 - 3) 39.0 N * m

small (joints 4 - 6) 9.0 N * m

Control modes and relevant joint limits

Control mode Joint limits applied

Cartesian trajectory joint position, joint speed

angular trajectory joint position, joint speed, joint acceleration,

joint torque (for pre-computed trajectories)

Cartesian joystick joint position, joint speed

angular joystick joint position, joint speed, joint acceleration

Cartesian admittance joint angle, joint speed

joint admittance joint angle, joint speed

null space admittance (7 DoF robot only) joint angle, joint speed

Behavior at joint limits

When joint limits are reached, the behavior of the robot will be altered depending on the type of

limitation.

Limit Behavior when limit is reached

joint acceleration joint acceleration will max out at acceleration limit

joint speed acceleration go to zero and joint

speed will max out at speed limit

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Limit Behavior when limit is reached

joint position joint acceleratation and joint speed goes to zero

and motion of the joint will stop at the position limit

Cartesian limits

The robot has limits on tool motion applying in high-level Cartesian control. These limits apply on top of

underlying joint limits.

Overview

Cartesian limits on the motion of the tool in Cartesian modes (these limits do not apply in angular

modes) are applied as follows:

• In Cartesian joystick, the magnitude (vector norm) of the linear and rotational speeds of the tool

are capped. Twist commands whose linear and / or rotation speed exceed these limits will be re-

scaled proportionally so that the magnitudes of tool linear and angular speeds will not exceed

the limits, but the commanded directions of tool movement will be respected.

• For all Cartesian modes, the individual joint speeds will be capped at their limits. The speed of all

joints will be proportionally scaled so that:

º no individual joint exceeds the speed limit

º the desired direction of motion is respected

• For all Cartesian modes, joint positions will be capped at their limits.

Spherical wrist robot Cartesian limitations

Limit Value

linear 0.5 m/s

twist limits

angular 50 °/s (0.8727 rad/s)

force 40.0 N

wrench limit

torque 15.0 N·m

Conﬁgurable limits

Soft Cartesian and joint limits can be conﬁgured within the range of hard limits. As well, desired speeds can be

set within the soft limits.

The control library of the robot allows for conﬁguring a number of control mode speciﬁc speed and

acceleration limits for the robot.

There are two types of conﬁgurations available:

• Soft limits

• Desired speeds

Soft limits

Soft limits can be set for several speed and acceleration values by control mode. Soft limits are

conﬁgurable for:

• Cartesian limits

º Tool linear speed

º Tool angular speed

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• Angular limits

º Joints speeds (individually conﬁgurable for each joint)

º Joints accelerations (individually conﬁgurable for each joint)

Note: Cartesian soft limits are only conﬁgurable in Cartesian modes (Cartesian trajectory

and joystick)

Note: Joint acceleration soft limits are only conﬁgurable for angular modes (angular

trajectory and joystick)

Note: Soft limits are not conﬁgurable in admittance modes nor in low-level control.

Note: Soft limits cannot surpass corresponding robot hard limits.

Desired speeds

Desired speeds can be conﬁgured for joystick control modes (angular and Cartesian).

For Cartesian joystick desired tool linear and angular speed can be specﬁed.

For angular joystick desired joint speeds can be set for each joint.

Note: Desired speeds cannot surpass corresponding soft limits set for that joystick mode. If

the soft limit is reset to below the current conﬁgured desired speed, the desired speed will

be lowered to match. Raising the soft limit will not affect the conﬁgured desired speed.

Soft limits and desired speeds are conﬁgurable via:

• Kinova.Api.ControlConfig API

• Web App Speed Limits page

High-level control modes description

Overview of the high-level control modes of the robot.

The robot is controllable via a number of high-level control modes:

• Trajectory modes

º Sngular trajectory

º Cartesian trajectory

• Joystick control modes

º Cartesian joystick

º Angular joystick

• Admittance modes

º Cartesian admittance

º Joint admittance

º Null space admittance (7 DoF model only)

• Force control modes

º Force control

º Force control motion restricted

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Trajectory control modes

Trajectories deﬁne a path of the robot through space, either Cartesian or joint, over a time period. There are

different ways available to deﬁne trajectories.

Using trajectory control modes, the user can command the robot to a desired endpoint.

There are a few different ways a trajectory can be deﬁned.

Reach endpoint

Users can provide an endpoint to reach, and the let the control software of the robot compute how

to follow a path to reach the endpoint. The robot controller computes an interpolated trajectory

(between current pose and target pose) to reach the ﬁnal position while satisfying conﬁgured limits,

and commands the robot to follow this trajectory. These trajectories, once deﬁned, can be played

back. This is a good setting when you want the robot to go to a desired end state but you are not

overly concerned about the exact path it follows getting there and exactly how long it takes.

Pre-computed trajectory

Users can supply a pre-computed trajectory to the robot. A pre-computed trajectory is generally

auto-generated by some sort of path planning software or algorithm rather than built manually.

A pre-computed trajectory is deﬁned as a time series of settings for joints angular positions,

velocities, and accelerations at each timestamp. The robot control software will verify that

the trajectory is valid and reasonable, satisfying conﬁgured limits. Users can indicate a desired

continuity mode for the trajectory against which the trajectory can be checked (position, or position

and velocity, or position, velocity and acceleration).

The robot control library will perform the following validations on the pre-computed trajectory:

• trajectory is non-empty

• for each trajectory point, position, velocity, and acceleration values must be provided for each

joint in the robot

• trajectory contains no NaN values

• timestamp of the ﬁrst trajectory point must be 0.000 seconds and the difference in time stamps

between successive points must be 0.001 seconds

• joint positions, speeds, accelerations, and torques must be within robot joint limits

• continuity - the trajectory is continuous in terms of (user can specify which of these continuity

checks to apply):

º position - joint position variation between successive timesteps is less than the maximum

variation (based on joint speed limit)

º speed - speed values are consistent (within tolerances) with derivative of position

º acceleration - acceleration values are consistent (within tolerances) with derivative of speed

• trajectory execution (when starting the trajectory) - the joint positions and speeds for the ﬁrst

point in the trajectory must match the initial robot joint positions and speeds

Note: For safety reasons, trajectories failing any of the validation checks will be rejected,

and you will receive an error notiﬁcation. To get more detailed information about why

a particular trajectory failed, use the method GetTrajectoryErrorReport() in

Kinova.Api.Base.

Trajectory modes

In Cartesian Trajectory mode, the positions are deﬁned in terms of the desired Cartesian space

pose of the tool frame. This mode enables singularity avoidance. Cartesian trajectory mode can be

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activated by sending a pose endpoint or a list of Cartesian waypoints. Cartesian Trajectory mode is

not compatible with pre-computed trajectories.

In Angular Trajectory mode the positions are deﬁned in terms of the desired joint angles for the

actuators. Angular Trajectory mode can be activated by sending an endpoint joint state, a list of

angular waypoints, or a pre-computed trajectory.

Users have the option to apply constraints to trajectories. There are three options available for

constraints:

• Duration - the time period (in seconds) in which the trajectory is to be carried out

• Speed - the maximum speed (meters/second for Cartesian, degrees/second for angular) of the

motion while carrying out the trajectory

• No constraint - the robot will go to the endpoint without the time or speed being speciﬁed

Note: If a requested trajectory constraint will cause angular limits to be exceeded in the

course of the trajectory, (e.g. the duration is too short and requires a speed or acceleration

that is not feasible) the trajectory will be rejected.

In angular trajectories, all three options are available (duration, speed, no constraint).

In Cartesian trajectories, the speed constraint or no constraint options are available.

Trajectory control modes are set by sending a trajectory using the appropriate API methods, or the

Web App Actions page.

Joystick control modes

Joystick control modes allow the robot to be controlled by sending motion (speed) commands by either

Cartesian or joint.

Joystick Control modes provide the user the ability to create a desired motion of the robot by

sending commands to the robot. This is done using joystick control inputs (physical gamepad or

virtual joystick) or directly using API commands.

In Cartesian Joystick mode the motion of the robot end effector, both linear and angular, is

controlled. Cartesian Joystick is entered by:

• sending API twist commands (specify linear and angular velocity of the end effector)

• activating Xbox gamepad Twist linear and Twist angular modes

• sending Web App Pose virtual joystick control inputs in velocity control

This mode provides for singularity avoidance and obstacle avoidance (protection zones).

For Cartesian control, the reference frames for translation and orientation control are conﬁgurable:

Table 51: Cartesian reference frames options

Cartesian frame mode Reference frame for translation Reference frame for orientation

mixed mode base tool

tool mode tool tool

base mode base base

Note: Orientations are deﬁned using an x-y-z extrinsic convention. That is, rotation about

the ﬁxed x-axis, followed by rotation about the ﬁxed y-axis, followed by rotation about the

ﬁxed z-axis.

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In Angular Joystick mode the joints of the robot are moved in angular space using joint angular

velocity commands or joystick control inputs provided to the actuators. The joints can be moved

individually or together.

Angular joystick mode can be entered by:

• sending API joint speed commands

• activating Xbox gamepad Joint mapping

• sending commands via Web App Angular virtual joystick

Admittance modes

There are multiple admittance modes on the robot allowing admittance control.

There are multiple admittance modes on the robot allowing for different types of admittance

control.

In Cartesian admittance mode, the user manipulates the robot, and exerted effort is interpreted

as an effort exerted on the tool. A spherical workspace centered on actuator two is deﬁned. If the

user tries to extend the robot beyond this workspace, the robot will resist and come back inside the

workspace.

In joint admittance mode the joints of the robot rotate according to the external torques applied.

In null space admittance mode, the tool stays in the same pose while the user manipulates the

joints of the robot (within the null space). The robot moves within the null space according to the

torques applied.

Note: Null space admittance is not available for the 6 DoF robot model.

Note: For all three admittance modes, the robot control library will automatically adapt to

the user-conﬁgured gravity vector, tool, and payload information. The user is responsible

for correctly deﬁning the gravity vector, as well as tool and payload information using either

the Web App or API (Kinova.Api.ControlConfig). Incorrect conﬁguration of these

parameters can cause unexpected behavior in admittance modes.

There are four ways to put the robot into admittance:

• use the method SetAdmittance in the API.

• Web App control panel admittance mode selection

• admittance selection buttons on Xbox gamepad modes (Twist linear and angular modes for

Cartesian and Null space admittance, Joint mode for Joint admittance)

• admittance mode physical buttons on the interface module.

Note: Motion in admittance modes is constrained by internal safety limits for the robot on

velocity and torques. This includes Cartesian linear velocity limits and joint limits for angular

velocity and torque.

Force Control modes

The robot can be controlled in Force control mode. A wrench command deﬁning force and torque is applied

to the robot tool. A constraint can be applied restricting the resulting motion in the direction of the desired

wrench.

In Force Control mode, a wrench command (force and torque) is sent to the tool. This allows you to

use the tool to apply a desired force and torque on an external object.

In force control mode the tool will also accept external forces as in Cartesian admittance mode.

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The tool will move according to the resultant of the commanded and external forces.

When a wrench command is sent to the robot, the corresponding accelerations (linear and angular)

will be applied to the tool until:

• a new command is received, or

• Cartesian or joint limits are reached

Force Control Motion Restricted is a sub-mode of Force Control mode in which the resulting

motion of the end effector is constrained to the direction of the desired wrench.

Force Control can be entered by sending a Wrench command via API commands.

Low-level control detailed description

Low-level control is achieved by using the UDPTransportClient command over port 10001.

The command establishes a communication channel between API cyclic clients and the robot at a

rate of 1 kHz. The cyclic clients provide methods to obtain feedback from the sensors and to send

commands directly to devices; using the cyclic client methods bypasses the regular overhead from

the controller.

Important: Use UDPTransportClient over port 10001 when the API client intends to

communicate with the robot at 1 kHz.

Low-level control implementation

The level of risk between receiving low-level feedback and sending low-level commands differs. It is

important to understand how to implement low-level control of the robot.

A full list of methods for low-level functionality is in the topic High-level and low-level robot control

methods reference on page 92.

CAUTION: Low-level control, and torque control in particular, is intended for advanced

users only.

Any cyclic client under any condition can use the method RefreshFeedback() to access feeback.

However, the arm must be in one of two modes for commands to be sent using the low-level API.

• Low-level servoing mode

• Low-level bypass servoing mode

Note: Use the method SetServoingMode(ServoingModeInformation) of the Base

client to switch the servoing mode of the robot.

Low-level servoing mode uses the BaseCyclic client to send low-level commands to the robot as

a system. This is the recommended way to use the low-level API.

Use low-level bypass to route messages directly to the devices by creating a cyclic client for each

device.

Remember: A device is an actuator, interconnect, or gripper.

Users are responsible for creating a high-frequency command loop at a rate of 1 kHz and for

decomposing desired robot movements into small command increments for actuators and gripper

motors. These command increments are sent sequentially to the robot base at a 1 kHz frequency

using this real-time session. The robot base then routes these individual command increments to

the actuators and gripper using its own 1 kHz cyclic communications with the robot devices. Each

individual command increment must be executed within the 1 ms time interval.

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Carry out low-level control of the robot through the Kinova.Api.BaseCyclic API.

When the robot is in any of the low-level servoing modes, actuators can be sent speciﬁc commands.

• Joint position

• Joint speed

• Joint torque

• Joint motor current

When the robot is in any of the low-level servoing modes, grippers can be sent speciﬁc commands.

• Gripper ﬁnger position

• Gripper ﬁnger velocity

Use the method SetControlMode(ControlModeInformation) from the ActuatorConfig

client to select the type of command you wish to send to the actuator. After the type of actuator

command is selected, ﬁll in the appropriate command structures and send them to the robot using

the method Refresh(Command). Send these commands at a rate of 1 kHz.

Note: When command types other than Joint positions are sent to actuators, always include

the position returned by the latest actuator feedback in the command; actuator positions are

used to monitor following errors.

Note: When command types other than Joint positions are sent to actuators, always include

the position returned by the latest actuator feedback in the command; actuator positions are

used to monitor following errors.

For more details on how to implement low-level control, including API documentation and code

examples, please see the Kortex GitHub repository: https://github.com/kinovarobotics/kortex.

Low-level feedback

Each device on the robot has a cyclic client API service associated with it that deﬁnes the components of the

feedback available for each device.

Devices on the robot

• Base

• Actuators

• Interconnect

• Gripper

Table 52: Content of the Feedback structure deﬁned by the BaseCyclic client

frame_id Identiﬁcation number. Corresponds to the frame_id of the command sent.

base BaseFeedback object containing the feedback of the robot as a system

actuators Array of ActuatorFeedback objects containing the feedback of each

actuator

interconnect Interconnect Feedback object containing the feedback from the

interconnect module.

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Table 53: Content of the BaseFeedback structure deﬁned by the BaseCyclic client

active_state_connection_identiﬁerConnection identiﬁer of the last processed command which triggered an

arm state change

active_state Active state of the arm

arm_voltage Voltage applied on the arm (V)

arm_current Current applied on the arm (A)

temperature _cpu CPU temperature (°C)

temperature_ambient Ambient temperature (°C)

imu_acceleration_x

IMU measured acceleration along the X-axis (m/s

)

imu_acceleration_y

IMU measured acceleration along the Y-axis (m/s

)

imu_acceleration_z

IMU measured acceleration along the Z-axis (m/s

)

imu_angular_velocity_x IMU measured angular velocity along the X-axis (°/s)

imu_angular_velocity_y IMU measured angular velocity along the Y-axis (°/s)

imu_angular_velocity_z IMU measured angular velocity along the Z-axis (°/s)

tool_pose_x Measured cartesian position of the TCP along the X-axis (m)

tool_pose_y Measured cartesian position of the TCP along the Y-axis (m)

tool_pose_z Measured cartesian position of the TCP along the Z-axis (m)

tool_pose_theta_x Measured cartesian orientation of the TCP along the X-axis (°)

tool_pose_theta_y Measured cartesian orientation of the TCP along the Y-axis (°)

tool_pose_theta_z Measured cartesian orientation of the TCP along the Z-axis (°)

tool_twist_linear_x Measure cartesian linear velocity of the TCP along the X-axis (m/s)

tool_twist_linear_y Measure cartesian linear velocity of the TCP along the Y-axis (m/s)

tool_twist_linear_x Measure cartesian linear velocity of the TCP along the Z-axis (m/s)

tool_twist_angular_x Measure cartesian angular velocity of the TCP along the X-axis (°/s)

tool_twist_angular_y Measure cartesian angular velocity of the TCP along the Y-axis (°/s)

tool_twist_angular_z Measure cartesian angular velocity of the TCP along the Z-axis (°/s)

tool_external_wrench_force_x Computed force applied on the TCP along the X-axis

tool_external_wrench_force_y Computed force applied on the TCP along the Y-axis

tool_external_wrench_force_z Computed force applied on the TCP along the Z-axis

tool_external_wrench_torque_x Computed torque applied on the TCP along the X-axis

tool_external_wrench_torque_y Computed torque applied on the TCP along the Y-axis

tool_external_wrench_torque_z Computed torque applied on the TCP along the Z-axis

fault_bank_a The arm fault ﬂags bank A (0 if no fault)

fault_bank_b The arm fault ﬂags bank B (0 if no fault)

warning_bank_a The arm warning ﬂags bank A (0 if no warning)

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warning_bank_b The arm warning ﬂags bank B (0 if no warning)

commanded_tool_pose_x Commanded cartesian position of the TCP along the X-axis (m)

commanded_tool_pose_y Commanded cartesian position of the TCP along the Y-axis (m)

commanded_tool_pose_z Commanded cartesian position of the TCP along the Z-axis (m)

commanded_tool_pose_theta_x Commanded cartesian orientation of the TCP along the X-axis (°)

commanded_tool_pose_theta_y Commanded cartesian orientation of the TCP along the Y-axis (°)

commanded_tool_pose_theta_z Commanded cartesian orientation of the TCP along the Z-axis (°)

Table 54: Content of the ActuatorFeedback structure deﬁned by the BaseCyclic client

command_id Command ID

status_ﬂags (internal use only)

jitter_comm Jitter from the communication (us)

position Position of the actuator (°)

velocity Velocity of the actuator (°/s)

torque Torque applied on the actuator (Nm)

current_motor Current applied on the motor (A)

voltage Voltage applied on the main board (V)

temperature_motor Maximum temperature of the three motor phases (°C)

temperature_core Microcontroller temperature (°C)

fault_bank_a The actuator fault ﬂags bank A

fault_bank_b The actuator fault ﬂags bank B

warning_bank_a The actuator warning ﬂags bank A

warning_bank_b The actuator warning ﬂags bank B

Table 55: Content of the Feedback structure deﬁned by the InterconnectCyclic client

feedback_id ID of the frame the feedback is associated to

status_ﬂags (internal use only)

jitter_comm Jitter from the communication (us)

imu_acceleration_x

IMU measured acceleration along the X-axis (m/s

)

imu_acceleration_y

IMU measured acceleration along the Y-axis (m/s

)

imu_acceleration_z

IMU measured acceleration along the Z-axis (m/s

)

imu_angular_velocity_x IMU measured angular velocity along the X-axis (°/s)

imu_angular_velocity_y IMU measured angular velocity along the Y-axis (°/s)

imu_angular_velocity_z IMU measured angular velocity along the Z-axis (°/s)

voltage Voltage of the main interconnect board (V)

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temperature_core Microcontroller temperature (°C)

fault_bank_a Interconnect fault bank A

fault_bank_b Interconnect fault bank B

warning_bank_a Interconnect warning bank A

warning_bank_b Interconnect warning bank B

tool_feedback Feedback as deﬁned by the GripperCyclic client

Table 56: Content of the Feedback structure deﬁned by the GripperCyclic client

feedback_id ID of the feedback frame

status_ﬂags Status ﬂags

fault_bank_a Interconnect fault bank A

fault_bank_b Interconnect fault bank B

warning_bank_a Interconnect warning bank A

warning_bank_b Interconnect warning bank B

motor Array of MotorFeedback objects as deﬁned by the GripperCyclic client

Table 57: Content of the MotorFeedback structure deﬁned by the GripperCyclic client

motor_id ID of the gripper motor

position Position of the gripper ﬁngers (%)

velocity Velocity of the ﬁngers (% of max)

current_motor Current consumed by the gripper motor (mA)

voltage Motor voltage (V)

temperature_motor Motor temperature (°C)

Low-level commands

In addition to feedback, the cyclic client for each type of device also deﬁnes the components of the commands

that can be sent to each device in real-time.

Table 58: Content of the Command structure deﬁned by the BaseCyclic client

frame_id Identiﬁer that will be associated to the feedback obtained in the same

frame the command is processed

actuators An array of ActuatorCommand objects, which should contain commands

for every actuator

interconnect An InterconnectCyclic Command object.

Table 59: Content of the ActuatorCommand structure deﬁned by the BaseCyclic client

command_id ID of the command (ﬁrst 2 bytes: device ID, last 2 bytes: sequence

number)

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ﬂags Actuator Command ﬂags as deﬁned by the ActuatorCyclic service

position Desired position of the actuator (°)

velocity Desired velocity of the actuator (°/s)

torque_joint Desired torque of the actuator (Nm)

current_motor Desired current applied to the motor (A)

Table 60: Content of the Command structure deﬁned by the InterconnectCyclic client

command_id ID of the command

status_ﬂags Status ﬂags

gripper_command Command structure as deﬁned by the GripperCyclic client

Table 61: Content of the Command structure deﬁned by the GripperCyclic client

command_id ID of the command

ﬂags Flags

motor_cmd An array of MotorCommand objects as deﬁned by the GripperCyclic

client (one object for each ﬁnger of the gripper)

Table 62: Content of the MotorCommand structure deﬁned by the GripperCyclic client

motor_id Motor ID

position Desired position of the gripper ﬁngers (%)

velocity Desired velocity of the gripper ﬁngers (% of max value)

force Deprecated - unused

Waypoint trajectories

Kortex API version 2.3.0 released with the concept of Waypoint trajectories, which can be used to make the

robot follow a trajectory of multiple points and smoothly transitioning between them without stopping.

ExecuteWaypointTrajectory(WaypointList) is a method made available by the Base

service that makes the robot execute a trajectory deﬁned by a waypoint list.

A waypoint list contains an array of one or more waypoints, as well as a boolean ﬂag labeled

use_optimal_blending , which automatically smooths the transition between waypoints to minimize

the total time to execute the trajectory.

A waypoint is deﬁned by a name, which can be conﬁgured, and a waypoint type, which has to be

either an AngularWaypoint or CartesianWaypoint. Note that a waypoint list can only contain

waypoints of a single type.

Angular waypoints

Angular waypoint trajectories are deﬁned by a series of joint poses, deﬁned in degrees, interpolated using

cubic splines.

Each angular waypoint in the list is associated with a conﬁgurable duration, which deﬁnes how

much time the trajectory takes to reach the waypoint. Each waypoint can also deﬁne maximum

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velocities, which are constraints that must be maintained by each joint to reach the associated

point.

Cartesian waypoints

Cartesian waypoint trajectories are deﬁned by a series of Cartesian poses. Each waypoint can deﬁne its pose

in a reference frame, as deﬁned by the Common API service.

Optionally, maximum linear and angular velocities can be set as constraints during the motion to

reach a given waypoint. Note that these constraints are maximum values only. Should there not be

enough space between two waypoints to accelerate to this speed, it is normal that this speed is not

reached.

When generating the trajectory, the robot moves in a straight line from one waypoint to the next

waypoint, until the distance between the TCP of the robot and the next waypoint becomes smaller

than the value deﬁned as the blending radius. When the distance is smaller than the blending

radius, the robot starts moving toward the waypoint after that on the list.

Figure 41: Trajectory of robot moving from point A to point C using a blending radius on point B

Validation of a waypoint list

The API Base service provides a method called ValidateWaypointList(WaypointList).

After running this method, the robot returns a WaypointValidationReport. When the

use_optimal_blending ﬂag is set to true for the waypoint list, the report includes a copy of the

waypoint list with the optimal blending radii set for each waypoint.

In addition to the trajectory, the WaypointValidationReport contains a TrajectoryErrorReport,

which in turn contains a TrajectoryErrorElement for each error identiﬁed in the trajectory during

validation.

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Conﬁgurations and safeties

Conﬁgurable parameters

There are a number of parameters of the robot that are conﬁgurable to customize the operation of the robot.

These can be conﬁgured using the API and Web App.

These parameters can be conﬁgured using the appropriate Kinova™ Kortex

APIs. For more details

on how to perform conﬁguration using the APIs, see the API documentation.

Some of these parameters can also be conﬁgured using the Web App GUI, which can be accessed as

follows:

1. Open the Web App.

2. Navigate to the Robot Conﬁgurations page.

3. Access conﬁgurable parameters on one of the available tabs.

The following tables give a summary of the conﬁgurable parameters.

Control library conﬁguration

Control library conﬁguration items conﬁgure the functioning of the robot control library. These can be

conﬁgured via the API or the Web App.

Table 63: Control modes conﬁguration

Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Gravity vector

Deﬁnes global value for gravitational

acceleration vector (x,y,z) in relation to the base

frame in units of m/s

Note: Conﬁguration of the gravity

vector is necessary to mount the

robot in arbitrary orientations (e.g.

wall mount, ceiling mount). Accurate

conﬁguration of the direction and

strength of gravity is important for

the robot to properly compensate

for torques due to gravity on the

robot actuators.

Kinova.Api.ControlConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Robot > Arm

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Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Tool conﬁguration

• Set Cartesian transform of x, y, z (m) and θ

, and θ

of tool frame in relation to interface

module frame.

Note: The Cartesian pose

feedback available in base cyclic

communications uses the pose of

the tool frame in relation to the

base frame. The speciﬁc choice

of the tool frame will therefore

impact the readings for the

current Cartesian pose.

• Set tool mass (kg), and tool mass center

position x, y, z (m)

Note: The mass and center

of mass of the tool need to be

conﬁgured for the robot control

libraries to properly adapt

the control of the robot to the

additional mass of the tool.

Kinova.Api.ControlConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Robot > Arm

Payload

conﬁguration

Set payload mass (kg) and mass center of

payload x,y,z (m) in relation to the tool frame.

Note: The mass and center of mass

of the payload need to be conﬁgured

for the robot control libraries to

properly adapt the control of the

robot to the additional mass of the

payload.

Kinova.Api.ControlConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Robot > Arm

Cartesian

reference frame

Set the reference frame convention for

translation and orientation to use with Cartesian

Twist and Wrench commands. There are three

options:

• Mixed - translation reference frame = base

frame and orientation reference frame = tool

frame

• Tool - tool reference frame used for both

translation and orientation reference frames

• Base - base reference frame used for both

translation and orientation reference frames

Note: Changing the reference frame

convention will affect the readings

that are provided for the current

Cartesian pose of the tool.

Kinova.Api.ControlConfig

API

Web App > Pose virtual joystick

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Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Soft limits

Set various soft limits for the robot kinematics in

a speciﬁed control mode:

• tool twist linear and angular speed

• joint speed (for each joint)

• joint acceleration (for each joint)

Note: Soft limits must be less than

corresponding robot hard limits

Kinova.Api.ControlConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Speed Limits

Desired speeds

Set desired speeds for joystick control modes:

• tool twist linear and angular speed (in

Cartesian joystick)

• joint speeds (for each joint, in angular

joystick)

Note: Desired speeds must be less

than corresponding soft limits

Kinova.Api.ControlConfig

API

Web App > Pose / Angular

virtual joysticks

Axis lock

Set locks to prevent the tool from linear or

angular movement in / around speciﬁed axes in

speciﬁed control modes.

Kinova.Api.ControlConfig

API

Base conﬁguration

Base conﬁgurations cover a range of core conﬁgurable items. These can be conﬁgured via the API or the Web

App.

Table 64: Base conﬁguration

Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

User Proﬁles Create, read, update and delete user proﬁles

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Users

Protection Zone

Create, read, update and delete protection zones

(for obstacle avoidance). Conﬁgurable parameters

are:

• enabled/disabled

• zone shape type (rectangular prism, cylinder,

sphere)

• zone origin and orientation

• zone dimensions

• envelope thickness

• zone limitation types (force, acceleration,

velocity) and values

• envelope limitation types (force, acceleration,

velocity) and values

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Operations >

Protection Zones

Control Mapping Create, read control mapping

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Conﬁguration >

Controllers

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Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Action Create, read, update, delete action

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Operations >

Actions

Sequence Create, read, update, delete a sequence of actions

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Operations >

Actions

IPv4

Set IPv4 conﬁgured (for speciﬁed network adapter):

• IP address

• subnet mask

• default gateway

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Wireless & Networks

Communication

Interface

Enable communication interface:

• network type (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)

• enabled/disabled

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Wireless & Networks

Wi-Fi

Set:

• SSID

• security key

• automatic connection allowed

• country code

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Wireless & Networks

TCP bridge

to hardware

Enable or disable

Kinova.Api.Base API

Joint Limitation

Set global limit for speciﬁed joint and limitation

type.

Kinova.Api.Base API

System time Set system time

Kinova.Api.Base API

Restore factory

settings

Delete all conﬁgurations and reverts settings to

factory defaults (except network settings)

Kinova.Api.Base API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Robot > Arm

Restore factory

product

conﬁguration

Restore product conﬁguration to factory product

conﬁguration

Kinova.Api.Base API

Network settings Restore network factory defaults

Kinova.Api.Base API

Conﬁguration

backups

Create, read, update, and delete conﬁguration

backups

Kinova.Api.Base API

Actuators conﬁguration

Actuators conﬁgurations set items related to the functioning of the actuators. Most of these can be

conﬁgured only via the API. Zeroing of the actuators torque offsets can be done via the Web App.

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Table 65: Actuator conﬁguration (Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig)

Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Axis offsets Set actuator axis offset position

Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

Torque offset

Set actuator torque zero conﬁguration Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations >

Robot > Actuators

Control mode

Set actuator control mode. Options:

• position

• velocity

• current

• torque

Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

Control loop

parameters

Conﬁgure an individual control loop

parameter:

• joint or motor position

• joint or motor velocity

• joint torque

• motor current

Conﬁgure:

• error saturation value

• output saturation value

• kAz

• kBz

• error dead band value

Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

Vector drive

parameters

Set vector drive parameters:

• kpq

• kiq

• kpd

• kid

Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

Encoder derivative

parameters

Set encoder derivative parameters:

• maximum window width

• minimum encoder tick count

Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

Command mode

Set command mode. Options:

• cyclic - cyclic data only

• asynchronous - conﬁguration messages

only

• cyclic jitter compensation using position or

posi tion and velocity inputs

Note: These options are

available in the API but should

NOT be used

Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

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Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Servoing

Enable servoing Kinova.Api.ActuatorConfig

API

Interface conﬁguration

Interface conﬁgurations impact settings for interface expansion signals. These can be conﬁgured via the API

or the Web App.

Table 66: Interface conﬁguration (Kinova.Api.InterconnectConfig)

Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

UART communciations Conﬁgure interface UART -

enable/disable, speed, word

length, stop bits, parity

Kinova.Api.InterconnectConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations > Robot >

Interconnect

Ethernet communications Conﬁgure interface

Ethernet port - speed,

duplex mode

Kinova.Api.InterconnectConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations > Robot >

Interconnect

GPIO Conﬁgure interface GPIOs

- mode, pull mode, value,

default value

Kinova.Api.InterconnectConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations > Robot >

Interconnect

I2C Conﬁgure interface I2C

- enable / disable, mode,

addressing mode

Kinova.Api.InterconnectConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁgurations > Robot >

Interconnect

Device conﬁguration

Device conﬁgurations impact settings for robot devices. These can be conﬁgured via the API.

Table 67: Device conﬁguration

Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Run mode

Set device run mode (Run, Calibration,

Conﬁguration, Debug, Tuning)

Kinova.Api.DeviceConfig API

IPv4 settings

(For devices other than base) Set device IPv4

address, subnet mask, default gateway

Kinova.Api.DeviceConfig API

Safeties

Enable/disable, set warning and/or error

threshholds for speciﬁc safeties

Kinova.Api.DeviceConfig API

Vision conﬁguration

Vision conﬁgurations tune the settings for the vision module color and depth sensors. These can be

conﬁgured via the API or the Web App.

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Table 68: Vision conﬁguration

Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Sensor settings

Set several discrete vision sensor settings:

Color sensor

• resolution - 320 x 240, 640 x 480, 1280 x 720,

1920 x 1080

• frame rate - 15 or 30 fps

• bit rate - 10, 15, 20, or 25 Mbps

Depth sensor:

• resolution - 424 x 240, 480 x 270

• frame rate - 6, 15, or 30 fps

Note: Higher frame rate or

resolution requires a higher data rate

for best results

Kinova.Api.VisionConfig

API

Web App > Conﬁguration >

Robot > Vision

Focus actions

Perform a focus action on a sensor.

Note: Only supported for color

sensor

• Start / pause continuous focus

• Focus now

• Disable focus

• Set to focus on x,y point within sensor view

pixel coordinates

• Set a manual focus distance between inﬁnity

and a close plane

Kinova.Api.VisionConfig

API

Set the value of any one of a number of camera

settings options.

Color image settings:

• brightness

• contrast

• saturation

Kinova.Api.VisionConfig

API

Sensor options

Depth camera settings

• exposure

• gain

• enable auto-exposure

• visual presets

• frames queue size

• enable error polling

• enable output trigger

• depth unit setting in m

• stereo depth camera baseline distance in mm

Kinova.Api.VisionConfig

API

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Conﬁgurable item Description Where to conﬁgure it

Instrinsic

parameters

Set the intrinsic parameters for a chosen sensor:

• resolution

•

principal point - horizontal and vertical

coordinates of principal point of image,

as pixel offsets from left and top edge

respectively

•

focal length - horizontally and vertically

as multiple of pixel width and height

• distortion coefﬁcients

º k1 - ﬁrst radial distortion coefﬁcient

º k2 - second radial distortion coefﬁcient

º k3 - third radial distortion coefﬁcient

º p1 - ﬁrst tangential distortion coefﬁcient

º p2 - second tangential distortion

coefﬁcient

Kinova.Api.VisionConfig

API

Extrinsic

parameters

Set sensor extrinsic parameters:

• rotation matrix from depth to color sensor

• translation vector from depth to color sensor

Kinova.Api.VisionConfig

API

Safety items

There are a number of safety items related to different components of the robot. These are viewable in the

Web App Safeties page.

Overview

Safety items, and their associated warning and error thresholds are active on the robot and are

viewable and conﬁgurable within the Safeties page of the Web App. There are several categories of

safeties:

• Base (arm) safeties

• Actuators safeties

• Interface module safeties

The tables that follow give more information about the safeties, including:

• Description - signiﬁcance of the safety item

• Hard limit (lower) - the minimum allowable value for the item

• Hard limit (upper) - the maximum allowable value for the item

• Default warning / error threshold - default conﬁgurations for the safety thresholds.

Base safeties

The following Base-related Safety items are viewable in the Web App.

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Table 69: Base Safety items

lower warning

Safety Item Description Hard limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

Firmware

Update Failure

Indicates a failure in the

ﬁrmware update process.

n/a n/a

0.0 °C 70.0 °CMaximum

Ambient

Temperature

The ambient temperature is

above upper limit

90.0 °C 80.0 °C

0.0 °C 75.0 °C

Maximum Core

Temperature

The core temperature is

above upper limit

100.0 °C 85.0 °C

Joint Fault

At least one joint is in a fault

state

n/a n/a

Joint Detection

Error

The number of detected

joints does not match the

conﬁgured arm joint count.

n/a n/a

No kinematics

support

Current degree of freedom

conﬁguration not supported

n/a n/a

Network error

Loss of actuator cyclic data

response

n/a n/a

Network

Initialization

Error

Arm is detected but control

bus link is down n/a n/a

0.0 A 9.0 A

Maximum

Current

The base current reading is

above upper limit

12.0 A 10.0 A

16.0 V 18.0 V

Minimum

Voltage

The base voltage reading is

below lower limit

Note: The

minimum voltage

must be lower

than the maximum

voltage

24.0 V 16.0 V

24.0 V 30.0 V

Maximum

Voltage

The base voltage reading is

above upper limit.

Note: The

maximum voltage

must be higher

than the minimum

voltage

31.0 V 31.0 V

Emergency

Stop Activated

Emergency stop activated.

Note: electronic

protection cannot

be deactivated

n/a n/a

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lower warning

Safety Item Description Hard limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

Emergency

line activated

Emergency line activated

n/a n/a

Inrush Current

Limiter Fault

Inrush current limiter fault

triggered.

Note: electronic

protection cannot

be deactivated

n/a n/a

NVRAM

corrupted

Non-volatile memory corrupt

n/a n/a

Incompatible

ﬁrmware

version

Firmware incompatible with

hardware board revision n/a n/a

Power-on self

test failure

The robot failed a power-on

self test

n/a n/a

Discrete input

stuck active

Joystick Control indicator

(GPI) stuck

n/a n/a

Actuators safeties

The following actuator-related Safety items are viewable in the Web App.

Table 70: General actuator safety items (apply the same to all actuator sizes)

lower warning

Safety Item Description Hard limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

0° 3.0°

Following Error

The error between

the command and the

reported position is

above upper limit.

Note: Only

active when in

servoing state

10° 5.0°

0° 3.0°

Magnetic Position

Position step of more

than threshold °/ms has

been read on the magnetic

sensor.

20° 5.0°

Hall Sequence

Invalid Hall sequence

detected.

n/a n/a

0° 1.5°

Input Encoder

Hall Mismatch

The Hall sensor position

value doesn’t match the

input optical encoder

position within +/-

threshold degrees.

10° 2.0°

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lower warning

Safety Item Description Hard limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

0 500

Input Encoder

Index Mismatch

Input encoder index

position mismatch

2000 1000

0° 10°

Input Encoder

Magnetic Mismatch

The input optical encoder

position value doesn’t

match with the magnetic

encoder position within +/-

threshold degrees.

45° 15°

16.0 V 18.0 V

Minimum Voltage

The voltage reading is

below lower limit.

Note: The

minimum

voltage

thresholds must

be lower than

the maximum

voltage

thresholds.

24.0 V 16.0 V

24.0 V 30.0 V

Maximum Voltage

The voltage reading is

above upper limit.

Note: The

maximum

voltage

thresholds must

be higher than

the minimum

voltage

thresholds.

31.0 V 31.0 V

0.0 °C 60.0 °C

Maximum Motor

Temperature

Motor temp is above

upper limit

80.0 °C 75.0 °C

0.0 °C 80.0 °C

Maximum Core

Temperature

Core temp above upper

limit

100.0 °C 90.0 °C

Non-Volatile

Memory Corrupted

Non-volatile memory

corrupt

n/a n/a

Motor Driver Fault

Driver chip reported a

major fault

Note: electronic

protection

cannot be

deactivated

n/a n/a

Emergency Line Asserted

Emergency line asserted.

Motor drive disabled

n/a n/a

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lower warning

Safety Item Description Hard limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

Watchdog Triggered Watchdog was triggered n/a n/a

Table 71: Small actuator speciﬁc safeties

lower warningSafety Item Description Hard

limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

0 °/s 180 °/sMaximum Velocity The computed velocity

of the actuator is greater

than threshold °/sec.

250 °/s 200 °/s

0 N·m 29.4 N·mMaximum Torque Torque reading

higher than x N·m.

52 N·m 51.3 N·m

0° n/aHall Position Position step of more

than threshold °/ms

10° 0.4285°

0.0 A 6.0 AMaximum

Motor Current

The measured current of the

motor is above upper limit

8.0 A 7.0 A

Table 72: Large actuator speciﬁc safeties

lower warningSafety Item Description Hard

limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

0 °/s 100 °/sMaximum Velocity The computed velocity

of the actuator is greater

than threshold °/sec.

150 °/s 120 °/s

0 N·m 56.7 N·mMaximum Torque Torque reading

higher than x N·m.

105 N·m 104.5 N·m

0° n/aHall Position Position step of more

than threshold °/ms

10° 0.2145°

0.0 A 10.0 AMaximum

Motor Current

The measured current of the

motor is above upper limit

12.0 A 11.0 A

Interface module safeties

The following Interface module-related Safety items are viewable and conﬁgurable in the Web App.

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Table 73: Interface Safety items

lower warningSafety Item Description Hard limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

Maximum

Motor Current

The measured motor

current in the connected

3rd party gripper (if

compatible gripper is

attached) is above the

higher limit. If gripper is

not present the safety is

disabled.

n/a n/a

Maximum Motor

Temperature

The motor temperature

of the connected

3rd party gripper (if

compatible gripper is

attached) is above the

higher limit. If gripper is

not present the safety is

disabled.

n/a n/a

16.0 V 18.0 VMinimum Voltage Voltage reading below

lower limit

Note:

minimum

voltage

thresholds

must be below

maximum

voltage

thresholds

24.0 V 16.0 V

24.0 V 30.0Maximum Voltage Voltage reading above

upper limit

Note:

maximum

voltage

thresholds

must be above

minimum

voltage

thresholds

31.0 V 31.0

0.0 °C 80.0 °CMaximum Core

Temperature

Core temperature above

upper limit

100.0 °C 90.0 °C

Non-Volatile

Memory Corrupted

Non-volatile memory

corrupt

n/a n/a

Emergency

Line Asserted

Emergency line asserted.

Motor drive disabled

n/a n/a

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lower warningSafety Item Description Hard limit

upper

Default

threshold

error

Watchdog

Triggered

Watchdog triggered

n/a n/a

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Kinova® Kortex™ Web App User Guide

Introduction

Overview of the Web App section of the user guide.

The following sections describe the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App. The Web App is used for controlling,

conﬁguring and monitoring the robot.

This pages that follow describe the purpose, layout, and use of the Web App.

Purpose

The Web App provides a convenient Web-based GUI for conﬁguring, controlling, and monitoring the robot.

The Web App is a Web GUI (Graphical User Interface) that runs on the robot. This web interface

allows users to conﬁgure, control and monitor the robot through a web browser interface from a

computer connected to the robot over a wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection.

Device availability of Web App

The Web App is available on desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones.

The Web App is a responsive web application. It is designed to adapt itself to various aspect ratios

and resolutions enabling it to run on multiple platforms that support the Google Chrome browser.

This includes:

• desktop / laptop computer

• tablet computer

• smartphone

Figure 42: Desktop

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Figure 43: Tablet

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Figure 44: Smartphone

Platform and browser support

This section describes platform and browser support for the Web App.

The Web App has the following platform and browser support.

Operating system support

• Microsoft Windows 7/8/10

• Ubuntu LTS 16.04

• Android 8.1 and higher

Browser support

• Chrome

Other platforms and browsers are not tested; some features may work differently in those cases.

User login

Given the robot base IP address and a computer connected to the robot, users can log in to the Web App with

username and password via a Web browser.

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After establishing a network connection between your device and the robot, open a web browser

and enter the IP address for the robot base external interface.

The Web App will launch, ending in a login popup.

Enter your username and password and press the CONNECT button.

The default username and password for the robot are:

• username: admin

• password: admin

Figure 45: User login

On pressing CONNECT, the Web App will launch and initialize. While it is doing this, the Web App

will give visual feedback to the user on the status of initialization of the application.

Figure 46: Initializing...

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Web App layout and navigation

This section describes the basic layout and navigation of the Web App.

The Web App screen is divided into several main sections:

• Main navigation panel

• Main information panel

• Notiﬁcation bar

• Shortcuts panel

• Robot control panel

• Mode indicator, user icon, and E-stop

Figure 47: Web App Layout

Pages menu

In the middle of the screen is the main information panel containing the contents of each page of

the application. The page can be changed from a pages menu on the left of the screen. This menu is

hidden by default, but can be lauched by clicking / tapping the menu icon in the upper left.

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The page options are organized into groups:

•

Conﬁgurations

Robot

Speed Limits

Controllers

Wireless & Networks

•

Safeties

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•

Operations

Actions

Protection Zones

Camera

•

Systems

System Information

Monitoring

Upgrade

•

Users

In the upper right hand corner of the screen are four indicators/controls:

•

Notiﬁcations indicator - number of most important notiﬁcations. Clicking allows

notiﬁcations to be read.

•

User proﬁle icon - Shows the user session icon

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• Control mode - status of the control mode situation of the robot. There are four icons to indicate

the mode / state:

Warning - robot in warning state

Error - robot is in a fault state

Idle - robot is not currently being controlled by any user session; waiting

Playing - a sequence is being played on the robot

Running - the robot is being actively controlled by a user

Admittance - robot is being controlled in an admittance mode

•

Emergency Stop (E-stop) - button control which when pressed/tapped will initiate the

emergency stop of the robot.

Clicking on any of these items displays a pop-up showing further information.

Robot control panel

The control panel is on the bottom of the screen, and consists of a group of six buttons. Three are to

launch pop-up windows for virtual joystick controls and admittance mode toggles:

•

Pose Virtual Joystick

•

Angular mode control

•

Admittance controls

The virtual joysticks allow you to control the movement of the robot without the use of a physical

controller.

Admittance mode lets you to move the robot with your hands in one of three (Cartesian, joint, and

null space) admittance modes.

In the same area there are three other controls:

•

Play action - brings up a window to play a selected action

•

Camera feed - brings up a window to view camera feed

•

Snapshot - allows user to capture a Cartesian, angular, or gripper pose

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Clicking on one of the buttons in the robot control panel will launch a smaller window from the

bottom of the screen, revealing the selected control panel.

Clicking the same button again will clear the smaller window at the bottom.

Robot control panel

Pose virtual joystick control

The Pose virtual joystick provides an interface to control Cartesian movement of the robot from the Web App.

The Pose virtual joystick panel allows users to control the position and orientation of the end

effector through the Web App using a mouse (on laptop or desktop computer) or touch control (on a

tablet or smartphone).

Figure 48: Pose joystick panel

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Figure 49: Pose joystick panel

The Pose virtual joystick panel is launched by clicking the ﬁrst button ( ) on the robot control

panel.

Translation / rotation joystick controls

The Pose virtual joystick controls allow you to control the linear and angular motion of the tool.

There are two sets of joysticks:

• linear (to apply a translational motion to the end effector)

• angular (to apply a rotational motion to the end effector at the current position)

Each set of joysticks features a 2-axis joystick for controlling the x and y axes, and a 1-axis joystick

to control in the z-axis. For the 2-axis linear joystick, the user can conﬁgure the joystick axis that is

assigned to control the y direction movement.

The desired linear and angular speeds for the motion can also be conﬁgured here.

Note: The desired speeds must be less than the defaults for Cartesian twist speeds, or, if set,

the general or mode-speciﬁc Cartesian speed limits conﬁgured on the Speed Limits page.

As the controls are moved, a display is provided for the current position (x, y, z) and orientation (θ

, θ

) of the end effector.

Note: The orientation representation uses an x-y-z extrinsic convention.

Finger controls

It is possible to open and close the ﬁngers using a single 1-axis joystick control (if a gripper is

installed). Push the control up to open the ﬁngers and down to close. The ﬁngers position can be

controlled between 0% (fully closed) and 100% (fully open).

Velocity control

The robot can be controlled in velocity control.

Additional settings

By clicking the caret icon on the upper right-hand side, additional controls and displays are

revealed.

• current linear and angular velocity display

• invert z and θ

toggles

• reference frame selection

• gripper speed control

• speed limit

Speed control

The actuators speed and ﬁnger speed can be adjusted between 0 and 100% of the hard limits for

the robot.

Reference frames

The position of the end effector can be speciﬁed in one of three reference frame conventions:

• Mixed - linear in base reference frame, angular in tool reference frame

• Base - linear and angular in base reference frame

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• Tool - linear and angular in tool reference frame

The tool reference frame convention is useful when controlling the robot using visual feedback

from the camera sensors. The joystick will control movement of the end effector with respect to the

tool reference frame, which is parallel to the reference frame of the camera. This makes it easy to

command the robot in relation to what is seen through the camera.

Z and θ

toggles

The default for the 1-axis z-direction controls is that 'up' increases the z-position or z-angle, while

'down' decreases it. This can be reversed using the Invert Z and Invert θ

toggles.

Angular virtual joystick control

The Angular virtual joystick provides an interface to control the join by joint movement of the robot from the

Web App.

The angular virtual joystick panel allows users to control the robot joint angles and gripper

ﬁngers (if gripper installed) through the Web App using a mouse (or touch control on a tablet or

smartphone).

Figure 50: Angular virtual joystick panel

The joint angles are controlled through angular velocity (controlling the joint speed for each

actuator)

The angular joystick panel is launched by clicking the second button on the robot control

panel.

The virtual joystick controls allow you to control the angle of each actuator as well as the opening

and closing of the ﬁngers (if a gripper is installed). As the virtual joystick controls are manipulated,

the robot arm joints respond accordingly.

Note: For joints with joint rotation limits, the robot enforces software joint angle limits to

prevent these joints from reaching the physical limits. When you control these joints, the

software will cause the arm joints to stop responding when the limits are reached.

The value of each angle is displayed in degrees. The value displayed is restricted to one full rotation

(0 - 360°).

Additional settings

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By clicking the caret icon on the right-hand side, additional controls are revealed. These let the user

control the maximum actuators and ﬁnger speed, between 0 and 100% of maximums.

To control the angle of each actuator, use the virtual joystick controls to apply a velocity in the given

direction. Pushing the joystick up causes the angle to increase, while pushing it down causes it to

decrease. The further up or down the joystick is pushed, the higher the angular speed for the joint,

up to the set limit. The angle will continue to change as long as the joystick is being pushed.

The desired joint speeds for each joint can also be conﬁgured here. This controls the speed at which

the joints will move to produce the movement.

Note: The desired joint speeds must be less than the defaults for joint speeds, or, if set, the

general or mode-speciﬁc joint speed limits conﬁgured on the Speed Limits page.

Another joystick allows users to control the end effector ﬁnger position (if an end effector is

installed). The values for the ﬁnger state range between 0% (fully closed) and 100% (fully open).

Push the joystick to the right to increase the percentage (and open the ﬁngers). Push the joystick to

the left to decrease the percentage (and close the ﬁngers).

Virtual joystick keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are available for Web App virtual joysticks when accessing the Web App from a desktop

device with keyboard. This serves as an alternate to mouse and touch for controlling the robot via the virtual

joysticks.

Introduction

The virtual joysticks for the Web App are controllable with mouse or touch inputs. Some people

(particularly those with a background in PC gaming) may ﬁnd it more natural to control using

keyboard shortcuts. If you are accessing the Web App using a desktop device that has a keyboard

(such as a desktop or laptop PC) there are handy keyboard shortcuts available for the joystick

controls.

Cartesian joysticks keyboard shortcuts

Table 74: Pose translation joystick shortcuts

Control Shortcut

+ W

X translation

- S

+ A

Y translation

- D

+ Q

Z translation

- E

Table 75: Pose orientation joystick shortcuts

Control Shortcut key

+ I

X rotation

- K

Y rotation + L

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Control Shortcut key

- J

+ U

Z rotation

- O

Table 76: Gripper controls (if gripper installed)

Control Shortcut key

open gripper ﬁngers C

Gripper ﬁngers

close gripper ﬁngers V

Angular joystick keyboard shortcuts

Table 77: Actuators controls

Control Shortcut key

+ 1

Actuator 1 angle

- Q

+ 2

Actuator 2 angle

- W

+ 3

Actuator 3 angle

- E

+ 4

Actuator 4 angle

- R

+ 5

Actuator 5 angle

- T

+ 6

Actuator 6 angle

- Y

+ 7

Actuator 7 angle

- U

Put another way, the angles for joints 1-7 can be increased using the keys 1-7 on the top row of the

keyboard.

The angles can be decreased using the letter keys QWERTYU on the second row of the keyboard.

Table 78: Gripper controls (if gripper installed)

Control Shortcut

open gripper ﬁngers C

Gripper ﬁngers

close gripper ﬁngers V

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Admittance modes panel

The admittance mode panel of the Web App allows users to set the robot into admittance modes.

The Admittance Mode panel is brought up by clicking the hand icon in the robot control

panel. The panel slides up from the bottom of the screen.

Figure 51: Admittance modes panel

An admittance mode is one in which the control systems of the robot take into account external

force / torque feedback from its environment.

From this panel, the arm can be set into one of three types of admittance mode:

• Cartesian admittance mode - tool moves according to the wrench (force + torque) applied on the

robot

• Joint admittance mode - joints of the robot rotate according to the external torques applied at

the joint

• Null Space admittance mode - end effector stays in the same position while the user manipulates

the joints of the robot within the null space. The robot moves within the null space according to

the external torques applied. Available only for legacy 7DoF robots.

It is also possible to take advantage of the admittance mode to manually move the robot into a

position and then capture a snapshot for future reference (normally, when not in an admittance

mode, the joints will resist being manipulated by external forces / torques).

While in admittance mode it is possible to record a Cartesian or Angular position by clicking the

snapshot button in the robot control panel.

Actions panel

The Actions panel of the Web App gives a control panel for the currently selected Action or Sequence.

The Actions panel provides controls to play, stop, or loop a selected Action.

The panel pops up from the bottom of the screen when an Action is selected in the Actions page.

Clicking the control panel Actions icon will toggle the visibility of the panel.

Camera panel

The Web App camera panel shows the live color sensor feed from the robot vision module within the Web App.

The Camera panel streams the live feed from the Web App color sensor in a pane at the

bottom of the Web App screen. This lets you have visual feedback from the perspective of the end

of the robot while controlling the robot movement.

Snapshot tool

The snapshot tool in the Web App captures and saves one of three types of instantaneous snapshots of the

robot / gripper positioning.

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The snapshot tool lets users capture a snapshot of a current position. This is a useful

feature to help with building pre-set sequences (for demos or to capture / program a ﬁxed set of

movements).

Pressing the snapshot button reveals a set of three snapshot options:

•

Cartesian pose

•

Joints position

•

Gripper position

Pressing one of the respective snapshot buttons will capture the chosen type of snapshot of the

current robot position. This will be saved, and will show up as one of the saved Actions viewable in

the Actions page.

Main pages

Conﬁgurations page group

The Conﬁgurations page group of the Web App includes several pages useful for robot conﬁguration.

Figure 52: Conﬁgurations page group

The Conﬁgurations page group contains pages allowing users to perform preliminary set up

and conﬁguration for robot hardware.

This includes the following pages:

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•

Robot

•

Speed Limits

•

Controllers

•

Wireless & Networks

Robot conﬁgurations

The Robot conﬁgurations page of the Web App allows for the conﬁguration of a broad range of robot

parameters.

The Robot conﬁgurations page provides a GUI to adjust the conﬁgurable parameters of the

robot hardware in order to customize its behavior.

Figure 53: Robot conﬁgurations page

The conﬁgurable items are broken into sections by devices:

• Arm

• Actuators

• Interconnect (interface module)

• Vision

Some conﬁgurable parameters of the robot can be conﬁgured on this page. Some other conﬁgurable

items are handled on their own pages:

• Protection Zones

• Controllers (switch active control mapping)

• Actions (deﬁne actions)

• Users (edit user proﬁles)

• Wireless & Networks (update network settings)

For more information on conﬁgurable parameters, refer to the section on Conﬁgurable parameters.

Speed Limits

The Speed Limits page of the Web App is used to set various soft limits for the robot, both globally, and by

control mode.

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The Speed Limits page provides a GUI to conﬁgure various soft speed limits for the robot, in

line with options available via the Kinova.Api.ControlConfig API.

Figure 54: Speed Limits page

The page contains two tabs:

• Basic

• Advanced

The Basic tab allows for setting speed limits globally for all control modes:

• Linear speed and angular speed for the tool (Cartesian)

• Joint speeds and accelerations (for each joint)

The Advanced tab allows for setting joint speed and acceleration limits for speciﬁc control modes.

The particular limits conﬁgurable under advanced will depend on the mode chosen.

For any setting, you can either set a speciﬁc value or set the value to the maximum.

Controllers

The Controllers page of the Web App lets users view, select, and create control mappings for the robot..

The Controllers page lets you view and toggle between the deﬁned control mappings for any

physical control devices associated with the robot.

It also lets you deﬁne new control mappings and maps for recognized control devices.

A mapping for a control device is a set of maps, where each map represents one correspondence

between the different controls on the control device and the resulting actions produced on the

robot.

Each map consists of a number of map elements, which represent the combination of a single

control input and the function (action) it produces.

The page gives access to control mappings for control devices with predeﬁned default mappings

like the Xbox gamepad and the wrist buttons on the interface module.

Once mappings and maps are deﬁned via the Web App they can be activated in the Web App just as

with default maps.

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Figure 55: Controllers page

The main information panel of the Controllers page has cards for each recognized control device.

On each control device card you can:

• view deﬁned control mappings for the device and activate one of the mappings

• view deﬁned control maps for each mapping and activate one of the mappings

• open the mappings editor for the control device

On each card, the currently selected mapping and map are shown. Control devices that are

currently connected appear with a green "Connected" icon in the upper right hand corner.

The following cards are shown by default:

• Xbox

• Wrist

• GPIO

The Xbox card is for a generic Xbox gamepad. By default, it has one mapping, Xbox Mapping. This

mapping has three preset control maps which correspond to the maps that can be toggled using the

physical buttons on the gamepad:

• Xbox Twist Linear

• Xbox Twist Angular

• Xbox Joint

The Wrist card is for mapping the two buttons on the wrist of the robot arm. By default, it has

one mapping, Wrist Mapping. This mapping is for the two buttons on the wrist of the robot. This

mapping has two preset control maps:

• Wrist map

• Wrist teaching gripper

Mappings editor

The control device mapping editor in the Web App Controllers page allows users to deﬁne new control

mappings for a control device.

On the Web App Controllers page main screen, clicking the edit button on a control device card

opens the mappings editor for the device.

In the mappings editor, you can view and modify mappings for a control device. This includes:

• creating a new mapping

• adding a new map to a mapping

• adding new functions controllable by a map

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• assigning control inputs as triggers for functions

Note: Pre-deﬁned default mappings are read only. These mappings can however be

duplicated / cloned so that the copy can be edited.

The selected control device is indicated at the top of the window.

Figure 56: Control mapping edit window

At any given time, one map is set as the active map for the controller. At the top of the edit window

is a set of tabs indicating the maps for the control device.

Below the maps tabs is a table showing the map details for the selected map. The selected map is

indicated with a dark blue line under the selected map tab. Clicking on another tab will change the

selected map and the details shown below. Information on the map is shown in a table with two

columns:

• Function - listing deﬁned actions on the robot

• Control - listing control inputs on the control device

Each row of the table represents a single map element for the selected map on the selected control

device.

The active map (the one currently active on the robot, which is not necessarily the one currently

displayed) is indicated with a check mark icon.

A mapping menu is displayed by clicking the three vertical dots icon to the right of the map tabs,

and gives options for the selected map:

• Activate Mapping - makes the selected mapping the active mapping

• Rename - allows you to rename the selected map

• Duplicate - creates a new map that is a duplicate of the selected map

• Delete - deletes the selected map

Note: Since preset mappings are read only, Rename and Delete are not available for preset

mappings.

A map menu is displayed by clicking the three vertical dots icon to the right of the map tabs, and

gives options for the selected map:

• Activate Map - makes the selected map the active map

• Rename - allows you to rename the selected map

• Duplicate - creates a new map that is a duplicate of the selected map

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• Delete - deletes the selected map

Note: Since preset mappings are read only, Rename, Duplicate, and Delete are not available

for the maps in preset mappings.

On each row of the table in user-deﬁned maps is a three vertical dot icon. Clicking launches a map

element menu which gives various options for modifying or adding to the chosen map element:

• Change Function - launch the functions menu to modify the action resulting from the control

input

• Assign Control - launch the controls menu to modify the control input

• Rename - rename the map element

• Delete - delete the map element from the map

Note: Since preset mappings are read only, this is not available for the maps of preset

mappings.

The add new ( ) button allows you to add, for the selected control device depending on the

current context:

• a new mapping

• a new map to an existing mapping

• new functions to an existing map

The Functions menu is a pop-out menu giving an interface to add one or more functions to a

selected user-deﬁned map. This launched with + Function.

Figure 57: Functions menu

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The functions in this menu are divided into groups:

• Linear Movement - translate tool and change speed

• Angular Movement - rotate tool around its own center and change rotation speed

• Joint Movement - navigate from joint to joint and change joint speed

• End Effectors - open or close gripper ﬁngers

• Actions & Poses - initiate or stop an action, or go to a standard deﬁned pose (retract, home,

packaging, zero), take a snapshot

• Mappings - change to the next or previous map in a mapping for the control device

• Safety - apply emergency stop and clear faults

• Control Modes - toggle admittance modes (Cartesian, Joint, Null Space)

The Controls menu is a pop-out menu allowing you to assign, for one of the functions in a map,

the control input which triggers that function. The Controls menu is launched by selecting Assign

Control in the map element menu for one of the functions in a map.

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Figure 58: Controls menu

The controls menu shows a graphical representation of all the available controls on the control

devices, whether axis controls (joystick or D-pad) or button controls. The graphical representation

shows which controls have already been assigned, and which are still available.

The speciﬁc input for the control used to trigger the function can be speciﬁed here.

For an axis control, this means the direction (positive or negative).

For a button control, this means button click, button up, or button down.

Creating a new mapping for a control device

Describes steps to create a new mapping for a recognized control device with the Web App.

About this task

On the Web App Controllers page, users can create and deﬁne a new control mapping for a connected control

device.

Note: Mappings can also be created using the Kinova.Api.Base API.

Procedure

1. On the Web App Controllers page, locate the card for the desired control device and choose edit

on the card to launch the control mapping editor for the device.

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2. Click the add new button and select Mapping to create a new empty map.

3. A new empty mapping, labeled 'New Mapping' will appear. This mapping contains no maps, and

the table of functions and controls is blank.

What to do next

Next, you can add and deﬁne one or more maps to the mapping by carrying out the 'Creating a new map for a

mapping' procedure once for each new map you want to add to the mapping.

Creating a new map for a mapping

Describes steps to create a new map in a mapping for a recognized control device with the Web App.

Before you begin

A user-deﬁned mapping will already need to have been created for the control device.

About this task

On the Web App Controllers page, you can create and deﬁne a new control map for an existing mapping. The

following procedure describes the steps to follow to deﬁne a new map.

Note: Control maps can also be deﬁned programmatically using the Kinova.Api.Base

API.

Procedure

1. On the Web App Controllers page, locate the card for the desired control device and click the

edit icon on the card to open the control mapping editor for the device.

2. Select the appropriate mapping from the Mapping dropdown menu.

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3. Click the add new button and select Map to create a new empty map. A new tab for the map,

labeled 'New Map' will appear. The new map is initally empty, with the functions and controls

empty.

4. If there are other maps in the mapping, click on the tab for the new map to select it. The

selected map details will initially be empty, since they haven't been deﬁned yet.

5. Click the add new button again, this time selecting Function. This will launch the Functions

menu.

6. In the Functions menu, different functions are shown arranged in categories. Select the

functions you want to add to the new map, and then click Add. The added functions will now

appear in the selected map details. The functions will appear in the Function column, while in

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the Control column, 'No Control Assigned' will appear on each row (this is as expected, since

controls have not been assigned yet).

Note: The number of functions you can add to a map will depend on the number of

available types of control inputs for the control device.

Note: It is generally recommended, if possible, to add at least one of the functions in

the Mappings group (Navigate to Next / Previous Map), as well as the Apply Emergency

Stop and Clear Faults functions under the Safety group. This allows you to handle safety

and faults, and to navigate easily from map to map using the control device.

7. For any of the functions, click on the map element menu and select Assign Control from the

menu.

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8. This will launch the Controls menu. Using the controller, press one of the unassigned controls.

It will become highlighted on the menu as selected.

9. In the settings, type in a meaningful name for the control input, and select an event for that

control. For axis controls, the options are Axis Positive / Negative and for button controls, the

options are Button Click, Button Up, or Button Down.

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10. When you are happy with the choice, click the Assign button. The selected map details will

update accordingly.

11. Repeat steps 7 through 10 for the remaining functions until all have unique controls assigned.

Wireless & Networks

The Wireless & Networks page of the Web App allows users to conﬁgure networks settings.

The Networks page is used to set network parameters for:

• Ethernet

• Wi-Fi

Figure 59: Wireless & Networks page

The page has tabs for each currently available connection method.

The Ethernet Settings tab allows you to conﬁgure:

• IPv4 address

• IPv4 subnet mask

• IPv4 default Gateway

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The Wi-Fi Settings tab allows you to enable Wi-Fi networking with the robot and ﬁnd and connect

to available Wi-Fi networks.

Safeties

The Safeties page of the Web App allows users to view safety settings on the robot.

The Safeties page allows users to view safety thresholds.

Figure 60: Safeties page

There are two types of safety thresholds:

• Error - An error is a departure from normal parameters that is more serious than warnings and

represents a situation which could damage the robot or endanger the user. The thresholds for

errors are set at a more extreme level than warning thresholds.

Note: An error triggers an emergency stop for the robot.

• Warning - A warning serves to signal that the robot is moving away from normal operational

status toward an error state. A warning will not stop the robot.

Note: Some safety items do not have warning thresholds, only error thresholds.

For more detailed information on robot safety thresholds, see here.

Operations page group

The Operations page group of the Web App groups together pages useful to operating the robot.

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Figure 61: Operations page group

The Operations page group contains pages allowing users to ﬁne tune the conﬁguration and

performance of the robot after the initial setup.

This includes the following pages:

•

Actions

•

Protection Zones

•

Camera

Actions

The Actions page of the Web App allows the user to deﬁne and edit robot actions of various types. It also

allows users to play back actions and assemble them together into sequences of action.

The Actions page allows user to deﬁne, view, and edit robot actions, as well as build

sequences and play back actions and sequences.

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Figure 62: Actions page

Actions available in the Web App are:

•

Pose (go to a Cartesian pose)

•

Joint angles (go to a combination of joint angles)

•

End Effector (change the gripper state)

•

Sequence (take a series of actions one after the other)

A Pose represents a single Cartesian endpoint for the robot. A pose consists of x, y, and z

coordinates representing the position of the end effector, and the three angles θ

, θ

, and θ

representing the orientation of the end effector.

Note: Orientations are represented in x-y-z extrinsic convention.

Angular represents the set of joint angles for each of the arm joints.

End effector represents the gripper state, from 0% (fully open) to 100% (fully closed).

Note: Currently, the Robotiq 2-ﬁnger grippers are supported.

A Sequence is an ordered list of actions on. Sequences are a sequential combination of Cartesian

poses, angular settings, and end effector poses. Sequences may also include timed delays between

movements.

The main information panel of the page shows cards with all the deﬁned actions and sequences.

New actions or sequences can be added with the + icon in the lower right of the main panel. This

launches a menu where you can select the type of new item to create.

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Figure 63: '+' menu

The already deﬁned actions are visible on the Actions page as small cards. From these cards, users

can do the following with an action:

• edit the action

• create a duplicate of the action

• delete the action

• export action as JSON

• export action as XML

Chosing Edit on an action card opens an editor interface speciﬁc to the action type. This allows you

to modify the parameters of the action.

Figure 64: End effector action editor

The end effector action editor allows you to modify the endpoint position of the gripper between

0% (fully open) and 100% (fully closed).

There is also an option to apply a duration constraint, in ms. This controls the time taken for the

gripper to complete the movement.

Figure 65: Pose action editor

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The pose action editor allows you to modify the endpoint position and orientation of the end

effector.

There is also an option to apply a translation speed constraint for the movement toward the

endpoint.

A basic 3D visualization is displayed showing a representation of the base and its frame, and a

sphere with axes representing the tool frame orientation.

Figure 66: Joint angles action editor

The joint angles action editor allows you to modify the angular position, in degrees, for each

actuator on the robot.

A 3D visualization is displayed showing the pose produced by the current angle settings.

There is also an option to apply an angular speed or duration constraint for the movement toward

the endpoint.

Creating actions using snapshot tool

The snapshot button ( ) at the bottom of the screen can be used to capture the current robot

Cartesian pose, angular pose, or gripper state. Any pose captured by the snapshot tool will show up

on the actions page. For more information, see the snapshot tool page.

Preset joint angle actions

The robot comes with several preset joint angle actions viewable and playable in the Web App Actions page.

When the robot is shipped, it comes with several useful preset joint angle actions. These are

viewable and playable on the Actions page.

Table 79: Preset joint angle actions

Name Description

Home Go to the home position, a convenient "ready"

position. This is the same home position

reachable from default Xbox gamepad maps.

Retract Go to the retract position, a folded up,

compact pose for when the robot is not

in use. This is the same retract position

reachable from default Xbox gamepad maps.

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Name Description

Packaging Go to the packaging position (the arrangement

of the robot for packing in the shipping /

storage container). This is useful for

preparing to put the robot back into the

shipping container for transport or storage.

Zero Go to the zero position (all joint angles = 0)

These four preset joint angle actions can all be set to be triggered by control inputs in user-deﬁned

control device maps using either the API or the Web App Controllers page.

Sequence editor

The sequence editor on the Web App Actions page is used to build and edit sequences of actions.

Figure 67: Sequence editor

The sequence editor allows you to:

• create and add a new reach endpoint action (reach Cartesian pose, reach joint angles, reach end

effector position) to a sequence

• add an existing library action to a sequence

• add a delay to a sequence

• reorder actions in a sequence

• edit / conﬁgure any actions in the sequence

• enter teaching mode and add snapshots to the sequence

The sequence timeline shows the steps in the sequence.

Clicking the button brings up a menu to pick a new action to add.

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The edit action panel to the right of the sequence list lets you directly edit the parameters of the

action.

Adding actions using teaching mode

Within the sequence editor, you can enter teaching mode by pressing the "Teach" button in the

sequence editor.

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Teaching mode provides a simple interface for placing the robot into one of the available

admittance modes, allowing users to manipulate the robot by hand and take snapshots.

Snapshots can be captured in one of two ways:

• using the on screen snapshot button that appears when teaching mode is initiated

• using the physical buttons on the interface wrist buttons

The type of snapshot taken depends on the admittance mode chosen. In Cartesian admittance, a

Cartesian pose snapshot is captured. In joint or null space admittance, a joint angles snapshot is

captured.

If a snapshot is captured, and the gripper position is changed since the previous point in the

sequence, both robot position and gripper position snapshots will be captured.

If the gripper position was unchanged, only the robot position will be captured.

If a snapshot is taken for the ﬁrst point in a sequence, both robot position and gripper position

snapshots will be captured.

Teaching / gripper wrist button map

Entering teaching mode changes the control mapping of the interface module buttons as follows:

Input Button 1 Button 2

button click open gripper take snapshot

button hold close gripper N/A

button release stop gripper N/A

Deleting actions or re-ordering the steps of a sequence

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If you want to change the position of an action in the sequence, or remove it from the sequence

entirely, simply click and drag to move the selected action and release it in the desired position.

To delete a selected action from the sequence, click the delete icon on the action.

Creating a new sequence in teaching mode

Describes steps to deﬁne a new sequence on the robot using teaching mode within the sequence editor.

Before you begin

The robot needs to be powered on, and in the home position or other stable position.

About this task

Teaching mode is a mode that is launched from the Web App sequence editor. Enabling this mode puts the

robot into a selected admittance mode and changes the mapping of the wrist buttons on the robot interface

module. This allows you to freely manipulate the robot by hand and take snapshots of positions (Cartesian

pose or joint angles, depending on the selected admittance mode) as well as gripper positions. By running

through a few positions, a new sequence can easily and quickly be created.

Procedure

1. Connect to the robot via the Web App and navigate to the Actions page.

Click the '+' button to create a new action, and select Sequence from the pop up menu.

The sequence editor will open with an empty sequence.

3. Click the Teach button and select from the available admittance modes options (Cartesian and

Joint for 6 DoF robot, Cartesian, Joint, and Nullspace for 7 DoF robot).

Note: The robot will be set into teaching mode, with the robot in the chosen admittance

mode. The buttons on the interface module wrist will also be changed from the default

map to the teaching mode map.

4. Manipulate the robot by hand, and use the wrist buttons to take a snapshot of the robot

position, or open/close the gripper ﬁngers.

5. Repeat step 5 as needed to capture the different components of the desired movement by the

robot and gripper.

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6. Click the Teach button again to exit teaching mode.

7. Home the robot to return to a stable starting position, and then click play to play back the

sequence.

8. If desired, you can ﬁnetune the sequence by using the sequence editor to insert and conﬁgure

any needed delays in the sequence, or to add duration or speed constraints to sequence steps.

Importing and exporting actions or sequences

This section describes functionalities available on the Actions page for importing and exporitng actions or

sequences.

You can Export All deﬁned actions or sequences as XML or JSON, to share with others. Similarly,

a JSON or XML action ﬁle can be imported from the computer. The Export All and

Import functions are available at the top of the main panel.

Playing back actions and sequences

Actions and sequences can be played back from the Actions page, and controls are provided to manage

playback.

When an action or sequence is selected by clicking on its card, the item is loaded in a playback bar at

the bottom of the page.

Figure 68: Actions playback bar

When the play button is pressed, the robot will move directly to execute the described action or

sequence.

The Hold to Play toggle (by default, activated) controls the playback. When the toggled on, the

playback will only continue as long as the play button is held down. When not toggled on, a single

press of the play button will sufﬁce for the playback to execute completely.

The Play button plays the sequence.

The Pause button (the Play button changes to a Pause button while the sequence is playing) will

stop the playback while keeping the playhead at the same position. When the play button is pressed

again, the motion will continue exactly where it left off.

The Stop button will stop the movement and return the playhead to the beginning.

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In the case of a Cartesian pose, angular position, or gripper position, the robot (or gripper) will

interpolate linearly between the present position and the target position and move smoothly and

directly to the target position.

For a sequence, the robot will ﬁrst go directly to the the ﬁrst item in the sequence, and then

will trace out a path that goes through the positions on the sequence. A progress bar above the

playback bar shows the progress of the playback through the steps.

For sequences, an additional Loop toggle control can be toggled on or off. When toggled on, a

sequence will play through all the steps and then go directly to the pose of the ﬁrst step. This is

useful for demonstrations.

Protection Zones

The Protection Zones page of the Web App allows users to deﬁne zones around the robot where movement is

prevented or limited.

The Protection Zones page allows user to deﬁne and activate multiple three-dimensional

geometric volumes around the robot where the robot:

• cannot go, and, optionally,

• the maximum speed is constrained

A protection zone is intended to limit the possibility of the robot running into either the user or

objects near the robot.

Important: Protection zones only work when controlling the robot in Cartesian mode; when

controlling the robot in Angular mode, they are ignored.

Zone Shapes

Three protection zone shapes are available:

• Rectangular prism

• Sphere

• Cylinder

Figure 69: Protection Zones page

The Protection Zones page allows for deﬁning, conﬁguring, and viewing protection zones.

Multiple protection zones can be active at the same time.

Note: The robot control library applies protection zones in the course of executing any

high-level motion commands. There are no hard limits to the number of simultaneous

active protection zones, but for best performance, we recommend activating at most four

protection zones at the same time.

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The Protection Zones page is divided into three main sections:

• Zones panel

• Views panel

• Zones conﬁguration panel

Zones panel

The zones panel is used to create new protection zones. It also lists the already deﬁned zones and

allows users to rename, duplicate, and delete existing protection zones. It also allows users to

export individual protection zones as XML or JSON.

The panel lists the already deﬁned protection zones. Clicking on a list entry selects that entry,

highlighting the zone in the list and:

• highlighting the zone in the views panel

• brings up a conﬁguration form for that zone in the zones conﬁguration panel

A 'more' icon made up of three vertical dots on the right side of each list entry brings up a menu

with the following options:

• Rename - enter a recognizable / meaningful name for the selected protection zone

• Duplicate - create a new zone that is a duplicate copy of the selected existing zone

• Delete - delete the selected zone

• Export XML - export the present saved conﬁguration of the zone as XML

• Export JSON - export the present saved conﬁguration of the zone as JSON

A new protection can be added by clicking the + sign icon at the bottom of the zone panel and

selecting from the list of protection zone types.

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This will create a new, empty protection zone for the selected type, and add an entry to the zone

panel list.

Views panel

The views panel offers a live visualization of the deﬁned protection zones. The visualization can

display the zones in several different views:

• Iso (isometric) view

• Top view

• Front view

• Left view

• Right view

For the isometric view, you can drag on the screen to change the view angle. The other options

allow a view from a ﬁxed perspective.

Zones conﬁguration panel

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The zones conﬁguration panel allows you to conﬁgure the presently selected protection zone. The

panel is divided in two sections:

• Properties

• Limits

The properties section is for deﬁning the area where the deﬁned checkpoints on the robot cannot

go. This allows you to:

• Activate/deactivate a zone

• Set the position of the center of the zone in terms of the base frame

• Set the orientation of the protection zone, either as a set of three Euler angles or as a rotation

matrix

Note: Orientation is deﬁned as rotations around a frame aligned with the base frame and

centered on the center of the protection zone

Note: Orientation can be set for prism and cylinder shapes only (spherical region

symmetric to rotations around its own center)

• Dimensions of the zone

The conﬁgurable dimensions of the zones are:

• Prism shape - height, width, and depth

• Cylinder shape - height and radius

• Sphere shape - radius

The limits section deﬁnes an envelope around the 'no-go' zone where the speed of the robot is

constrained. An envelope is a three dimensional region bounded by the outer boundary of the no-go

zone and a larger zone that is the same shape, but extending out a certain thickness beyond the no-

go zone. The limits section allows you to:

• Activate/deactivate limits

• Deﬁne an envelope thickness (in cm, between 0 and 200 cm)

• Deﬁne an envelop speed limit (in cm/s, between 0 and 10 cm/s)

Camera

The Camera page of the Web App allows users to view the live feed from the vision module color sensor.

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The Camera page allows you to see the live feed from the color sensor of the installed vision

module.

Figure 70: Camera page

There are four controls available on this page:

•

Start auto-focus

•

Pause auto-focus

•

Focus now

•

Disable auto-focus

Systems page group

The Systems page group of the Web App groups together pages to update and view status and conﬁgiration

information for the system.

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Figure 71: Systems page group

The Systems page group contains pages for robot devices information, monitoring, and

software/ﬁrmware upgrades.

It contains the following pages:

•

System Information

•

Monitoring

•

Upgrade

System Information

The System Information page of the Web App provides high-level hardware and ﬁrmware details for the robot.

The System Information page gives a quick high level view of hardware and ﬁrmware

conﬁguration details.

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Figure 72: System Information page

The information on the page is displayed within different tabs:

• Arm (product and base)

• Actuators (for each of the individual actuators in robot)

• Interconnect (interface module)

• Vision

For the base, actuators, interface module, vision module, information is given on:

• bootloader version

• device type

• ﬁrmware version

• MAC address

• part number, part number revision, and serial number

Product gives product-level information:

• KIN (Kinova information number)

• model ID

• model year

• assembly plant

• degrees of freedom

• base type

• end effector type

• vision module type

• interface module type

• arm laterality

• wrist type

Monitoring

The Monitoring page of the Web App allows users to view real-time monitoring information on the status and

performance of the robot.

The Monitoring page allows for real-time monitoring of status and performance information

for the robot. The monitoring page is the ﬁrst page that opens when opening a new session using

the Web App.

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Figure 73: Monitoring page

The monitoring information is divided into sections:

• Base

• Actuators

• Interconnect (interface module)

• End effector

There are two tabbed views available, selectable through three tabs at the top of the screen:

• Overview

• Detailed

Overview tab contents

The Overview tab shows the following information in each section:

• Base

º operating mode (maintenance, update, shutting down, run, in fault)

º control mode (angular joystick, Cartesian joystick, torque control, Cartesian admittance, joint

admittance, null space admittance)

º servoing mode (single level (high level), low level)

• Actuators - for each joint:

º measured position (°)

º measured torque (N·m)

º measured velocity (°/s)

• Interconnect (interface module)

acceleration - x, y, and z (m/s

)

º angular velocity x, y, and z of interconnect (°/s)

• End effector

º position and orientation - x, y, z, θ

, θ

º velocity - x, y, z, θ

, θ

º tool Twist - x, y, z, θ

, θ

º External tool wrench force - x, y, z

º External tool wrench torque - x, y, z

º Commanded tool pose - x, y, z, θ

, θ

Detailed tab contents

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The detailed tab shows the following information in each section:

• Base

º operating mode (maintenance, update, shutting down, run, in fault)

º control mode (angular joystick, Cartesian joystick, torque control, Cartesian admittance, joint

admittance, null space admittance)

º servoing mode (single level (high level), low level, bypass)

º arm voltage (V)

º arm current (A)

º CPU temperature (°C)

º ambient temperature (°C)

acceleration x, y, z of the base (m/s

)

º angular velocity x, y, z of base (°/s)

• Actuators - for each joint:

º measured position (°)

º measured velocity (°/s)

º measured torque (N·m)

º motor current (A)

º voltage (V)

º motor temperature (°C)

º core temperature (°C)

• Interconnect

acceleration x, y, z of interface (m/s

)

º angular velocity x, y, z of interface (°/s)

º voltage (V)

º core temperature (°C)

• End effector

º position and orientation - x, y, z, θ

, θ

º tool Twist - x, y, z, ω

, ω

º External tool wrench force - x, y, z

º External tool wrench torque - x, y, z

º Commanded tool pose - x, y, z, θ

, θ

Exporting a snapshot of monitoring data

It is possible to export a snapshot of the currenting monitoring data for the robot.

By pressing the snapshot data button ( ), you have the ability to save a dump of the

monitoring data locally on your computer to JSON format. This can be useful information to share

with Kinova support for troubleshooting purposes.

Upgrade

The Upgrade page of the Web App is used to update the software of the robot with a downloaded software

package.

The Upgrade page provides a simple interface to perform upgrades to the robot.

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Robot upgrade ﬁles are bundled as a package (.swu ﬁle).

The robot upgrade package includes:

• robot devices ﬁrmware updates:

º base controller

º actuators

º interface module

º vision module

• Web App upgrade package

•

Kinova

Kortex™ API upgrade package

Figure 74: Upgrade page

The upgrade page provides an interface to upload a new upgrade package and initiate the upgrade.

The page also provides information on the current Web App and Kinova

Kortex™ API versions, as

well as the current ﬁrmware versions of the robot devices.

Upgrading the robot ﬁrmware and software

This section describes how to upgrade the robot ﬁrmware and software using the Web App.

Before you begin

• A new robot update package needs to have been previously downloaded to the development

computer.

• The development computer needs to be connected to the robot, either via wired Ethernet

connection or via Wi-Fi.

• The user needs to have a Web App session open on the robot.

About this task

The Web App is used to upgrade the robot ﬁrmware and software using a new upgrade package on the

development computer. The upgrade package covers all devices in the arm, and all devices are upgraded as

part of this process.

Procedure

1. Browse to the Web App Upgrade page.

2. Click the Upload button on "Upload New Software."

3. Browse the development PC disk to select the new ﬁrmware package. The new package will

upload to the robot. If the upload is unsuccessful, you will receive an error message. If it is

successful, the process will continue.

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4. Once the ﬁrmware package uploads successfully, you will be able to start the upgrade. The Web

App will refresh twice during the upgrade, and each time you will have to login again. If you login

during the upgrade, the Upgrade page will indicate that the upgrade is in progress.

Results

The LED on the base of the robot is green when the process is over. The Web App also indicates when the

process is ﬁnished.

Users

This section describes the Users page of the Web App allows for editing user proﬁle information.

The Users page is used to deﬁne, set, and edit user proﬁles for the robot.

Figure 75: Users page

Deﬁned proﬁles are displayed as information cards on the main information panel of the page. The

cards are in three different sizes:

• large

• medium

• small

Card sizes can be toggled using buttons on the upper right of the main information panel.

Large cards show a full set of information. The large card displays the user name and language.

Medium cards are slightly smaller.

Small cards show a more compact view. By clicking the More button, a pop-up menu is revealed to

allow you to View, Edit, Delete, or Duplicate the proﬁle.

Clicking Edit brings you to an editing interface where it is possible to conﬁgure the proﬁle.

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Figure 76: Card editing interface

Click on the button in the lower right corner of the page to create a new user. This launches a

menu to add information for the new user.

Figure 77: Create new user

Creating a new user proﬁle

This section describes how to create a new user proﬁle in the Web App.

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Procedure

On the Users page, press the button to add a new empty user proﬁle. This will bring up a

window to enter information for the proﬁle.

2. Enter the information for the user proﬁle including name, user name, and password.

3. When you are done adding information, press ADD to create the new user proﬁle.

Results

The new user proﬁle will be created. The next time you log on to the Web App, you will be able to log in with

these credentials.

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Kinova® Kortex™ Developer Guide

Introduction

This section of the documentation provides guidance on developing custom software applications for the

robot.

Your robot is enabled by Kinova

Kortex™, the Kinova software framework and application

development platform. This growing and evolving framework will allow you to conﬁgure and

control the robot programmatically, adapting to your speciﬁc needs and supporting you in

integrating new Kinova products into robotics applications. The Kinova

Kortex™ API supports

multiple robot products from Kinova as a cross-hardware development framework.

Note: Some of the speciﬁc features of the API are hardware dependent and may not be

available on your robot.

APIs are currently provided for the following languages:

• C++

• Python

•

MATLAB

(simpliﬁed API supporting a subset of Kortex functionality)

Kinova also offers ROS packages covering most of the same functionalities.

The pages that follow describe the general philosophy and approach of the APIs.

The following GitHub respositories contain additional developer guidance and resources, including

detailed API documentation, setup instructions, and source code examples:

•

Kinova

Kortex™ API: kinovarobotics/kortex

•

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS: kinovarobotics/ros_kortex

•

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS Vision: kinovarobotics/ros_kortex_vision

•

Kinova

Kortex™ MATLAB

API: kinovarobotics/matlab_kortex

Tutorial videos are available on the Kinova

YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=zQewb08M4sA).

Devices and services

This section describes the concept of devices and services in the robot.

The API consists of services which deﬁne interfaces implemented and available on the various

robot devices.

The robot consists of several devices:

• base controller

• actuators (each actuator is a distinct device)

• interface module

• vision module

A service consists of methods and communication exchange data structures. The devices in the

robot each implement a particular set of services, some of which are available across multiple

devices. The methods available as part of a service on a device are accessed via remote procedure

calls (RPC).

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Figure 78: Services on multiple devices

Available services

This section lists the available robot services for the robot.

Kinova makes available a number of services for developers, each of which includes functions and

data types supported for C++ and Python.

• Session - provides functions for opening and closing sessions with the robot. This service is

used at the beginning and end of every session with the robot to authenticate the user.

Note: In practice, end users will not use the Session service directly, but will use a

SessionManager object. See the GitHub documentation for more details.

• Base - broadly useful service. Provides functions for conﬁguring a range of base-related

functionalities as well as high-level control for the robot.

• DeviceManager - provides a list of device information used for internal communication routing

purposes.

• Cyclic data communications (sending commands to devices and/or receiving status feedback on

a periodic or as-requested basis). Cyclic data communications are used with low-level or low-

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level bypass servoing, and are intended to be called by API clients as part of a user-deﬁned 1 kHz

control loop via a UDPTransportClient on port 10001.

º For low-level servoing cyclic communication

• BaseCyclic- sending commands to actuators and gripper motors and obtain feedback

from base, actuators, wrist interface, and gripper motors.

º For low-level bypass servoing cyclic communication

• ActuatorCyclic - sending commands to an actuator and obtaining feedback from the

actuator

• InterconnectCyclic - sending commands to interface module and obtaining feedback

from the interface module

• Conﬁguration related

º ControlConfig - get / set control library conﬁguration

º ActuatorConfig - get / set actuator conﬁguration

º DeviceConfig - get / set general device conﬁguration

º InterconnectConfig - get / set interface expansion conﬁguration

º VisionConfig - get / set Vision module conﬁguration (for robots with integrated Vision

module)

For full details on available services, see the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub repository.

Services, methods, and messages

This section describes the concept of messages used by functions within services.

The API services offer a set of RPC and pub/sub methods. The methods exchange data which are

structured as Google Protocol Buffer message objects.

Kinova

Kortex™ API and Google Protocol Buer

Describes the use of Google Protocol Buffer for the Kinova

Kortex™ API.

On Google Protocol Buer

The Kinova

Kortex™ API is based on the Google Protocol Buffer 3 mechanism for serializing

structured data. Using Protocol Buffer, the API is made available in C++ and Python languages.

Developers accustomed to Protocol Buffer can see .proto ﬁles on the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub

repository. These ﬁles are published as a means to document the services and methods offered via

the API.

The API data structures are based on Google Protocol Buffer messages. Extensive documentation

has been made available by Google explaining the different mechanisms offered to:

• set a ﬁeld in a message

• read a OneOf element in a message

• go through a nested object

• set a nested object

• get/set a collection

For more details on how the above works, check out the following documentation on the Google

Protocol Buffer website:

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• C++ tutorial: https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/reference/cpp-generated

• Python tutorial: https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/reference/python-

generated

Service client-server model

This section describes the client-server model for services.

Services operate on a client-server model. The server component of the service runs on the device

itself. The client component runs on the client computer.

Services offer a set of device functionalities which are transparently exposed to the end-user via

RPC and pub/sub methods.

The API is built on a transparent client/server communication protocol which allows an end-user

(client side) to call methods on robot devices.

Blocking and non-blocking calls

Remote procedure calls on the robot are generally available in both blocking and non-blocking forms. Non-

blocking calls are available using Future/Promise and by registering callback functions.

The API deﬁnes interfaces of methods to be executed on devices in the robot.

The methods can be one of two types, depending on what the client application does while waiting

for the response:

• blocking

• non-blocking

With a blocking call, the ﬂow of the client application will pause and wait for the remote procedure

call to return a response before proceeding. With non-blocking call, the procedure call is sent, and

the ﬂow of the application carries on while waiting for the response. When the response arrives, the

caller will handle the response.

For the Python API, only blocking calls are enabled.

In the context of C++, remote procedure calls in the API can in general be set as either blocking or

non-blocking.

There are two types of non-blocking calls available in the C++ API:

• Future/Promise

• Registered callback functions

For more information on how this works, see the API documentation on the Kinova

Kortex™

GitHub respository.

Users, connections and sessions

Describes the concept of connections and sessions in the API.

Introduction

A user has a connection with the robot when communication is established between the client

application and the robot.

A session is active when the user has used the connection to log in to the robot with credentials.

The default session credentials for the robot are:

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• user: admin

• password: admin

A session is opened using a SessionManager object.

Sessions and robot control

Multiple users can connect to the same robot simultaneously, and have multiple sessions open on

the robot.

A session must be created before commands can be received by the base (otherwise they will be

discarded). Sessions are only supported for communications routed through the base. Sessions are

not supported for communications between a client computer and a device (i.e. low-level bypass

servoing).

Currently, high-level servoing for the robot only work in single-level servoing mode. Multi-level

servoing is not currently supported. What this means is that multiple sessions can be active on

the robot, and multiple users can pull data from the robot. However, only one session can actively

control the robot at any given time. Rules are in place on the robot base to manage which session

has control of the robot at any given time.

Device routing and transport

This section describes the concept of device routing and low-level transport.

Figure 79: Device routing

The API allows you to communicate with the robot devices. Using a device identiﬁer the RPCs and

pub/sub methods of the API are routed by the robot base and directly bridged to the intended

device.

The routing from the client computer, through the base to a device is managed by a

RouterClient object in the API. A Session on the robot depends on a RouterClient object.

RouterClient objects depend, for low-level details of the transport of the routed methods, on

Transport objects. A Transport object uses a speciﬁc underlying network transport protocol.

The API deﬁnes two types of Transport objects, one using TCP as the protocol, and another using

UDP.

TCP Transport objects are used for high-level robot control and conﬁguration.

UDP Transport object are used for low-level (real-time) cyclic communication with the robot.

Note: Since Sessions require a RouterClient, and a RouterClient is tied to a

Transport object using a speciﬁc protocol, separate Sessions must be created if high-level

control / conﬁguration and low-level control are used in the same application.

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For more details, see the API documentation on GitHub.

Robot servoing modes

This section describes the concept of servoing modes on the robot.

There are multiple servoing modes on the robot. A servoing mode is a modality through which

commands are transmitted to robot devices during operation. Depending on the servoing mode

chosen, the details involved in controlling via the API will be different.

There are two servoing modes:

• High-level

• Low-level

• Low-level bypass

High-level servoing

This section describes the concept of high-level servoing with the robot.

High-level servoing is the default servoing mode for the robot on bootup.

In high-level servoing, users connect to the base through the API (whether directly, or through

the Web App built on top of the API), sending command inputs. The base routes commands to the

actuators, and manages a 1 kHz control loop.

High-level servoing is the recommended servoing mode for non-advanced users.

High-level servoing allows a client to control the robot by sending it a target (angular or Cartesian)

position or velocity via an API method which is sent once (i.e. no high frequency client-controlled

communication between the client PC and the robot). High level API calls are redirected to the

robot control library to calculate inverse kinematics (breaking down the command into commands

for actuators) and apply limits (protection zones, singularity management, self-collision avoidance).

The base then manages the execution of the command via the 1 kHz communications with the

actuators.

Figure 80: High-level servoing

High-level servoing is the default servoing mode for the robot on bootup. In high-level servoing,

users connect to the base through the API (whether directly, or through the Web App built on top

of the API), sending command inputs. The base routes commands to the actuators, and manages a 1

kHz control loop.

High-level servoing is the recommended servoing mode for non-advanced users. High-level

servoing allows a client to control the robot by sending it a target (angular or Cartesian) position

or velocity via an API method which is sent once (i.e. no high frequency client-controlled

communication between the client PC and the robot).

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High level API calls are redirected to the robot control library to calculate inverse kinematics

(breaking down the command into commands for actuators) and apply limits (protection zones,

singularity management, self-collision avoidance).

The base then manages the execution of the command via the 1 kHz communications with the

actuators.

Low-level servoing offer lighter and faster API methods, but at the cost of having to manage these

details yourself.

Sessions and control permissions

As soon as someone takes control of the robot by sending a control command (whether from API

calls, Web App session, or Xbox gamepad input) to the robot, the control mode changes from IDLE

to SERVOING. In this mode, control commands from other sessions sent via the Web App or API

methods will be blocked while the control mode is in SERVOING and this session has control.

However, after a predeﬁned "grace period" of 7.5 seconds elapses with no new control commands

from the user, the robot control mode returns to IDLE and someone else can take control by

sending control inputs via the Web App or API calls.

Override by physical controls

Physical controls of the robot via a connected Xbox gamepad or the buttons on the robot wrist

override user session control of the robot via Web App or API calls. These physical controls always

take precedence immediately, without having to wait for the grace period to elapse.

Low-level servoing

This section describes the concept of low-level servoing with the robot.

In low-level servoing, the API client connects to the base and sends commands through the base for

routing.

The base ensures device routing and internal communications with the actuators at 1 kHz, but the

high-level functionalities for the base control loop (robot kinematics, trajectory management, etc.)

are no longer available.

Low-level servoing allows clients to control each actuator individually by sending command

increments at 1 kHz frequency (bypassing the kinematic control library).

Figure 81: Low-level servoing

Low-level bypass servoing

This section describes the concept of low-level bypass servoing for the robot.

In this mode, the client PC uses UDP communication directly with the different actuators - there

is no device routing involved. The client PC is able to communicate directly with the actuators

using their IP addresses. Since the control here bypasses the base completely, the client is fully

responsible for managing the control loop.

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Figure 82: Low-level bypass servoing

Low-level and low-level bypass servoing offer lighter and faster API methods, but at the cost of

having to manage these details yourself.

Notiﬁcations

This section describes the concept of notiﬁcations in the API.

The robot base can provide notiﬁcations on different topics as requested by a client application that

has a session open with the robot.

The robot base uses a Publish/Subscribe design pattern. That is, rather than needing to poll

periodically for updates, the client application subscribes to a list of Topics. Whenever a change

happens related to that topic, whether caused by the same client session, or another, a publisher

sends a notiﬁcation to all subscribers. Notiﬁcations are surfaced to clients via the API, and are also

displayed in the Notiﬁcations page of the Web app.

Client applications can also unsubcribe from a topic.

Methods for subscribing and unsubscribing from notiﬁcation topics are descrcibed in the API

documentation on the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub respository.

Error management

This section describes the concept of error management with the robot.

When an API method is called, sometimes an error will result.

There are three main categories of errors:

• Protocol server errors

• Protocol client errors

• Device errors

The ﬁrst two categories of errors include all errors relating to the the internal communication

protocol. (ex: invalid, unsupported or unknown calls, out of session call, etc.)

The other category is for errors coming from the target device.

For each high level category, there are also more detailed and speciﬁc errors.

For more information about the error codes that can be produced, see the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub

documentation.

Error codes

This section describes the meaning of error codes used by the API.

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Overview

Some API calls will result in errors. When an error occurs, an exception is thrown which includes

information about the type of error.

The error information includes at minimum an Error Code and a Sub-Error code.

The error code identiﬁes the general type of error, while the sub-error code provides more detailed

information.

The following reference tables provide guidance in interpreting error codes.

Error codes description

Name Description

SUCCESS No errors

ERROR_PROTOCOL_SERVER Protocol buffer server error

ERROR_PROTOCOL_CLIENT Protocol buffer client error

ERROR_DEVICE Device error

Sub-Error codes description

Table 80: General (used when there are no more speciﬁc error codes available)

Name Description Why is error reported?

SUB_SUCCESS No errors Sub-error code is set to

sub-success when error

code is set to success

FAILED Failure Used to report an error

for which there is no more

speciﬁc sub-error code

UNIMPLEMENTED Unimplemented

method

Reports back that the

remote procedure call

is not implemented on

the robot, though it is

available through the service

INVALID_PARAM Invalid parameter The remote procedure call is

supported, but parameter is

considered invalid by the robot

(i.e. outside admissible range)

Table 81: Protocol Server (reported by the protocol server)

Name Description Where is error

reported?

UNSUPPORTED_SERVICE Service not recognized

by protocol server

Rx side

UNSUPPORTED_METHOD Function not recognized

by protocol server

Rx side

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Name Description Where is error

reported?

TOO_LARGE_ENCODED_FRAME_BUFFER Encoded frame larger than

what transport permits

Tx side

TOO_LARGE_ENCODED_PAYLOAD_BUFFER Encoded payload is larger

than what transport permits

FRAME_ENCODING_ERR Unable to encode frame Tx side

FRAME_DECODING_ERR Unable to decode frame Rx side

INCOMPATIBLE_HEADER_VERSION Frame header version differs from

what is expected by protocol server

Rx side

UNSUPPORTED_FRAME_TYPE Frame type not recognized

by protocol server

Rx side

UNREGISTERED_NOTIFICATION_RECEIVED Protocol server receiving

unregistered notiﬁcation

PAYLOAD_DECODING_ERR Unable to decode payload

INVALID_SESSION Session not recognized

by protocol server

Rx side

INVALID_DEVICE Device ID when bridging is

not found or already in use.

Table 82: Protocol Client (reported by the protocol client)

Name Description Where is error

reported?

TOO_LARGE_ENCODED_FRAME_BUFFER Encoded frame larger than

what transport permits

Tx side

TOO_LARGE_ENCODED_PAYLOAD_BUFFER Encoded payload is larger

than what transport permits

FRAME_ENCODING_ERR Unable to encode frame Tx side

FRAME_DECODING_ERR Unable to decode frame Rx side

INCOMPATIBLE_HEADER_VERSION Frame header version differs from

what is expected by protocol client

Rx side

UNSUPPORTED_FRAME_TYPE Received frame type is not recognized

by the protocol client (or unexpected,

unknown, or unsupported)

Rx side

UNREGISTERED_NOTIFICATION_RECEIVED Protocol client received notiﬁcation

for which it does not have a

registered notiﬁcation to call back

PAYLOAD_DECODING_ERR Unable to decode payload

UNREGISTERED_FRAME_RECEIVED Client received a response that it

was not expecting (i.e. for which it

did not send a remote procedure call)

Robot - the following are sub-error codes that can be reported by the robot

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Table 83: Session / users

Name Description When is error reported?

INVALID_PASSWORD Password does not

match speciﬁed user

createSession(),

changePassword()

function calls

USER_NOT_FOUND Unrecognized user createSession()

function call

Table 84: Conﬁguration

Name Description When is error reported?

ENTITY_NOT_FOUND Operation failed because

could not retrieve entity

readX(), updateX(), and

deleteX() function calls

Table 85: Control / sequence

Name Description When is error reported?

ROBOT_MOVEMENT_IN_PROGRESS When robot refuses the new

control command because

robot movement is in progress

executeAction(),

playX(), sendTwistX(),

sendWrenchX()

function calls

ROBOT_NOT_MOVING When attempting to

stop a robot movement

when it is not yet moving

stopAction(), stop(),

pause(), pauseAction()

function calls

Table 86: Conﬁguration backup

Name Description When is error reported?

NO_MORE_STORAGE_SPACE Unable to execute action

because no storage left

createConfigurationBackup()

function call

Table 87: Operating mode

Name Description

ROBOT_NOT_READY When sending a command while the

robot initialization is not complete

ROBOT_IN_FAULT When sending a command

while the robot is in a fault

ROBOT_IN_MAINTENANCE When sending a command while

the robot is in maintenance

ROBOT_IN_UPDATE_MODE When sending a command

while the robot is in update

ROBOT_IN_EMERGENCY_STOP When the robot was manually

put into an emergency stop

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Table 88: Servoing

Name Description

SINGLE_LEVEL_SERVOING A second client is attempting to control the

robot while it is in single-level servoing mode

LOW_LEVEL_SERVOING Attempting to send high-level control to the

robot while it is in low-level servoing mode

Table 89: Mapping

Name Description

MAPPING_GROUP_NON_ROBOT Trying to add non-root MapGroup to Mapping

MAPPING_INVALID_GROUP Trying to add invalid or non-

existent MapGroup to Mapping

MAPPING_INVALID_MAP Trying to add invalid or non-

existent Map to Mapping

MAP_GROUP_INVALID_MAP Trying to add invalid or non-

existent Map to MapGroup

MAP_GROUP_INVALID_PARENT Trying to add MapGroup under invalid parent

MAP_GROUP_INVALID_CHILD Trying to add invalid or non-

existent child to MapGroup

MAP_GROUP_INVALID_MOVE Trying to change MapGroup's

parent: move not supported

MAP_IN_USE Deleting a Map used in Mapping or MapGroup

Table 90: Network

Name Description

WIFI_CONNECT_ERROR Unable to connect to Wi-Fi network

UNSUPPORTED_NETWORK_TYPE Unsupported network type

Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub repository

This section describes the contents of the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub repository.

For more detailed information about developing applications using the API visit the Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub repository at: github.com/kinovarobotics/kortex

The repository offers access to a number of resources for developers.

• setup instructions and release notes

• detailed API documentation by language

• code examples

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Kinova

Kortex™ ROS packages and GitHub repository overview

This section describes the contents of the ROS packages for the robot (and all other products enabled by

Kinova

Kortex™).

Introduction

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS is the ofﬁcial repository containing ROS packages to interact with Kortex

and related products. It consists of a number of ROS packages built on top of the client Kortex API.

These ROS packages are designed to work with ROS Melodic Morenia and ROS Noetic Ninjemys.

ROS Melodic is compatible with Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic)

Methods provided by the underlying API are offered as ROS services and topics, depending on the

method.

• RPC methods are exposed via ROS services

• pub/sub methods are exposed via ROS topics

The ROS Messages correspond to the message type deﬁnitions of the underlying API.

The ROS interface can be accessed using either Python (rospy) or C++ (roscpp).

Support is included for Gazebo and MoveIt.

Detailed documentation of the packages is available on the Kinova ros_kortex GitHub

repository at github.com/kinovarobotics/ros_kortex

The repository includes various packages related to ROS development:

• setup instruction and release notes

• kortex_api (package containing header ﬁles and libraries needed to use the C++ Kortex API)

• kortex_control (package contains conﬁguration ﬁles for the ros_control controllers used to

control the simulated robot

• kortex_description (package contains URDF and STL ﬁles of the robot)

• kortex_driver (ROS node package to allow direct communication with the robot base)

• kortex_examples (examples needed to understand the basics of ros_kortex)

• kortex_gazebo (package contains ﬁles to simulate the robot)

• kortex_moveit_config (contains all the auto-generated MoveIt! conﬁguration ROS

packages)

Important: Low-level control is not available through ROS because ROS is not capable of

handling the required 1 kHz communication rate.

Kinova

Kortex™ MATLAB

API and GitHub repository overview

Describes the contents of the Kinova

Kortex™ MATLAB API and GitHub repository.

The Kinova

Kortex™ MATLAB

API provides a wrapper giving access, via MATLAB

and

Simulink

to a subset of the Kortex API functionality.

The package also includes integration of the vision module with the MATLAB

Image Acquisition

Toolbox™.

This package has been tested on Ubuntu 16.04 (64-bit) and Windows 10.

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More detailed information is available on the matlab_kortex GitHub repository at github.com/

kinovarobotics/matlab_kortex.

Working with camera streams using GStreamer

The vision module camera streams can be processed programmatically using the GStreamer framework.

GStreamer offers a pipeline-base framework for image-processing.

GStreamer

Kinova recommends that developers use the GStreamer framework for handling the camera's

sensor streams. GStreamer offers a pipeline-based framework that allows you to link together

plugins for image-processing workﬂows.

Requirements:

• GStreamer version: 1.8.3 and above

• Supported operating systems:

º Windows 7 and later

º Ubuntu 16.04 and later

Using GStreamer

GStreamer pipelines can be called from the command line using the gst-launch-1.0 utility.

For integration with applications, GStreamer offers a number of language bindings, which include

both C++ and Python.

Ofﬁcial documentation for the GStreamer framework, including installation instructions,

application development guidance, and tutorials can be accessed here: https://

gstreamer.freedesktop.org/documentation/

Windows command examples

Examples of using GStreamer with the robot vision module camera streams on the Windows command line.

Color stream CLI example: command to display the color stream

gst-launch-1.0.exe rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/color

latency=30 ! rtph264depay ! avdec_h264 ! autovideosink

Unpacking the example:

• gst-launch-1.0.exe: launch GStreamer

• rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/color latency=30: connect to the RTSP

server at the color stream URL with latency of 30 ms.

• rtph264depay: Extract H.264 video payload from RTP packets

• avdec_h264: decode H.264 video

• autovideosink: search computer registry for video sink (player) and plays decoded video

stream.

Depth stream CLI example: command to display the depth stream

gst-launch-1.0.exe rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/depth

latency=30 ! rtpgstdepay ! videoconvert ! autovideosink

Unpacking the example:

• gst-launch-1.0.exe: launch GStreamer

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• rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/depth latency=30: connect to the RTSP

server at the color stream URL with latency of 30 ms.

• rtpgstdepay: extract GStreamer buffers from RTP packets

• videoconvert: automatically convert the video to a format understandable to the chosen

video sink in the next step

• autovideosink: search computer registry for video sink (player) and plays decoded video

stream.

Linux command examples

Examples of using GStreamer with the robot vision module camera streams on the Linux command line.

Color stream CLI example: command to display the color stream

gst-launch-1.0 rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/color latency=30 !

rtph264depay ! avdec_h264 ! autovideosink

Unpacking the example:

• gst-launch-1.0: launch GStreamer

• rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/color latency=30: connect to the RTSP

server at the color stream URL with latency of 30 ms.

• rtph264depay: extract H.264 video payload from RTP packets

• avdec_h264: decode H.264 video

• autovideosink: search computer registry for video sink (player) and play decoded video

stream.

Depth stream CLI example: command to display the depth stream

gst-launch-1.0 rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/depth latency=30 !

rtpgstdepay ! videoconvert ! autovideosink

Unpacking the example:

• gst-launch-1.0: launch GStreamer

• rtspsrc location=rtsp://192.168.1.10/depth latency=30: connect to the RTSP

server at the color stream URL with latency of 30 ms.

• rtpgstdepay: extract GStreamer buffers from RTP packets

• videoconvert: automatically convert the video to a format understandable to the chosen

video sink in the next step

• autovideosink: search computer registry for video sink (player) and play decoded video

stream.

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS vision module package and Github

overview

Describes the ROS vision module package for the robot.

The Kinova

Kortex™ ROS vision module package provides helper methods and launch scripts to

access the Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot vision module depth and color sensor streams within ROS.

For more details, including documentation, see the Kinova ros_kortex_vision GitHub repository at

github.com/kinovarobotics.com/ros_kortex_vision.

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Guidance for advanced users

Overview

The advanced guidance section gathers together reference information on topics useful to advanced users of

the robot.

Introduction

The following contents are intended for advanced users.

Reference frames and transformations

Standard robot frames

Describes the standard frames of the robotic arm.

The robot has two standard frames:

• base frame (base reference frame)

• rotating frame (actuator 1 reference frame)

• tool frame (end-effector reference frame)

Figure 83: Two standard frames

Different control modes make use of different frames.

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Homogeneous transforms

Homogeneous transforms for the robot are provided. Homogeneous transforms deﬁne transformations

between successive reference frames in the robot, allowing coordinates in one frame to be expressed in

terms of another.

Introduction

The forward kinematics of the robot are determined by homogeneous transform matrices. These

matrices represent the transformations from one frame (base, joint, or interface) to the next along

the kinematic chain. These transformations allow for the coordinates in one frame to be expressed

in terms of another.

The overall transformation from the base frame to the tool frame is given by:

For 7 DoF robot:

For 6 DoF robot:

Here:

Where:

i-1

is the matrix for the general transformation matrix from frame [i-1] to frame [i].

i-1

is the transform from the previous frame [i-1] to the current frame [i] when q

, the angle for

joint i, is 0 (Here, q

is the angle in radians).

) is the transformation matrix for a rotation of q

around joint i (the z axis for the joint frame is

always deﬁned to be along the joint axis of rotation.):

= cos(q

) and sq

= sin(q

)

Homogeneous transform matrices - 7 DoF spherical wrist

Homogeneous transform matrices for the 7 DoF spherical wrist robot.

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Figure 84: 7DoF robot frame deﬁnitions and dimensions (all joints at 0 position, dimensions in mm)

Table 91: 7 DoF homogeneous transformation matrices

Transformation

i-1

Base to frame 1

Frame 1 to frame 2

Frame 2 to frame 3

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Transformation

i-1

Frame 3 to frame 4

Frame 4 to frame 5

Frame 5 to frame 6

Frame 6 to frame 7

Frame 7 to interface

module

Note: units are in meters for homogeneous transform translations in the right-hand column

of each matrix.

Homogeneous transform matrices - 6 DoF spherical wrist

Homogeneous transform matrices for the 6 DoF spherical wrist robot.

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Figure 85: 6 DoF robot frame deﬁnitions and dimensions (all joints at 0 position, dimensions in mm)

Table 92: 6 DoF homogeneous transformation matrices

Transformation

i-1

Base to frame 1

Frame 1 to frame 2

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Transformation

i-1

Frame 2 to frame 3

Frame 3 to frame 4

Frame 4 to frame 5

Frame 5 to frame 6

Frame 6 to interface

module

Note: units are in meters for homogeneous transform translations in the right-hand column

of each matrix.

Vision module sensors reference frames

Homogeneous transforms deﬁning the reference frames of the video module sensors in terms of the interface

module frame. These are useful in correlating data from the color and depth sensors.

Overview

The vision module captures data about the environment of the robot via two sensors:

• color sensor

• depth sensor

Developing vision applications and vision-based control of the robot will require correlating the

data from these two sensors with each other and with the position of the end effector.

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Camera frames

Figure 86: Vision sensors

Color sensor

The reference frame for the color sensor has the same orientation as that of the end effector, but

with an offset of (dx, dy, dz) = (0 mm, 56.39 mm, -3.05 mm).

Depth sensor

The origin for the depth center frame of reference is deﬁned at the center of the left imager,

directly in front of the lens of the left imager. The z offset for the depth sensor reference frame is

the same as for the color sensor reference frame, and the y offset is 66.00 mm. Because the left

imager is used as a reference, there is also an x offset of 27.50 mm.

The matrices for the reference frame transformations from end effector frame to vision sensor

frame are shown in the table below.

Table 93: Reference frame transformations from end effector to sensors (displacement units in meters)

Transformation Transformation matrix

End effector to color sensor

End effector to depth sensor

Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters

DH parameters the robot are provided.

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DH parameters

Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters offer another convenient way to specify the reference frame

transformations for the robot kinematic chain.

The Classical DH parameters convention transformation expresses a frame in terms of the previous

as:

Figure 87: DH parameters Classical frames transformations

Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters - 7 DoF spherical wrist

DH parameters for the 7 DoF spherical wrist robot.

Table 94: 7 DoF spherical Classical DH parameters

i α

(radians) a

(m) d

(m) θ

(radians)

0 (from base) π 0.0 0.0 0

1 π/2 0.0 - (0.1564 + 0.1284) q

2 π/2 0.0 - (0.0054 + 0.0064) q

+ π

3 π/2 0.0 - (0.2104 + 0.2104) q

+ π

4 π/2 0.0 - (0.0064 + 0.0064) q

+ π

5 π/2 0.0 - (0.2084 + 0.1059) q

+ π

6 π/2 0.0 0.0 q

+ π

7 (to interface) π 0.0 - (0.1059 + 0.0615) q

+ π

Here q

, q

... refers to the joint angles.

The ﬁgures in the chart are based on the following frames deﬁnitions:

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Figure 88: Denavit-Hartenberg frames deﬁnitions

Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters - 6 DoF spherical wrist

DH parameters for the 6 DoF spherical wrist robot.

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Table 95: 6 DoF spherical Classical DH parameters

i α

(radians) a

(m) d

(m) θ

(radians)

0 (from base) 0.0 0.0 π 0.0

1 0.0 -(156.43 + 128.38) π/2 q

2 410.0 -5.38 π q

- π/2

3 0.0 -6.38 π/2 q

- π/2

4 0.0 -(208.43+105.93) π/2 q

+ π

5 0.0 0.0 π/2 q

+ π

6 (to interface) 0.0 -(105.93+61.53) π q

+ π

Here q

, q

... refers to the joint angles.

The ﬁgures in the chart are based on the following frames deﬁnitions:

Figure 89: Denavit-Hartenberg frames deﬁnitions

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7 DoF singular conﬁgurations

Description of the singular conﬁgurations of the 7 DoF robot.

Singular conﬁgurations overview

Singularities generally occur when a particular angular conﬁguration of the robot causes axes to be

aligned. This causes the robot to lose degrees of freedom and experience limitations in movement

in some directions while operating the robot in Cartesian mode. There are many ways that this

could potentially happen, and an exhaustive listing would be difﬁcult. The following table highlights

some important singular conﬁgurations for the 7 DoF robot, explaining how they occur and how the

robot behavior is altered near the singularity while in Cartesian mode.

Table 96: Selected singular conﬁgurations description

Singularity Deﬁnition Description

Boundary singularity The arm is at full reach. Joint 4

(elbow) is at 0°. The arm cannot

move any farther in the direction

it is currently reaching out.

The robot will slowly try to reach

a straight position. If you try to

move the robot purely in the x or y

direction starting from this position,

you will not be able to. The robot

will follow the command as best as

possible. It will move in x and y while

going down in the z direction.

Joints 2 and 3 singularity Joint 2 is at 0° so joints 1 and 3

are perfectly aligned and have the

same effect.

Joint 3 is at 90° or at 270° so

that the axes of joint 2 and

joint 4 are perpendicular.

The robot can no longer

move purely along an axis in

translation.

Due to singularity crossing algorithm,

the robot will make a minor deviation

from a straight line trajectory when

going through this pose in Cartesian

mode.

Joints 2 and 6 singularity Joint 2 is at 0° so that joints 1 and

3 are perfectly aligned and have

the same effect.

Joint 6 is at 0° so that joints 5

and 7 are perfectly aligned and

have the same effect. The hand

cannot rotate in one direction

anymore.

Due to singularity crossing algorithm,

the robot will make a minor deviation

from a straight line trajectory when

going through this pose in Cartesian

mode.

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Singularity Deﬁnition Description

Joints 5 and 6 singularity Joint 6 is at 0° so that joints 5 and

7 are perfectly aligned and have

the same effect.

Joint 5 is at 90° or at 270° so

that the axes of joint 4 and

joint 6’s axis are perpendicular.

The robot can no longer

complete pure rotations

around an axis.

Due to singularity crossing algorithm,

the robot will make a minor deviation

from a straight line trajectory when

going through this pose in Cartesian

mode.

Joints 1 and 7 singularity Joints 2-5 are positionned so

that joints 1 and 7 are perfectly

aligned and have the same effect

(inﬁnite possibilities of joint

combinations).

Due to singularity crossing algorithm,

the robot will make a minor deviation

from a straight line trajectory when

going through this pose in Cartesian

mode.

6 DoF singular conﬁgurations

This section describes the singularity conﬁgurations of the 6 DoF robot.

Singularity conﬁgurations overview

Singularities generally occur when a particular angular conﬁguration of the robot causes axes to be

aligned, causing the robot to lose degrees of freedom and experience limitations in movement in

some directions while operating the robot in Cartesian mode. There are many ways that this could

potentially happen, and an exhaustive listing would be difﬁcult. The following table highlights some

important singularities for the 6 DoF robot, explaining how they occur and how the robot behavior

is altered near the singularity while in Cartesian mode.

Table 97: Selected singular conﬁgurations description

Singularity Deﬁnition Description

Boundary singularity The robot is at full extension.

The robot will slowly try to reach

a straight position. If you try

tovmove the robot purely in

thevx or y direction starting

from this position, you will not be

able to. The robot will follow the

command as best as possible. It

will move in x and y while going

down in the z direction.

Joints 1 and 4 singularity Joints 2 and 3 are at 0° so that

joints 1 and 4 are aligned.

Due to singularity crossing algorithm,

the robot will make a minor deviation

from a straight line trajectory when

giong through this pose in Cartesian

mode.

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Singularity Deﬁnition Description

Joints 1 and 6 singularity Joints 2, 3, and 5 are at a position

such that Joints 1 and 6 are

aligned and have the same effect.

Happens if θ

+ θ

= 0 if θ is

deﬁned between ± π.

Due to singularity crossing algorithm,

the robot will make a minor deviation

from a straight line trajectory when

going thorugh this pose in Cartesian

mode.

Joints 4 and 6 singularity Joint 5 is at 0° so joints 4 and 6

are perfectly aligned and have the

same effect.

Due to singularity crossing algorithm,

the robot wil make a minor deviation

from a straight line trajectory when

going through this pose in Cartesian

mode.

Inertial parameters deﬁnition

Inertial parameters are provided for the robot.

Overview

The following tables describe the key inertial parameters of each independently moving rigid link

segment of the 7 robot. This includes:

• mass in kg

• centers of masses in meters

•

moments of inertia in kg * m

The six distinct moments of inertia (Ixx, Ixy, Ixz, Iyy, Iyz, Izz) are presented in tabular form.

Conventions used

The following conventions are used:

1. The center of mass of a link is always expressed in terms of the reference frame of the precedent

joint.

2. The mass of a link segment includes the shell and portions of the actuators at each end of the

link (as applicable) that are enclosed within the link and move rigidly with the link.

3. The moments of inertia of the link segments are taken in a frame deﬁned at the center of mass of

the link segment and aligned with the precedent joint frame.

Note: These conventions align with those used in URDF ﬁles in the <inertial> section of

Figure 90: Inertial parameters conventions

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Inertial parameters of the 7 DoF robot

Inertial parameters of the 7 DoF robot.

Overview

The following tables describe the key inertial parameters of the link segments of the 7 DoF robot.

Table 98: Base

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 1.697

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000648, -0.000166, 0.084487]

Ixx 0.004622

Ixy 0.000009

Ixz 0.000060

Iyy 0.004495

Iyz 0.000009

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.002079

Table 99: Link 1

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 1.377

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000023, -0.010364, -0.073360]

Ixx 0.004570

Ixy 0.000001

Ixz 0.000002

Iyy 0.004831

Iyz 0.000448

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.001409

Table 100: Link 2

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 1.1636

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000044, -0.099580, -0.013278]

Ixx 0.011088

Ixy 0.000005

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Ixz 0.000000

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Physical quantity Value

Iyy 0.001072

Iyz -0.000691

Izz 0.011255

Table 101: Link 3

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 1.1636

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000044, -0.006641, -0.117892]

Ixx 0.010932

Ixy 0.000000

Ixz -0.000007

Iyy 0.011127

Iyz 0.000606

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.001043

Table 102: Link 4

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 0.930

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000018, -0.075478, -0.015006]

Ixx 0.008147

Ixy -0.000001

Ixz 0.000000

Iyy 0.000631

Iyz -0.000500

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.008316

Table 103: Link 5

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 0.678

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[0.000001, -0.009432, -0.063883]

Ixx 0.001596

Ixy 0.000000

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Ixz 0.000000

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Physical quantity Value

Iyy 0.001607

Iyz 0.000256

Izz 0.000399

Table 104: Link 6

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 0.678

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[0.000001, -0.045483, -0.009650]

Ixx 0.001641

Ixy 0.000000

Ixz 0.000000

Iyy 0.000410

Iyz -0.000278

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.001641

Table 105: Interface module without vision module

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 0.364

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000093, 0.000132, -0.022905]

Ixx 0.000214

Ixy 0.000000

Ixz 0.000001

Iyy 0.000223

Iyz -0.000002

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.000240

Table 106: Interface module with vision module

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 0.500

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000281, -0.011402, -0.029798]

Ixx 0.000587

Ixy 0.000003

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Ixz 0.000003

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 207

Physical quantity Value

Iyy 0.000369

Iyz 0.000118

Izz 0.000609

Inertial parameters of the 6 DoF robot

Inertial parameters of the 6 DoF robot.

Overview

The following tables describe the key inertial parameters of the link segments of the 6 DoF robot.

Table 107: Base

Physical

quantity

Value Image

mass (kg) 1.697

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000648, -0.000166, 0.084487]

Ixx 0.004622

Ixy 0.000009

Ixz 0.000060

Iyy 0.004495

Iyz 0.000009

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.002079

Table 108: Link 1

Physical

quantity

Value Image

mass (kg) 1.377

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000023, -0.010364, -0.073360]

Ixx 0.004570

Ixy 0.000001

Ixz 0.000002

Iyy 0.004831

Iyz 0.000448

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.001409

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Table 109: Link 2

Physical quantity Value Image

mass (kg) 1.262 kg

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[0.000035, -0.208207, -0.018890]

Ixx 0.046752

Ixy -0.000009

Ixz 0.000000

Iyy 0.000850

Iyz -0.000098

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.047188

Table 110: Link 3

Physical quantity Value Image

mass (kg) 0.930

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[0.000018, 0.076168, -0.013970]

Ixx 0.008292

Ixy -0.000001

Ixz 0.000000

Iyy 0.000628

Iyz 0.000432

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.008464

Table 111: Link 4

Physical quantity Value Image

mass (kg) 0.678

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000001, 0.008466, -0.062937]

Ixx 0.001645

Ixy 0.000000

Ixz 0.000000

Iyy 0.001666

Iyz -0.000234

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.000389

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 209

Table 112: Link 5

Physical quantity Value Image

mass (kg) 0.678

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000001, 0.046429, -0.008704]

Ixx 0.001685

Ixy 0.000000

Ixz 0.000000

Iyy 0.000400

Iyz 0.000255

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.001696

Table 113: Interface module without vision module

Physical quantity Value

mass (kg) 0.364

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[-0.000093, 0.000132, -0.022905]

Ixx 0.000214

Ixy 0.000000

Ixz 0.000001

Iyy 0.000223

Iyz -0.000002

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.000240

Table 114: Interface module with vision module

Physical quantity Value Image

mass (kg) 0.500

center of mass

coordinates (m)

[0.000281, 0.011402, -0.029798]

Ixx 0.000587

Ixy 0.000003

Ixz 0.000003

Iyy 0.000369

Iyz -0.000118

moments of

inertia (kg · m

)

Izz 0.000609

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Maintenance and troubleshooting

Maintenance

Overview of maintenance tasks for the robot.

Maintenance overview

Currently, none of the components of the robot are ﬁeld replaceable. Contact Kinova for assistance

in the case of any component breakdown or malfunction.

Preventive Maintenance

Some preventive maintenance tasks are helpful for protecting your robot and getting the most out

it over time:

• Cleaning contacts on base controller - keep contacts clear of dust and contamination, wiping

electrical contacts regularly with a soft moistened cloth.

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• Fine adjustment of base clamp - Some adjustment may be needed for the base clamp to ensure

that the robot is ﬁrmly clamped onto the base controller. Within the clamp is an adjustment

screw which can be adjusted to tighten the clamp as needed.

To tighten the clamp turn the screw clockwise using a 2 mm hex key in small, ¼ turn increments,

testing the clamp after each increment.

Note: Overtightening the clamp can damage the clamp and base. Always make sure that

the clamp can be closed using a reasonable amount of force.

• Cleaning glass on vision module - the cameras on the vision module are covered in glass. For

best results, keep the glass clear of contamination that could block the view of the sensors. Wipe

the glass regularly with a soft moistened cloth and wipe dry with a soft dry cloth.

• Setting protection zones - volumetric protection zones should be established around the robot

to protect it from potential damage caused by collisions with known obstacles. Protection zones

can be set using the Kinova

Kortex™ Web App.

• Updating robot ﬁrmware - Kinova will periodically release software upgrade packages to

ﬁx known bugs and expand the capabilities of the robot. For best results, it is recommended

to regularly update robot software using the Web App. The most up to date upgrade

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package is available for download via the Kinova website product technical resources page:

kinovarobotics.com/knowledge-hub/gen3-ultra-lightweight-robot

•

Updating development packages - Kinova will periodically release updates for the Kinova

Kortex™, Kinova

Kortex™ ROS, and Kinova

Kortex™ ROS vision packages on the

kinovarobotics/kortex, kinovarobotics/ros_kortex, and kinovarobotics/ros_kortex_vision GitHub

repositories. These updates will ﬁx known bugs and expand the capabilities of the robot.

Troubleshooting

Tips for troubleshooting robot issues.

If the robot loses a part (for example a shell due to impact) or if a part breaks, shut down the robot

safely and leave it off. Contact Kinova technical support.

Troubleshooting resources

There are several resources that can be used to help diagnose issues when they occur:

•

Kinova

Kortex™ Web App notiﬁcations

• Web App monitoring - the monitoring page provides useful status information on the robot

components, including the base, all actuators, and the interface. Notably, currents, voltages, CPU

core temperatures and motor temperatures from the sensors are updated in real-time on the

monitoring page

• Web App safeties page - when a safety item's warning or error threshold is exceeded, the safety

item will be highlighted in the Robot Conﬁgurations Safety page.

• Base controller LED indicators - LEDs on the robot base controller connector panel provide

visual feedback on the robot status

• API errors

• GitHub - information on known issues and workarounds

• release notes

General tips for troubleshooting issues with the robot

When the robot enters a fault state, the robot will become unresponsive until the fault is cleared.

The Xbox gamepad can be used to clear faults - press the left bumper once and proceed.

Consult the Web App:

• Check the Monitoring page for high-level status information on various components.

• Check the Notiﬁcations page for any recent notiﬁcations.

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Kinova® Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot User Guide 213

• Check the Safeties page to see if the robot has passed a warning or error threshold. If any safety

us triggered, the safety item will be Look up the information on the safety for guidance on

handling.

Remember that the behavior of the robot will change as the robot nears singularities or enters the

envelope of protection zones. If robot behavior deviates from what you expect, verify whether one

of these two cases applies.

For API-related errors, check the reference tables for guidance on the source of the error and how

to deal with it.

Kinova recommends updating robot ﬁrmware and Kinova

Kortex™ API packages regularly to keep

up with the latest bug ﬁxes and ensure optimal performance.

As part of periodic software updates, Kinova will publish release notes on the Kinova website.

These notes describe known issues, limitations, and workarounds, as well as information about new

features and previous bugs ﬁxed in the release.

If all else fails, try rebooting the robot.

If you're still experiencing issues, contact Kinova support via the website.

Base LEDs interpretation

Interpretation of the meanings of LED indicators on the robot base.

Overview

The base controller has two LEDs, one blue and one red / green.

Figure 91: Base controller LEDs

Base controller LED details

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Table 115: LED interpretation

Power LED Status LED

color status color status

Description

n/a off n/a off system not

powered

blue blinking n/a off system booting

blue solid amber solid system initializing

n/a off green solid

system operating

normally

blue blinking amber solid

system currently

updating at least

one component

blue solid red solid system in

error state

How to respond to safety warnings and errors

Guidance on probable causes for safety warnings and error states experiened when operating the robot.

Overview

The robot has a number of warning and error thresholds set for safety purposes. These are

viewable (and in some case conﬁgurable) in the Web application. The following tables give more

guidance as to the source of the problem when a safety threshold is triggered.

Safeties handling details

Table 116: Base safeties handling

Safety Most Probable Cause

Incompatible Firmware version • Firmware issue

Firmware Update Failure

• Firmware issue

• Communication issue

Maximum Ambient Temperature

• CPU heat sink issue

• Unknown thermal issue

Maximum Core Temperature

• CPU heat sink issue

• Unknown thermal issue

Joint Fault • Joint error / warning state

Joint Detection Error • Communication issue

Network Initialization Error • Base CPU board issue

Maximum Current

• Shorted phases on a joint

• Payload exceeded

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Safety Most Probable Cause

Maximum Voltage

• Power supply issue

• Electronic component failure

Minimum Voltage

• Power supply issue

• Electronic component failure

Emergency Stop Activated

• XBox gamepad emergency stop button clicked

• Web application emergency stop button clicked

Emergency Line Asserted

• Joint not programmed

• Joint in a boot loop

• Electrical component failure

Inrush Current Limiter Fault

• Payload exceeded

• Electrical component failure

Table 117: Actuators safeties handling

Safety Most Probable Cause

Following error

• Communication issue

• Firmware issue

Maximum velocity

• Communication issue

• Firmware issue

Maximum torque

• Strain gauge improperly soldered

• Incorrect torque calibration

Magnetic position • Magnet improperly glued

Hall position • Hall sensor major malfunction

Hall sequence • Hall sensor major malfunction(s)

Input encoder Hall mismatch • Dirt and/or particles on encoder disk

Input encoder index mismatch • Dirt and/or particles on encoder disk

Input encoder magnetic mismatch

• Dirt and/or particles on encoder disk

• Detached magnet on magnetic encoder

Maximum motor current

• Shorted phases

• Bad motor

Non-volatile memory corrupted

• Incomplete calibration(s

• No system information entered

• No torque calibration

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Safety Most Probable Cause

Motor driver fault

• Shorted phases

• Hall sensor issue

Watchdog triggered • Firmware issue

Contacting Kinova support

Here is where to turn for related support and advice.

For support and advice on hardware related issues, please don't hesitate to contact us through the

support form on our website:

www.kinovarobotics.com/support

For development guidance and software-related questions, check out our GitHub repositories:

•

Kinova

Kortex™ GitHub: github.com/kinovarobotics/kortex

•

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS GitHub: github.com/kinovarobotics/ros_kortex

•

Kinova

Kortex™ ROS vision GitHub: github.com/Kinovarobotics/ros_kortex_vision

•

Kinova

Kortex™ MATLAB API GitHub: https://github.com/Kinovarobotics/matlab_kortex

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Harmonized Standards, Declarations and Certiﬁcates

The following sections provides a list of harmonized standards, declarations and certiﬁcates for the Security

arm.

Table 118: Applicable Standards

Item Detail

CISPR 11/24 (equivalent to EN 55011/55024)

EMI / EMC

FCC class B (CFR 47 part 15)

UL94-V0 (shell, PCB)

Flame retardance

UL94-V1 (cables)

Laser

21 CFR 1040.10 (except for deviations in Laser Notice No. 50

2007-06-24)

Universal Serial Bus USB 2.0

Ethernet IEEE 802.3az-2010

Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Bluetooth TBD

ISO 10218-1 Industrial robots

ISO 12100 Safety of machinery

ISO 13849 Safety-related parts of control systems

ISO 14539 Vocabulary only

ISO / TS 15066 Collaborative robots

IEC 60204-1 Safety of machinery – Electrical

IEC 60825-1 Class 1 laser hardware limitation

IEC 60950-1 IT equipment - Safety

ISO / IEC

IEC 61000-6-1/6-3 EMI / EMC

2002/96/EC WEEE

2006/42/EC Machinery directive

2011/65/EU ROHS

2014/30/EU EMC

2014/35/EU LVD

2014/53/EU Radio Equipment directive

OSHA 1910.211 Deﬁnitions (To be conﬁrmed)

USA

OSHA 1910.212 General requirements for all machines (To be

conﬁrmed)

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Item Detail

OSHA 1910.214 Cooperage machinery (To be conﬁrmed)

AU AS 2939—1987 Industrial robot systems - Safe design and usage

CA CAN/CSA-Z434-14 Safety

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Canada

+1 (514) 277-3777

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Support: [email protected]

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