Kobuki User Guide

Version 1.1.0
2017/03/15

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Contents

Contents

About

Basic Usage
Charging
First Run
Software
Problems

Advanced Usage
Replacing Batteries
Updating Firmware
Linux
Windows
Serial Port Connectivity
Adding a Custom Sensor Array

Specifications
Safety Guideline
Functional
Hardware
Software

Anatomy
Top View
Bottom View
Control Panel
Connectors
Models & Drawings
Motors
Gyro
Power Adapter
Batteries
Serial Port

Firmware
Communication
Protocol Specification
Version Checking
Updating
Special Firmware Modes
Activating
Random Walker Mode
Arduino / Embedded Board Support Mode

ChangeLog

License

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3
About

Introducing Korea’s first robotic turtle.

kobuki [거북이] n. turtle

Kobuki is robotically engineered to be long-lived, tough and fast. With high performance batteries,
Kobuki will tirelessly work alongside you through those long coffee-powered nights. He’ll also happily
burden himself with your modded array of sensors, actuators, laptops, embedded boards, portside
cannons and do it all at a speed that makes his real world cousins seem like … well, turtles.

Use him for serving 치맥 (chi-mek), chasing your neighbour’s kids or simply, to make your own robot
ideas become reality.

Kobuki is still young, don’t expect him to remain as he is . Kobuki’s development has already been
significantly influenced by the community and as he marches towards old age, we will continue to
work with the community and you to ensure he becomes better with time.

Sincerely,
Kobuki Team.

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Basic Usage
Make sure be aware of the safety guidelines.

Charging
Connect the power adapter to Kobuki or dock Kobuki in the docking station. If Kobuki is turned on,
you will hear a short sound when charging starts and the LED will light up appropriately.

● Green : fully charged

● Blinking Green : charging
● Orange : low battery

Tip: the battery still charges if Kobuki is off, but you will not see the LED, nor hear sounds

First Run
You want to see Kobuki in action without further ado? Kobuki has a special random walker mode
embedded into the firmware which you can activate on start-up:

1. Turn on Kobuki.
2. Within the first 3 seconds press the B0 button and hold for 2 seconds.
3. LED2 will start blinking and Kobuki wander around.

Tip: this was introduced to the firmware in v1.1.0. In case your kobuki is not running this or a later version,
please refer to the section about updating the firmware.

Software

In order to gain access to all of Kobuki’ s features, you will need an external computing unit
(pc/laptop/tablet/embedded board) with software which communicates with Kobuki. Officially
supported systems include:

Build Your Own Linux C++ Kobuki for

Kobuki Driver Application ROS
Use the Serial Protocol Use the Kobuki C++ Driver Use the Kobuki ROS World

Alternatively, you can get started with the Turtlebot 2 Platform which runs on a Kobuki base.

Info: other platforms have had experimental support at one stage or another (windows/arduino/android).

Problems
Reach out on the following channels:

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 ● Kobuki User’s Mailing List: kobuki-users@yujinrobot.com
● ROS Community Answers: http://answers.ros.org/questions/tags%3Akobuki
● Yujin Sales Support: kobuki@yujinrobot.com

Note: Kobuki comes with a 1 year warranty. In case you bought Kobuki from another one of Yujin Robot’s
distributors, please contact them, otherwise email Yujin Sales Support.

Advanced Usage

Replacing Batteries

Warning: the electronics does not support the use of multiple battery packs at the same time!

Flip the kobuki Open the case

Unplug Swap batteries

Replug Replace the case

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Updating Firmware
If you have a ROS installation, you can find the current version by running:

$ rosrun kobuki_driver version_info

# Version Info:
* Hardware Version: 1.0.4
* Firmware Version: 1.2.0
* Software Version: 0.7.7
* Unique Device ID: 97713968-842422349-1361404194

Alternatively you can compile version_info.cpp (no ROS) to create your own version checker.

Linux

The Flashing Utility

# Download & build the flashing utility

$ wget http://files.yujinrobot.com/kobuki/firmware/stm32flash-0.4.tar.gz
$ tar -xvzf stm32flash.tar.gz
$ cd stm32flash
$ make

Download the Firmware

# choose the firmware version from http://files.yujinrobot.com/kobuki/firmware

# e.g. latest
$ wget http://files.yujinrobot.com/kobuki/firmware/kobuki_firmware-latest.hex

Identify the ttyUSBx Port

If you have a udev rule installed, it will show up as /dev/kobuki, but if not, you can typically find it
under one of the ttyUSB ports, e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0. If you are not sure, type dmesg into a terminal,
unplug and replug the robot and type dmesg again. You should now be able to see which port is
assigned to the robot (more precisely the FTDI USB to serial converter).

Switch to Download Mode

1. Connect the robot to your PC using the USB cable

2. Turn off the robot (switch on the side)
3. Switch from normal runtime mode to firmware download mode

This simply changes the type of data that is sent back and forth along the usb connection. You can do
this by moving the switch illustrated below into the ‘download’ (up) position. Note that this switch is
embedded into the robot cover so it isn’t easily thrown by accident – you may need thin plyers or
some similar tool. You can find the mode switch mechanism on the right side of the control panel - see
the image below.

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Flashing

Note: The following instructions assume flashing of kobuki_firmware-latest.hex and port /dev/ttyUSB0.
Modify these if necessary.

Warning: you need to execute the flashing command IMMEDIATELY after turning the robot on!

1. Turn off the robot

2. Check that the switch is in download mode
3. Turn on the robot

$ ./stm32flash -b 115200 -w kobuki_firmware_firmware-latest.hex /dev/ttyUSB0

stm32flash 0.4

http://stm32flash.googlecode.com/

Using Parser : Intel HEX

Interface serial_posix: 115200 8E1
Version : 0x22
Option 1 : 0x00
Option 2 : 0x00
Device ID : 0x0414 (High-density)
- RAM : 64KiB (512b reserved by bootloader)
- Flash : 512KiB (sector size: 2x2048)
- Option RAM : 16b
- System RAM : 2KiB
Write to memory
Erasing memory
Wrote address 0x0800a3f0 (100.00%) Done.

Rebooting

● Turn off the robot power

● Flick the firmware switch back to ‘Operation’ mode.
● Turn on the robot power
● I’m happy, you should be too!

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Windows
The Flashing Utility

● Download and install the windows flashing utility

Download the Firmware

Find and download the version of the firmware you wish to flash from the Kobuki FW File Server.

Identify the COM Port

Usually if this will show up on COM1, but check to make sure.

Switch to Download Mode

1. Connect the robot to your PC using the USB cable

2. Turn off the robot (switch on the side)
3. Switch from normal runtime mode to firmware download mode

This simply changes the type of data that is sent back and forth along the usb connection. You can do
this by moving the switch illustrated below into the ‘download’ (up) position. Note that this switch is
embedded into the robot cover so it isn’t easily thrown by accident – you may need thin plyers or
some similar tool. You can find the mode switch mechanism on the right side of the control panel - see
the image below.

Flashing

1. Turn off the robot

2. Check that the switch is in download mode
3. Turn on the robot

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 Configure Properties Check that the target is identified

Enter the Download from file (your .hex) Success!

Rebooting

1. Turn off the robot power

2. Flick the firmware switch back to ‘Operation’ mode.
3. Turn on the robot power
4. I’m happy, you should be too!

Serial Port Connectivity

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Many embedded boards do not have usb interfaces, or the embedded board doesn’t have the
necessary ftdi32 serial->usb support. In these cases it is simpler to utilise the serial port on Kobuki’s
expansion port to driving kobuki by serial interface instead of USB.

Pinouts

Pictured below are the pinouts of Kobuki’s expansion port, include the serial pins. The minimum
number of required pins for serial communication is three; TX, RX, and GND. Additionally EX3.3 or
EX5 can be used for powering external devices, such as line transceiver.

● RX/TX : Serial data (voltage level is

3.3V)
● EX3.3/EX5 : 3.3V/1A and 5V/1A power
supply
● DI0~3 : 4 x Digital input
○ high: 3.3~5V, low: 0V
● DO0~3 : 4 x Digital output
○ open-drain, pull-up resistor
required
● AI0~3 : 4 x Analog input
○ 12bit ADC: 0~4095, 0~3.3V
● GND : Ground
● EN : Used for detecting an external
board
○ connect to external ground

Connections

a) RS-232 Interface

The voltage level of serial port is 3.3V. To connect kobuki with the standard RS-232 serial port, you
should use line transceiver in the middle to convert voltage level. MAX232 chip is typical solution for it.
Below diagram show simplified typical example of connections between Kobuki and SBC (your
embedded board, laptop or pc). EX3.3 pin is used to powering line transceiver. It can be EV5 pin or
external power sources from outside.

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b) Logic Level Interface

To connect kobuki with serial port of MCU directly, below is the simplest connection diagram can be
used. Serial pins of kobuki are 5V-tolerant. It accepts 3.3V and 5V voltage levels typically used by
integrated circuit. Connection with power pin(EX3.3 or EX5) is optional, if you powering MCU with
independent sources, such as battery, or wall adaptor.

Building An Application

If you’re using the ROS implementation, or building atop the kobuki c++ driver, simply re-configure the
port string used for the application and everything should be ready to go.

If building an experimental driver from scratch (e.g. android driver), then you will need to implement
the Kobuki Protocol specification.

Adding a Custom Sensor Array

Kobuki usually gets equipped with a 3d sensor These typically have limitations as obstacle avoidance
sensor:

● Narrow fov (58° x 43° horizontal x vertical)

● Death zone on the first 45 cm
● Cannot detect glass walls
● Cannot detect polished metallic surfaces

In one experiment an 11 IR sensors half ring, pointing 12 degrees downward was added to
compensate.

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 ● Sensor model: Sharp GP2Y0A21YK
● Power supply: Kobuki’s 5V, 1A
● Sensor reading: Arduino MEGA 2560
● PC interface: Arduino custom firmware – Bosch adc_driver
● Mounting: 3D printed frame.

The analog output of sensors is read by the Arduino board, while for power and ground they are
connected to Kobuki’s 5V 1A power source. Connecting several sensors to the same power supply
makes readings very noisy when there aren’t obstacles. The solution was to put decoupling capacitors
on each sensor. For interfacing Arduino, we use Bosch adc_driver. A funny problem comes
sometimes when looking at corners in a particular angle (~30 degrees) : sensors get a spurious
reading, no idea why. We just went on with this, as is not a common problem.
Different mounting frames are available for downloading and printing in our file server:

● Horizontally mounted MaxBotix’s LV-Maxsonars

● Horizontally mounted Sharp IR sensors
● 12 degrees downward pointing Sharp IR sensors

And the result:

Specifications

Safety Guideline

● Do not twist or subject the power cable to extreme pressure or weight weight.
● Keep the pin and interface of the power plug clean from dust or water.
● Do not pull the power cord or touch the power plug with wet hands.
● Do not use with a damaged power plug, power cord or loose outlet.
● Use Kobuki indoors only.
● Do not pour or spray water onto Kobuki.
● Do not use Kobuki to pick up anything that is burning or smoking.
● Always remove the battery before long-term storage or transportation.

Functional
● Maximum translational velocity: 70 cm/s

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 ● Maximum rotational velocity: 180 deg/s (>110 deg/s gyro performance will degrade)
● Payload: 5 kg (hard floor), 4 kg (carpet)
● Cliff: will not drive off a cliff with a depth greater than 5cm
● Threshold Climbing: climbs thresholds of 12 mm or lower
● Rug Climbing: climbs rugs of 12 mm or lower
● Expected Operating Time: 3/7 hours (small/large battery)
● Expected Charging Time: 1.5/2.6 hours (small/large battery)
● Docking: within a 2mx5m area in front of the docking station

Hardware
● PC Connection: USB or via RX/TX pins on the parallel port
● Motor Overload Detection: disables power on detecting high current (>3A)
● Odometry: 52 ticks/enc rev, 2578.33 ticks/wheel rev, 11.7 ticks/mm
● Gyro: factory calibrated, 1 axis (110 deg/s)
● Bumpers: left, center, right
● Cliff sensors: left, center, right
● Wheel drop sensor: left, right
● Power connectors: 5V/1A, 12V/1.5A, 12V/5A
● Expansion pins: 3.3V/1A, 5V/1A, 4 x analog in, 4 x digital in, 4 x digital out
● Audio : several programmable beep sequences
● Programmable LED: 2 x two-coloured LED
● State LED: 1 x two coloured LED [Green - high, Orange - low, Green & Blinking - charging]
● Buttons: 3 x touch buttons
● Battery: Lithium-Ion, 14.8V, 2200 mAh (4S1P - small), 4400 mAh (4S2P - large)
● Firmware upgradeable: via usb
● Sensor Data Rate: 50Hz
● Recharging Adapter: Input: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz, 1.5A max; Output: 19V DC, 3.16A
● Netbook recharging connector (only enabled when robot is recharging): 19V/2.1A DC
● Docking IR Receiver: left, centre, right

Software

● C++ drivers for Linux

● ROS driver
● Gazebo simulation

Anatomy

Top View

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Bottom View

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Control Panel

● 19V/2A: Laptop power supply

● 12V/5A: Arm power supply
● 12v/1.5A: Microsoft Kinect power supply
● 5V/1A: General power supply
● Status LED: Indicates Kobuki’s status
○ Green: Kobuki is turned on and battery at high voltage level
○ Orange: On - Low battery voltage level (please charge soon)
○ Green blinking: On - Battery charging
○ Off: Kobuki is turned off.
● LED1/2: Programmable LEDs
● USB: Data connection
● BO/1/2: Buttons
● Firmware switch: Enable/disables the firmware update mode

Connectors

SOME NOTES ABOUT THE MOLEX PAGES BELOW

1. We do not actually use Molex connectors but we are supplied by a Korean vendor who produces
connectors according to the Molex standard. These links will be more useful to internationals in
helping them find a mating part that works for them.
2. The images on each page are representative of the series of connectors. Each series usually has a
variety of connectors with a different number of pins. As a result, the pictures on some of the pages
below may seem as though they have the incorrect number of pins, but do not worry about this – they
are the correct links. Note that you can jump to different connectors in the series via the second part
of their identification number (e.g. 43045-0224 for the 2-pin, 43045-0424 for the 4-pin).
3. If some linked connectors are listed as obsolete on the molex website, don’t worry. The connector
you are exactly requiring are those you can find under the ‘Mates with Parts’ link on each page. If
these however should become obsolete as well, please let us know via email.

Power

● 5V@1A Molex PN : 43650-0218 – for custom boards

● 12V@1.5A : Molex PN : 43045-0224 – specially supporting the kinect
● 12V@5A : Molex PN : 3929-9023 – for high powered accessories (e.g. robotic arm)
● 19V@2A : Molex PN : 3928-9068 – for recharging netbooks

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Battery

● 4S1P/4S2P Battery Pack Connector

I/O Port

● DB25 pin D-SUB Female connector that provides the following functionality (pdf)

Cables

Note, if you click on the preceding links for the power connectors, under the heading ‘Mates with
Part(s)’ you can find the compatible connector to use with each power source. The most important
one being of course:

● 12V@1.5A : Molex PN : 43025-0200 – specially supporting the kinect

Models & Drawings

The models and drawings include both the base and parts for the Turtlebot 2.

● 2D mechanical drawings – DWG, PDF

● 3D models – IGS, STEP

The inserts in the kobuki plate are M4 threads (metric, 4mm). If you wish to build standoffs compatible
for these inserts, please reference the pole pdf’s in the 2D mechanical drawings which are what we
use for turtlebots.

Motors
Specifications

● Brushed DC Motor
● Motor Manufacturer: Standard Motor
● Part Name: RP385-ST-2060
● Rated Voltage: 12 V
● Rated Load: 5 mN·m
● No Load Current: 210 mA
● No Load Speed: 9960 rpm ± 15%
● Rated Load Current: 750 mA
● Rated Load Speed: 8800 rpm ± 15%
● Armature Resistance: 1.5506 Ω at 25°C
● Armature Inductance: 1.51 mH
● Torque Constant(Kt): 10.913 mN·m/A

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 ● Velocity Constant(Kv): 830 rpm/V
● Stall Current: 6.1 A
● Stall Torque: 33 mN·m

Control Method

● Driven by voltage source(H-bridge)

● Controlled by Pulse-width modulation(PWM)

Gyro

Specification

● 3-Axis Digital Gyroscope

● Manufacturer : STMicroelectronics
● Part Name : L3G4200D
● Measurement Range: ±250 deg/s
● Yaw axis is factory calibrated within the range of ±20 deg/s to ±100 deg/s

Performance

In-Place Rotation Test

This graph shows the average heading error per revolution of gyro, when robot rotates with a given
velocity.

Square Path Test

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This graph shows the position error of fused odometry with gyro, when robot moves along a square
path. Robot moved with 0.1 m/s on the line segment and rotated with 30 deg/s on the corner.

Number of turns of square path Angular Error [deg]

0.5 0.47
1.5 1.99
2.5 3.18

This table shows the calculated angular error, when robot arrived at the diagonally opposite corner
from the starting point (0.0, 0.0).

Power Adapter

Input Output Other

● Voltage: 100-240V ● Voltage: 19V ● Photo

● Frequency: 50/60Hz ● Ampere: 3.16A ● Specification 1
● Ampere: 1.5A Max ● Specification 2

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Batteries
Kobuki by the default ships with a small Lithium-Ion battery pack (4S1P, 2200mAh, 14.8V).

Tip: for extra long operation, a big battery pack (4S2P, 4400mAh, 14,8V) can be ordered as well.

Warning: the electronics does not support the use of multiple battery packs at the same time (even if there is
room in the battery compartment)

Specifications

● Data Sheet (pdf)

Pinouts

● Red: battery (+), 9.6 V ~ 16.8 V

● White: NTC thermistor to ground, 10 kΩ ± 1%
● Black: battery(-), Ground

Charging Profile

This plot shows the voltages as measured by the robot’s hardware. Both the standard 4S1P and the
extra 4S2P batteries are compared. During the test, the robot was charging via adaptor.

Discharging Profile

This plot shows the voltage as measured by the robot’s hardware. Both the standard 4S1P and the
extra 4S2P batteries are compared. During the test, the robot was continuously spinning, with the
Kinect camera running.

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Serial Port

● RX / TX: Serial data connection (RS232; used voltage level is 3.3V!)

● EX3.3 / EX5: 3.3V/1A and 5V/1A power supply
● DI0 - 3: 4 x Digital input (high: 3.3 - 5V, low: 0V)
● DO0 - 3: 4 x Digital output (open-drain, pull-up resistor required)
● AI0-3: 4 x Analog input (12bit ADC: 0 - 4095, 0 - 3.3V)
● GND: Ground
● EN: Used for detecting an external board (connect to external ground)

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Firmware

Communication
● Baud rate: 115200 BPS, Data bit: 8 bit, Stop bit: 1 bit, No Parity
● Electronic protocol: USB / RS232 (@ DB25 connector)

Protocol Specification
The driver communicates with the robot by using predefined protocol. In general, the driver sends the
commands to the robot and the robot sends some feedback data or sensor readings. This command
and feedback data are converted into bytestreams for communication via serial interface. The protocol
specify that rules and forms of bytestream.

For more detailed information, visit:

● http://yujinrobot.github.com/kobuki/enAppendixProtocolSpecification.html

Version Checking
Every time the robot comes alive (because it is connected or powered on), the driver checks the
compatibility between software (i.e. driver) and firmware. Firmware versions are of the form M.m.p,
where:

● M(ajor) represents a deep rebuild of the code that almost surely breaks protocol compatibility.
In consequence, if mayor version doesn’t match, the driver will show an error, suggest the
required update and shutdown.
● m(inor) represents a new feature that could not work if the driver is outdated, but the protocol
itself is spared. In consequence, if minor version doesn’t match, the driver will show a warning
suggesting the required update and continue working.
● p(atch) represents a fix on the code and is not checked at all.

You can check which firmware version your robot is running on the log (check the first lines on stdout
at driver startup), by running the version_info program included on the kobuki driver, or if you are
using ROS, just echoing /mobile_base/version_info topic. Generally speaking, it’s recommended to
upgrade the firmware to the latest stable version.

Special Firmware Modes

Activating
Kobuki has some special firmware modes, which can be activated on startup.
Currently implemented are:
I. Random walker mode
II. Arduino/Embedded board support mode

To activate one of them, follow these instructions:

1. Turn on Kobuki.

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 2. Within in the first 3 seconds press and hold button BO(I) / B1 (II) for 2 seconds.
3. If* you see LED2(I) / LED1(II) switching between red and green, your chosen mode is
activated.

Note(*): These modes have been introduced to the firmware with version 1.1.0. In case your Kobuki is
not running this or a later version, please refer to the section about updating the firmware.

Random Walker Mode

In the random walker mode Kobuki is driving around until it hits an object with the bumper or a cliff is
detected. In both cases, Kobuki will stop, turn by a random amount of degrees and continue driving .

Note: In this mode Kobuki’s wheel drop sensors are not activated. So, be careful when lifting up
Kobuki!

Arduino / Embedded Board Support Mode

In this mode the serial port (DB25 connector) gives access to basic controls of Kobuki. You can hook
up the digital/analog inputs/outpus of your Arduino or other embedded boards and start writing simple
control programs.

Below is the special pin setting listed. Please refer to the serial port description for the name to pin
mapping.

● DI0: Not used

● DI1: Not used
● DI2: Not used
● DI3: Not used
● DO0: Bumper left (pressed/released)
● DO1: Bumper centre (pressed/released)
● DO2: Bumper right (pressed/released)
● DO3: Wheel drop sensors (at least one wheel is dropped / none is dropped)
● AI0: Wheel speed right (0V - full speed backward, 3.3V - full speed forward)
● AI1: Wheel speed left (0V - full speed backward, 3.3V - full speed forward)
● AI2: Not used
● AI3: Not used

All other pins (GND, RX, TX etc.) remain unchanged.

Note: To enable the motors you need to press button B0.

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Resources
● Kobuki Images & Renderings
● Turtlebot Images & Renderings
● Marketing Materials

ChangeLog

● 1.0.0 : official release

● 1.0.1 : upgrading firmware link fix
● 1.0.2 : documentation link fix
● 1.0.4 : updating the spec. of serial communication
● 1.0.5 : fixing battey & connector link
● 1.0.6 : updating link after Kobuki web site revision
● 1.1.0 : reorganised and collapsed website howtos into the guide

License
The Kobuki user guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
License.

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