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.
Get Started
To get started with Orca Core, follow these steps:
Pre-installation steps
-
Git clone the orca_core repository:
#use any preferred method, ssh clone shown here git clone git@github.com:orcahand/orca_core.git -
Install uv (found at: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/)
Installing the repository
-
Sync a local development environment with
uv:uv sync --group dev
This creates a local
.venvand installs the package plus development dependencies. -
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
uvcan still install the package with:pip install .
Post-installation sample usage scripts
-
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.
- Review the config file (e.g.,
-
Run the tension and calibration scripts:
uv run python scripts/tension.py orca_core/models/v2/orcahand-right/config.yaml uv run python scripts/calibrate.py orca_core/models/v2/orcahand-right/config.yaml
Replace the path with your specific hand model folder if needed.
-
Move the hand to the neutral position:
uv run python scripts/neutral.py orca_core/models/v2/orcahand-right/config.yaml
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 →
portdisambiguates which one - motors run at a non-default baudrate →
baudrateskips the probe sweep - the auto-detection picks the wrong family →
motor_typeforces 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'
2 maintainers
Metadata
2 maintainers
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