NORTHSTARGetting started
Supported hardware
The robot arms, cameras and robot computers that ARC works with.
An ARC robot is a robot computer, one or two arms, and up to three cameras. The robot computer runs the arc command and connects out to the relay over the internet.
You do not need a VR headset. Northstar operators drive the robot from theirs.
Arms
| Arm | Backend name | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| YAM | yam | CAN, one link per arm |
| Trossen WXAI V0 | trossen | Ethernet, one IP address per arm |
| MakerMods Metal | makermods | CAN, one link per arm |
| Feather (experimental) | feather | Through Feather's own SDK, already installed on the robot computer |
The backend name is what you pass as --backend to the installer and to arc enroll.
- Two arms (left and right) is the standard setup. A single arm also works: the missing side is set to
"none"in the configuration. - YAM and MakerMods Metal: each arm is on its own SocketCAN link at 1 Mbit/s. Both links must be up before
arc setupand before everyarc run.arc runwarns about a link that is down and prints the command that brings it up. - Trossen WXAI V0: the installer pins the arm library to version 1.9.0, which matches controller firmware 1.9.x. The robot computer needs a wired interface with an address in the arms' subnet, and each arm needs its own IP address.
- Feather: two 7 joint arms, a driven base and a camera neck. Support is experimental and has not been run on a robot by Northstar. See Feather robots.
- MakerMods Metal: uses the Metal's own gripper. Gravity compensation is not available for this arm.
Cameras
Each camera has one of three roles:
| Role | Camera |
|---|---|
exo | The fixed overview camera, looking at both arms |
wristL | The camera mounted on the left arm |
wristR | The camera mounted on the right arm |
Two kinds of camera work:
| Kind | Identified by | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Intel RealSense | Serial number | Install with --realsense. Depth recording is available on these cameras only. |
| USB (UVC) camera | Device path or /dev/video number | No extra install option. |
Kinds can be mixed on one robot. arc setup finds the cameras that are plugged in, saves a frame of each and asks which role each one has.
Robot computer
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Architecture | Linux on aarch64, glibc 2.17 or newer |
| Tested on | NVIDIA Jetson Orin with JetPack 6 (Ubuntu 22.04) |
| JetPack | 5 and 6. JetPack 5 needs Python 3.10 added first. |
| Python | 3.10, 3.11, 3.12 or 3.13 as python3 |
| Arms on CAN | SocketCAN, with one CAN link per arm |
| Privileges | sudo during the install |
Network
- The robot computer needs internet access. It connects out to the relay; no inbound port has to be opened.
- Outbound TCP port 443 and outbound UDP must be allowed. The robot checks in over TCP 443 and is then given a UDP port for the session.
- On Wi-Fi, the installer adds a network watchdog that brings the connection back after a drop, and
arc doctorwarns about Wi-Fi settings that keep a robot offline.
Next
Quickstart, or go straight to Install.