LinkerBot O6 — Unit 0 Orientation

Quickstart: Before You Begin

Read this first. Everything you need before your first O6 session: hardware checklist, CAN bus setup overview, time estimates, software prerequisites, and simulation options.

Time Commitment

How Long Does This Take?

From box to recording your first training episode with the LinkerBot O6.

Hardware setup

~45m

Unboxing, mounting, CAN interface wiring, power connect

CAN driver setup

~30m

SocketCAN modules, interface bringup, candump verification

SDK & ROS2

~45m

Python SDK install, ROS2 controller setup, first motion

Calibration

~15m

Joint zero positions, workspace verification

First teleoperation

~20m

Leader-follower setup, first recording session

First dataset

~15m

LeRobot format, quality check, first episodes

Total first-day time: roughly 2.5 hours for a complete first session including first recorded episode.

What You Need

Hardware Checklist

Everything that needs to be ready before you begin. Items marked "in the box" ship with the O6.

✓

LinkerBot O6 arm unit In the box — 6-DOF collaborative robot arm with integrated cable management.
✓

24V DC power supply In the box — verify it arrived undamaged. The O6 requires 24V DC at 150W minimum.
✓

CAN interface adapter (CANable 2.0 or equivalent) In the box — USB-to-CAN adapter connects your host PC to the arm's CAN bus. Same family as the OpenArm adapter.
✓

Mounting plate and hardware In the box — bolt the O6 to a stable workbench or table. The arm should not be freestanding during operation.
✓

Host PC running Ubuntu 22.04 Not included — must be a native Ubuntu install (not VM or WSL) for reliable SocketCAN timing. Minimum: 8 GB RAM, 50 GB disk. Download Ubuntu →
✓

USB-A to USB-B cable (for CAN adapter) Not included — standard USB cable, ~1 m.
✓

Camera (for data collection) Optional for setup, required for training data — USB webcam or Intel RealSense D435i recommended.
✓

1 m × 1 m clear workspace around arm base Required — the O6 workspace envelope is approximately 600 mm radius. Clear the area before powering on. See Safety page →

Software Prerequisites

What to Install Before You Start

The Setup Guide walks through each step in detail. This is the summary for advance preparation.

Operating System

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Required for SocketCAN and ROS2 Humble compatibility. macOS and Windows are not supported for real hardware.

Python

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-venv -y

LinkerBot SDK

pip install linkerbot-sdk

Or install via the RoboticsCenter SDK which includes O6 support:

pip install roboticscenter

ROS2 Humble

sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop ros-humble-ros2-control \
  ros-humble-ros2-controllers -y

Simulation (optional — no hardware needed)

✓ Simulation available

The O6 supports ROS2 fake hardware mode — run the full software stack without the physical arm:

ros2 launch linkerbot_ros2 o6.launch.py \
  use_fake_hardware:=true

This allows you to test controllers, plan trajectories, and verify your recording pipeline before connecting real hardware.

End Goal

What You Can Do After the Full Path

After completing all setup steps you will be able to:

✓ Control all 6 joints in real time over CAN bus using the LinkerBot Python SDK

✓ Run ROS2 Humble with the linkerbot_ros2 package for trajectory planning and state publishing

✓ Teleop the O6 in a leader-follower configuration and record synchronized episodes

✓ Export datasets in LeRobot / HuggingFace format for ACT and Diffusion Policy training

✓ Integrate the O6 with the LeRobot training pipeline end-to-end

✓ Run the full stack in fake hardware simulation mode without the physical arm

Support

How to Get Help

💬

Ready? Start the Setup Guide.

Once you have your O6 and Ubuntu installed, the Setup Guide walks you through every step in order.

Step 1: Setup Guide → Safety Page Contact Us