Onboarding & calibration

Getting a new robot ready means two things: describing the hardware so Kinex can talk to it (onboarding), and measuring the physical facts a task depends on (calibration). Both are guided by the agent, and both are driven by your task: Kinex prepares and measures only what that task needs.

Before you start

Not fully hands-off. Onboarding and calibration still need you to:
- share as much as you can about your hardware, such as its SDK, drivers and documentation;
- provide physical calibration targets, such as AprilTags or a checkerboard;
- watch the robot while it moves and be ready to stop it, to keep everyone safe.
Tested embodiments. The current workflow has been tested on fixed-base manipulators, wheeled mobile manipulators and quadruped loco-manipulators. Other embodiments may need extra work, and contributions that extend support are welcome.

Onboarding

Start Kinex in your robot workspace, then describe your hardware and goal in your own words. For example:

I have a robot arm, a gripper, and an overhead camera. Help me set them up to pick objects from the table.

Share any connection details, manuals, or SDKs you already have. The agent checks the workspace, asks for missing information, and prepares the device connections and drivers. It then checks that the devices respond and identifies any calibration the task needs.

You can also ask it to prepare the hardware before choosing a task. When you add a new goal later, it reuses the setup and measurements that still apply.

One device at a time

To add or remove a device, tell the agent what changed:

Add this depth camera to my robot. Here is its connection information and documentation.

I no longer use the wrist camera. Remove it from this workspace.

The agent prepares and checks new devices before use. Removing a device requires confirmation because it deletes that device’s configuration and files. See Devices for more detail.

Calibration

Calibration measures facts such as where a camera sits, where the tool tip is, or how two arms are positioned relative to each other. Explain what you want the robot to do, or what has changed:

Help the arm pick objects using the overhead camera. Check what needs calibrating first.

I moved the wrist camera. Update its calibration before we continue.

The agent chooses a suitable procedure and guides you through it:

Prepare. Reuse reliable manufacturer or robot-model information and identify the measurements still needed.
Measure. Guide robot movements or ask you to position a target, then collect images and readings.
Check. Calculate the result and assess whether it meets the task’s accuracy needs.
Apply. Save an accepted result to the device configuration. If the measurements are insufficient, explain what needs improving.

If you choose to keep an approximate result, the agent retains its measured error and quality assessment. A result that failed a quality check is still recorded as such.

Sampling and evidence

The agent checks that the robot has reached the intended position before collecting measurements. It saves calibration images, readings, and results so they can be reviewed later. When hardware moves or changes, it reassesses the affected measurements.

Bundled calibration skills

Describe the outcome you need; the agent selects the procedure.

Calibration	What it determines
Camera geometry	Lens parameters and image geometry
Camera position	Where a camera sits on the robot or in the scene
Tool tip	Where the working tip is relative to the arm
Arm mounting	Where an arm sits on a table, mobile base, or torso
Two-arm alignment	How the two arms are positioned relative to each other
Joint limits	Each joint’s range of motion
Workspace geometry	Positions and dimensions in the surrounding environment
Mobile base checks	Whether a wheeled or legged base responds as expected

For custom procedures, see Tools & skills.

Calibration in practice

These recordings show Kinex calibrating a simulated YAM dual-arm robot in Isaac Lab, through RoboEnv. Each plays at 5× speed.

Wrist cameras. Each arm moves its wrist camera around a fixed calibration board on the table to find where the camera sits on the flange.

Overhead camera. The left arm holds a calibration board up to the fixed overhead camera in several poses to find the camera's position in the scene.

Dual arm. Both arms touch the same set of reference points on the table, which lets the agent work out where the right arm's base is relative to the left.

All set!

Ask the agent to connect the devices and check that they respond, then describe your first task. For example:

Check that the arm, gripper, and camera are ready, then pick up the blue block from the table.

If you prefer command shortcuts, see Slash commands.