Software Update

Software Update

Summary

Use the software update tool to update robot side SDK software when patches or updates are available.

• Overview
• Tool Usage
• Documentation
  • Instructions for Updating
• Troubleshooting

To Update to the Latest Version: Click Here

Follow the Software Update - v0.6.2 instructions to update to the latest version.

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Overview

When software updates are available for the Baxter robot, Rethink Robotics software support will notify you, at which time you may update at your convenience. Update files must be put on a fat32 usb stick and inserted into your robot before running the following steps. Please contact support to get the software update files.

Usage

Start software update from an RSDK terminal session using:

$ rosrun baxter_tools update_robot.py -h

update_robot.py [ARGUMENTS]

    -h, --help          This screen
    -l, --list          List available updates
    -u, --update [UUID] Launch the given update

update_robot.py [ARGUMENTS]

• -l,--list: Used to list the updates that are available to the system. Gives a list of pairs, update version and update UUID.
• -u,--update [UUID]: Kick off the updater to update to the specified update.

Documentation

Instructions for Updating

1. Allow robot to fully boot.
2. In the USB port on Baxter's torso, plug in a FAT32 formatted drive with the update files in the root of the drive (i.e. not a sub directory).
3. Wait ~30 seconds for the system to recognize the drive.
4. Use -l to get the update UUID
5. Use -u [UUID] to start the update.

This starts the verification and unpacking of the update payload. Status will be printed out as it goes through the required steps.

The last step informs the user that the system will now reboot to finish updating. The screen will show a bunch of text while this is happening. Once finished, it reboots to the new software and finalizes the update.

** Important Note for rsdk-0.6.0 -> 0.6.x updates:

IMPORTANT: If you are updating from the rsdk-0.6.0 (Beta1) release to any other release, such as the rsdk-0.6.1 (Beta1-Patch1) release, you will need to first run the 0.6.0_p1 Update Primer. The instructions are the same as doing a normal update, except you will update first to the '0.6.0_p1' primer version, and then do a second update to the actual new version (e.g. 0.6.1):

1. Download both the 0.6.0_p1 update files and the 0.6.x update files from your Rethink FTP account, onto a USB stick.
2. Follow the normal update instructions above, selecting the UUID for the '0.6.0_p1' version in Steps 4 & 5.
3. Allow the update to complete and let the robot automatically reboot itself. This will prime the robot to be updated to a new version.
4. Remove the USB stick from Baxter; wait a second; then reinsert the drive to refresh Baxter's USB device listings.
5. Again, follow the normal update instructions above, this time choosing the UUID for the new 0.6.x version in Steps 4 & 5.

You will only have to do this when updating from version 0.6.0. From 0.6.1 onward, the robot can be directly updated to any other version. However, if you later "revert" backwards to 0.6.0, you will need to use the primer again on your next update.

Troubleshooting

For common issues specific to using software update with Baxter, check out the Troubleshooting page.