Hardware Setup
Switch the gripper endpoint fitted to each arm, and design a new endpoint from a URDF or mesh.
Hardware Setup is where you tell the platform which gripper each arm is wearing. The choice changes the tool geometry and the tool centre point (TCP) the planner drives to, so it affects reach and where each arm believes its fingertips are, in the simulator and on a real rig alike.
Opening Hardware Setup
Open the header overflow menu (the vertical dots at the right of the header) and choose Hardware Setup. A dialog opens for choosing the gripper endpoint on each arm, headed Hardware Setup. The header and its menu are described in The main app.
Switching the gripper on each arm
The dialog has one row per arm, Left arm and Right arm. Each row shows:
- a live: readout naming the endpoint that arm is wearing right now, and
- a dropdown to choose a different one.
Choosing a different endpoint on either row stages the change; nothing happens to the arm yet. As soon as your selection differs from what is live, a warning appears reading "Applying will restart the backend and interrupt any in-progress run."
- Apply & Restart commits both rows and restarts the backend so the new geometry and TCP take effect. It stays disabled until you have actually changed something. For what a restart does, see the Restart backend note in The main app.
- Cancel closes the dialog and leaves both arms as they were.
The two arms are independent: you can fit them with different endpoints, and out of the box they often are.
Applying restarts the backend. Any run in progress is interrupted and the interface reconnects after a few seconds. Switch endpoints between runs, not during one.
The endpoints you can choose
The list is not a fixed set. It always includes the built-in endpoints below, and it also lists any endpoint you have designed yourself.
| Endpoint | What it is |
|---|---|
stock | The default gripper. Always present, and always first in the list. |
wellplate | A longer gripper, roughly 100 mm further to the fingertip, for reaching down into plate nests and stacks. |
You may also see wellplate_deprecated, an earlier version of the wellplate gripper kept so older setups keep working. Use wellplate for new work.
The dropdown shows each endpoint by its identifier, exactly as written above. There is no separate display name.
Designing a new endpoint
When none of the built-in endpoints match your tool, design your own. In the Hardware Setup dialog, choose Design a new endpoint from a URDF or mesh…. This opens the Design a gripper endpoint screen: a 3D view on the left, a control panel headed Endpoint designer on the right.
Work down the panel:
- Name. What the endpoint will be called. This is the identifier it appears under in the dropdown afterwards.
- Geometry. Upload the shape of each finger under Left finger and Right finger. Each accepts an
.stl,.obj, or.plymesh, or a.zipof a URDF and its meshes. The mesh is read in metres, so export it at real scale or the endpoint comes in the wrong size. A finger that has loaded shows a loaded badge. - Jaw opening. How far apart the fingers sit in the preview.
- Collision spheres / finger. How many spheres stand in for each finger during collision checking. More spheres is a closer fit and a slightly heavier plan.
- Tool tip (TCP). The point the planner drives to. Snap to tip seats it at the far tip of the endpoint, on the centreline. Read the value back to confirm where it landed.
- Fit to arm. Tick left arm, right arm, or both to say which arm or arms this endpoint is for. Each option also shows what that arm is wearing now.
When the design is ready, Confirm & Restart saves the endpoint, fits it to the arm or arms you ticked, and restarts the backend. You will see it write the endpoint and then restart; when the app returns, your new endpoint is both selectable in the Hardware Setup dialog and already fitted to the arms you chose.
A designed endpoint is added to your project's set of endpoints, so it stays available for later runs and appears in the Hardware Setup dropdown next to the built-in ones.
What the header indicator is, and is not
The coloured Hardware dot in the header is a different thing from Hardware Setup. It reports whether devices are connected, not which gripper is fitted, and it is a boot-time snapshot rather than a live arm check. For its colours and the safety caveat that goes with it, see The main app.
Where to go next
Updated about 2 months ago