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First setup

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Benjamin Nitschke edited this page Jul 31, 2026 · 3 revisions

First Setup

Follow these steps to safely power on, calibrate, and initialize your Luke Robot Arm for the first time.

CRITICAL SAFETY NOTE: On every single power cycle, the robot must automatically find its zero-points. Always ensure the area underneath and surrounding the robot arm is completely clear of obstacles, tools, or cables before plugging it in. Sudden calibration movements could cause damage if blocked.

Initialization Sequence

  1. Position the Robot: Place the robot on a stable, flat surface. Check that the entire physical reach of the arm is free from obstructions.
  2. Connect the Power: Plug the 24V power supply into the main power jack.
    • What to expect: The robot will instantly enter its automatic calibration state. It will rotate each joint to its extreme mechanical limits to map out its operational boundaries.
  3. Monitor the Vertical Axis: Once the rotational joints finish calibrating, the prismatic (up-and-down) vertical axis will begin its sequence. The carriage will drive all the way to the top limit, and then all the way down to the bottom seat.
  4. Calibration Complete: Once all axes stop moving, your robot is fully calibrated, homed, and ready for commands!

Firmware uploading and resetting flash memory

All details about the firmware can be found in the Server folder of this repository. You can do modifications or reset the robot to the standard firmware from the Server folder. Please note that you should use pioarduino IDE instead of PlatformIO in VSCode because PlatformIO does not longer support the latest ExpressIf libraries, which are needed for the ESP32 chip inside your robot arm. From pioarduino IDE Quick Access in VSCode you can select Build, Deploy or Erase Flash so you don't have to memorize any commands.

Troubleshooting Calibration Failures

If your power supply is interrupted, or if the arm hits an unexpected obstacle during bootup, the calibration sequence will fail.

If this happens:

  1. Clear any physical obstructions from the workspace.
  2. Open your Robot Control Website in your browser.
  3. Click the Calibrate button on the control dashboard to force a clean system calibration and restart the homing sequence manually.

Next Steps

Now that your hardware is active and zeroed out, choose your next path:

  • If you have equipped the robot with the camera module: Proceed to Camera calibration
  • If you want to start moving the arm right away: Proceed to Control modes

https://lukerobotarm.com Delta Engine GmbH 2026 (c)

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