cd ~
git clone https://github.com/berkeleyopenarms/bldc-controller.git
cd bldc-controller
git submodule update --recursive --remote --init
sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-none-eabi

cd ~/bldc_controller/firmware
make

cd ~/bldc_controller/firmware
make upload

cd ~/bldc_controller/tools
python upload_firmware.py <serial_port> <board_id> ~/bldc_controller/firmware/build/motor_controller.bin

Use this with caution. If this fails and a power cycle or reboot occurs, the board will have to be programmed directly. In the case of a failed upload, try again immediately. To be safe, first upload and test on an easy-to-remove link such as the gripper or base which are not as difficult to access in case of a failure.

upload_bootloader.py <serial_port> <board_id> <path_to_file>

Serial device drivers only permit at most one transmission per millisecond. By default, this is set to 16 milliseconds on our usb to RS485 converters. To change this execute the following terminal commands:

cat /sys/bus/usb-serial/devices/ttyUSB<id_num>/latency_timer
setserial /dev/ttyUSB<id_num> low_latency
cat /sys/bus/usb-serial/devices/ttyUSB<id_num>/latency_timer

(when running the arm, this is done automatically by the ROS control stack)

These scripts are made to remotely interface with the boards. They can debug, program, and run the boards. They interface using our custom communications protocol.

To calibrate the motor board, a motor must first be attached. The results of calibration are based on the properties of the given motor.

• calibrate_encoder.py <serial_port> <board_id> <duty_cycle>
• upload_calibration.py <serial_port> <board_id> <calibration_file.json>

1. Run calibrate_encoder.py: for 24V Power Supplies the duty cycle used in testing is 0.3 and for 48V or 50V supplies use half (0.15).
2. Update calibrations.json found in the bldc-controller-calibration repo.
3. Run upload_calibration.py with the updated calibrations.json as the final argument.

After completing these steps, the motor should be controllable.

Use this script to spin a motor with a given current command. A substantial starting point is 0.5 and increase above this with proper supervision! A negative command will reverse the direction.

current_command.py <serial_port> <board_id> <command>