orca_core

Orca Core is the core control package of the ORCA Hand. It's used to abstract hardware, provide scripts for calibration, tensioning and to control the hand with simple high-level control methods in joint space. While working directly with core will let you interact with your ORCA Hand on a deep level, the Orca Ui repository (found at: https://github.com/orcahand/orca_ui) can let users get started right away, helping you setup/maintain your hand, tune its performance, and better understand its capabilities.

What's new in 0.13.0

• Guided tensioning (scripts/guided_tension.py, v2.1 hands): motors pull at max_current, settle where they stopped, then hold at each motor's ceiling while you ratchet. Avoid hard pushes on a finger while the motors hold, because they may loosen the tendon. Its currents can be overridden per motor family under guided_tension_currents: in config.yaml.
• Slack test and tension sweep: new routines in orca_core.maintenance (run_slack_test, run_tension_sweep), with currents per motor family. They refuse to run while a joint-feedback loop is running. Feetech values are provisional, and on Feetech a slack test pass can miss small slack.
• Manual calibration: run_calibration(manual=True) asks you to move each joint to its stops by hand, following manual_calibration_sequence: in config.yaml, and lets you step back to redo a stop.
• Hardware versions: boards report three digits (210 = v2.1.0, 211 = v2.1.1). Older boards that report 21 or 2 are still understood, and a v2.1.1 hand also gets joint_roms_v211:.
• Records: tensioning records live in setup.yaml beside the config. Older last_tension.yaml and tension_progress.yaml are still read.
• Touch sensors: the sensing link reads whatever bytes have arrived and ignores replies to earlier requests, so touch keeps working while the program is busy. Before 0.13.0, a busy program could lose touch until it reconnected.

Get Started

To get started with Orca Core, follow these steps:

Pre-installation steps

1. Git clone the orca_core repository:

   #use any preferred method, ssh clone shown here
   git clone [email protected]:orcahand/orca_core.git
   

2. Install uv (found at: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/)

Installing the repository

1. Sync a local development environment with uv:

   uv sync --group dev
   

   This creates a local .venv and installs the package plus development dependencies.

2. Run commands through uv:

   uv run pytest
   

   If you prefer an activated shell, you can still use:

   source .venv/bin/activate      # macOS / Linux
   .venv\Scripts\activate         # Windows
   

   End users who do not use uv can still install the package with:

   pip install .
   

Post-installation sample usage scripts

1. Check the configuration file:

   • Review the config file (e.g., orca_core/models/v2/orcahand-right/config.yaml) and make sure it matches your hardware setup.

2. Run the tension and calibration scripts:

   uv run python scripts/detect.py
   uv run python scripts/guided_tension.py orca_core/models/v2/orcahand-right/config.yaml
   uv run python scripts/calibrate.py orca_core/models/v2/orcahand-right/config.yaml
   

   detect.py only reads: it shows which model, motor type and hardware version is plugged in. Replace the path with that model's folder. Guided tensioning needs v2.1 hardware; on v2.0, use scripts/tension.py instead. Tension first and calibrate last.

   Calibration and tensioning records are saved beside the config.yaml you load. With more than one hand of the same model, give each hand its own copy of the config and point every script at it, including teleoperation's --model_path.

3. Move the hand to the neutral position:

   uv run python scripts/neutral.py orca_core/models/v2/orcahand-right/config.yaml
   

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Troubleshooting

Serial Port Permissions (Linux)

On Linux, the serial port (e.g., /dev/ttyACM0) is owned by the dialout group. If your user is not in this group, you will get a permission denied error and motors won't be detected.

Permanent fix (requires re-login):

sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER

Temporary fix (resets on reboot/replug):

sudo chmod 666 /dev/ttyACM0

Windows

Supported on Windows 10 and 11; no permission setup is needed. Ports are named COM3, COM4, ... and are listed with:

uv run python -m serial.tools.list_ports -v

Driver notes, latency settings and the first-connection checklist: Running on Windows.

Serial port, baudrate, and motor type

By default these are all auto-detected at connect time.

However, you can declare them explicitly in config.yaml. Useful when:

• multiple hands are connected at once → port disambiguates which one
• motors run at a non-default baudrate → baudrate skips the probe sweep
• the auto-detection picks the wrong family → motor_type forces a specific one

# Optional overrides:   auto-detected if omitted
port: /dev/ttyACM0      # /dev/cu.usbmodemXXXX on macOS, COM3 on Windows
baudrate: 1000000       # 1M for v2; 3M for v1
motor_type: dynamixel   # or 'feetech'