Vincross HEXA User manual

© 2017 Vincross Inc. All rights reserved.
www.vincross.com

Hello,
I’m Tianqi, the creator of HEXA. I am so happy that you have chosen to open the user guide
and read my letter. I expected about 73% of the Human Mentors would skip the guide and
immediately start playing with HEXA. I get it! However, I hope you will all refer to the user
guide in case of any questions.
Normally in an opening letter, I would talk to you all about a bright future with endless
possibilities. But that is meaningless at this point. For you already have embarked on this
journey. You already have a HEXA in hand and I know for sure, you already have a very
strong idea about the future and that’s why you are here.
I am very happy that we are the first group of Human Mentors about to enter into the world
of robot development. It is my hope that 30 years from now, we will all be speaking the same
truth. Something along the lines of…
“One day I opened a box. At that very moment, I became the first group of Human Mentors
tasked with bringing robots to life.”
Have fun with HEXA!
Cheers,
Tianqi Sun

Table of Contents
Part 1: Getting Started
Say hi to HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02
Introducing HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02
HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03
HEXA posterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04
Hardware interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05
Activate HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
Download the HEXA App to activate HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
Activate additional HEXAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Troubleshooting for unsuccessful HEXA activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Connect to HEXA with your mobile device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Using Wi-Fi mode to connect HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Troubleshooting for Wi-Fi mode connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Use Direct Link mode to connect to HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Troubleshooting for Direct Link mode connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Reset HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
How to reset HEXA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
HEXA pre-installed Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Use Skills in Launcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Play around with pre-installed Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Download more Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Transferring HEXA ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
How to transfer HEXA ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Table of Contents 01

Part 2: Open Platform & Developer Tools
HEXA is an open platform for robot developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
MIND SDK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Developer Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Developer Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Part 3: HEXA’s Features and Parameters
Power light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Head light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Visual system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Explore, take pictures and videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Power and charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Battery display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Legs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Specs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Part 4: Services and System Updates
Services and support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
System update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Update “HEXA User Guide” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Table of Contents02

Part 1
Getting Started

Say hi to HEXA
Introducing HEXA
HEXA is an all-terrain hexapod robot designed and developed by Vincross
Inc. It comes equipped with basic motion capacities such as walking,
climbing, and passing through caves. It is also equipped with multiform
interfaces such as a built-in camera, infrared transmitter, and a distance
measuring sensor. Furthermore, HEXA is running MIND, a Linux-based OS,
which allows developers to easily program their robot. Various hardware
ports are available including USB, audio input and output, I²C, ADC, GPIO,
and 5V/3.3V power output.
Getting Started02 Getting Started02

HEXA
Head shell
Head light
Infrared transmitter
Hardware interfaces
AC/DC adapter× 1Wireless charging dock × 1
Camera
Distance measuring
sensor
HEXA × 1
Getting Started 03

HEXA posterior
Power button
Charge interface
Power light
Getting Started04

Use only the original AC/DC adapter in order to prevent serious
damage to HEXA and/or fire.
Hardware interfaces
The hardware interfaces are located under the head shell.
(Pull up from the back of the head to remove shell.)
USB 2.0
I2C-SDA
I2C-SCL GND
+5V-OUT
5V-ADCGPIO
+3.3V-OUT
GND-ADC
GND
3.5mm
LINE OUT
3.5mm
LINE IN
01230123
Getting Started 05

Activate HEXA
Download the HEXA App to activate HEXA
In order to activate your HEXA, you must first download the HEXA App. You
will then be guided through setup/register. The activation requires a Wi-Fi
network with internet connection for your HEXA and mobile device.
Instructions for activating HEXA
1. Download HEXA App.
Upon downloading, you will be guided through setup and on-boarding. You must have a Wi-Fi
network to provide an internet connection for both your HEXA and mobile device during
initial setup.
For iOS users: Search "Vincross HEXA" in the App Store and download.
For Android users: Search "Vincross HEXA" on Google Play or directly download the
App APK at https://www.vincross.com/download-hexa-app
Getting Started06

2. Open HEXA App while your mobile device is connected to a
Wi-Fi network, and press "Let's get started!"
Getting Started 07

3. Turn on HEXA’s power button located on its
posterior side. The power light will turn a steady
green to indicate it is on.
Getting Started08

4. The head light on the top side will show light purple
for about 10 seconds. Then it will start blinking yellow.
Getting Started 09

5. Choose a Wi-Fi network for HEXA and enter the
password.
HEXA is NOT able to connect to any of the wireless network that is: 5
GHz, enterprise secured, ad-hoc/peer-to-peer, or public networks that
require a web browser for authentication.
Getting Started10

6. Place the QR code in front of HEXA's camera until the head light turns blue
and stops blinking. Try to move slightly for focus. After wait about 30-60
seconds, the HEXA App will automatically connect the HEXA once
activation complete. (Please goto Page 31 to see how to use Skills in
Launcher.)
Getting Started 11

Activate additional HEXAs
The more HEXAs, the merrier. Follow these instructions for activating
additional robots.
1. Open HEXA App and login to your Vincross account.
Press the “+” button and then press "Add a HEXA" .
Getting Started12

2. Press "Activate a new HEXA".
Getting Started 13

3. Finish the activation process by following the activation
instructions shown on Page 6.
Getting Started14