Mobile Operation

Teleoperation

While ALOHA bringup is running in another terminal, open a new one and run the following commands:

$ export INTERBOTIX_ALOHA_IS_MOBILE=true # if not already in your environment
$ source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash # configure ROS system install environment
$ source ~/interbotix_ws/install/setup.bash # configure ROS workspace environment
$ cd ~/interbotix_ws/src/aloha/scripts/
$ python3 dual_side_teleop.py [-g]

The arms will lift themselves up into their “staged” configurations. Close both grippers on the leader arms to begin teleop.

You should now be able to teleoperate both sets of arms. When you finish, place the leader arms in their cradles. Press Ctrl + C on the teleoperation terminal to stop teleoperation.

Tip

If the -g argument is set, the gravity compensation feature (introduced since 10/04/2024) will be enabled for the leader robots when teleop starts. Otherwise, the leader arms will be torqued off.

Warning

Even with the -g argument set, the arms WILL still torque off and drop for a short period of time while enabling/disabling the gravity compensation feature.

Please make sure they are readily held while closing the grippers and placed in the cradles before sending them to the sleep configuration.

Tip

While doing teleop, another person can use the included PS4 controller to move the base.

Joystick Base Teleoperation

To teleoperate the base using the provided PS4 Bluetooth controller, you must first pair the controller with the control computer following the Mobile Pairing Your Controller guide. Then proceed with the following steps:

  1. Turn on the PS4 controller by pressing the controller’s PS button.
  2. Bring up ALOHA, making sure that the use_base and use_joystick_teleop launch arguments are both set to true. This is the default if your control computer environment is configured as Mobile.
  3. Press and hold the controller’s L2 button to enable joystick control.
  4. Use the controller’s left stick to send forwards or backwards linear velocity commands.
  5. Use the controller’s right stick to send clockwise or counter-clockwise angular velocity commands.
  6. At any time, release the controllers L2 button to disable joystick control.

What’s Next?

Now that you know how to teleoperate, you can start collecting data with your ALOHA.