Bring-up

Hang the robot, legs straight, for this whole chapter. Power the 48 V bus from a current-limited bench supply until the acceptance tests say otherwise. Each test adds energy; on a failure, fix the cause and re-run from that test.

Rules. Robot on the hoist. Bench supply, not packs, until test A6. Someone's hand on the E-stop whenever a motor is enabled. Never stand in the swing plane of a leg. Torque limits start at 5 % and rise only when a test passes.

Robot computer setup

Install Ubuntu 24.04 (or 22.04) on the mini PC. Disable sleep and automatic updates; set it to power on when 12 V arrives (BIOS: Restore on AC power loss).
Flash each CANable with the candleLight firmware so it appears as a SocketCAN interface (gs_usb), and pin the interface names to the adapters' serial numbers:

# /etc/udev/rules.d/80-foh-can.rules  (one line per adapter; read serials with `udevadm info`)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{serial}=="00XXXXXX", NAME="can0"   # left leg
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{serial}=="00YYYYYY", NAME="can1"   # right leg
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{serial}=="00ZZZZZZ", NAME="can2"   # waist + left arm
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{serial}=="00WWWWWW", NAME="can3"   # right arm

# bring the buses up (put this in a systemd unit once it works by hand)
for c in can0 can1 can2 can3; do sudo ip link set $c type can bitrate 1000000; sudo ip link set $c up; done
ip -details link show can0 | grep -o "can state [A-Z-]*"    # expect ERROR-ACTIVE

Install Python 3.11+, python-can, onnxruntime, numpy, and the FOH control package once it exists (Software). Until then, candump and cansend from can-utils do every check on this page.
Confirm the IMU enumerates on USB and streams at 200 Hz or more with its vendor tool.

First power-on

Prove that every device answers, with no motor enabled.

Power up on the bench supply

Bench supply at 48 V, current limit 1.5 A, on the distribution block's pack terminals. Breaker on, E-stop released: the contactor closes and the actuators' LEDs come on. A supply current that climbs to the limit is a short: cut power, back to Pre-power checks.

Check: idle bus current under 1 A for 23 actuators plus the computer.

Inventory

lsusb                      # four gs_usb devices, the IMU, the hub
ip link show type can      # can0..can3
for c in can0 can1 can2 can3; do timeout 2 candump $c; done   # silence: no actuator talks unprompted

Read every actuator

Poll each ID on each bus with the RobStride tool or the control package's read-only status command; nothing moves.

Check: 23 answers; each ID on the bus the actuator map says; bus voltage equals the supply on every one; temperatures near ambient.

Power down

Buses down, computer shut down, then the supply.

Motor ID and config

Property	Set with	Notes
CAN ID	RobStride vendor tool over its USB-CAN module, or the control package's `set-id`, one actuator at a time on the bench, before it goes into a limb	Actuators ship at ID 127. The ID is editable in standby only. Label the actuator the moment the ID is written.
Current limit	Written per model: 60 % of the default, capped at 40 A (Duke V2's rule)	RS03 26 A, RS06 34 A, RS02 14 A, RS05 7 A. Saved to the drive.
Torque limit	A ratio on every run, 0.05 to 0.8	0.05 for smoke tests, 0.3 for joint sweeps, 0.6 for standing.
Zero	Joint zeroing

Bus	Joint	ID	Model	Joint	ID	Model

Positive direction: the URDF's joint axis is the truth. Set every actuator's direction flag so that a positive command produces the URDF's positive rotation, checked joint by joint at 5 % torque. Do not rely on mounting orientation alone.

Joint zeroing

The zero pose is the URDF at all joint angles zero: standing straight, arms hanging, palms inward. The control stack assumes encoder zero is that pose.

Set the zeros

Motors unpowered for movement but on the bus. Hold each joint at zero with a square or a spirit level against the printed reference faces (every adapter has a flat), then write the current position as zero on every actuator and save it to the drive. Do not use the vendor tool's temporary mechanical zero: it is lost at power-off.

Verify

Ramp every joint to zero at 10 % torque, robot hanging; stay clear.

Check: the robot hangs straight; both soles level; both shoulder flanges level; encoder readings within ±1° of zero after a power cycle.

Acceptance tests

Test	Procedure	Pass
A1 Bus integrity	Cold power-up three times; read every actuator each time	Four buses ERROR-ACTIVE and 23 answers every time; zero error frames in `ip -s link`
A2 CAN latency	Command-response round trip on each bus at 1 % torque, 1000 samples	99th percentile under 1 ms per actuator; a 6-actuator bus completes a cycle inside the 2 ms loop
A3 Harness wiggle	Log all actuators while flexing every connector, loom and limb entry	Zero dropouts
A4 Per-joint motion	0.1 rad sine on each joint alone, 5 % torque	Only the commanded joint moves, in the URDF's positive direction; no grinding or knocking
A5 Zero and model	Hold each arm joint at 30 % torque with gravity compensation from the URDF masses	Residual torque within ±0.5 N·m of zero at every arm joint; adjust the URDF masses to the weighed parts if not
A6 Packs	Swap the bench supply for the packs; repeat A1 and A4	Same results; pack voltage sag under 2 V during the sine
A7 Posture	Hanging, PD hold of the zero pose then a crouch, 60 % torque	Poses reached smoothly; no joint exceeds 60 °C in five minutes
A8 Standing	Feet on the floor, hoist slack, the standing policy from simulation, E-stop in hand	Balances for two minutes; recovers from a 20 N push at the shoulders (stiff joints alone survive 8 N·s in simulation; the policy must do better)
A9 First step	Walking policy, one velocity step of 0.2 m/s and stop, hoist attached and slack	Robot steps and stops; the stop command zeroes the gait within one stride

Before A8, confirm the software stop layers: the control process zeroes commands on Ctrl-C; the watchdog zeroes them 200 ms after a lost command stream; the gamepad's stop button pre-empts everything. The E-stop is the last stop, and the hoist catches what the E-stop drops.