🚀 Distro 2025.08.0 Released

[Nicogene]

2025.08.0 Distro Announcement

Brief description of the announcement

Hello @robotology/everyone 👋

The iCub project is happy to announce our Software Distro 2025.08.0 📦

This is a major release that comprises binary packages as well. Therefore, follow the instructions available in our documentation to upgrade your system and/or download the new dependencies.

You can find the tags composing this distro in our Software Versioning Table.

Detailed context

This new release introduces significant improvements to our software ecosystem, with a strong focus on enhancing calibration procedures and advancing firmware and motor control capabilities. Below is a detailed breakdown of the key updates, complete with links to the relevant resources.

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🦾 New fineCalibrationChecker Tool

A major highlight of this release is the introduction of a brand-new tool, the fineCalibrationChecker. Initially developed as a standalone application, this tool is designed to verify the accuracy of the calibration procedure for all or a selected set of joints. It provides a detailed analysis by generating a .csv file and a visual plot with colored deltas for easy interpretation of the results.

To simplify its deployment and better integrate it within our ecosystem, the fineCalibrationChecker has been refactored into a YARP device. This makes it a pluggable component that can be easily used across different setups. As a first use case, the necessary configuration files have been added to deploy and use the tool on the iCubGenova11 robot.

Resources

• icub-main#1026: Feature/fine calibration checkup tool
• icub-main#1034: FineCalibrationChecker from tool to yarp device
• robots-configuration#748: iCubGenova11 add files for fineCalibrationChecker

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⚙️ Firmware and Motor Control Enhancements

This release also brings several important updates to our firmware and motor control systems, improving performance, configurability, and debugging capabilities.

icub-firmware-models

• Q-Encoder Rotor-Stator Calibration: The motion controller supervisor now includes Quadrature Encoder (Q-Encoder) calibration capabilities. This feature intelligently determines the appropriate calibration type (full or search index) based on motor configurations, leading to more precise and efficient motor control.
• Motor/Joint Encoder Switching: An experimental feature has been added to switch between motor and joint encoders for velocity and position control, paving the way for more flexible control strategies.
• Expanded Motion Controller Project: A new Matlab project, "Joint Motion Controller," has been introduced. It provides a software architecture template for controlling the motion of a whole joint on dual-core boards.
• Fix for Voltage Commands Range: An issue with the percentage range of voltage commands has been fixed, ensuring they are correctly applied in the Field-Oriented Control (FOC) module.

Resources

• icub-firmware-models#130: Common: Qenc rotor-stator calibration introduced in motion controller supervisor
• icub-firmware-models#127: Common: Change dictionary to add QENC and calibration rotor-stator
• icub-firmware-models#132: Common: Add possibility to switch between motor and joint encoder in velocity/position control
• icub-firmware-models#138: Add project of expanded motion controller for whole-joint control
• icub-firmware-models#136: Update FOC to fix the % range of voltage commands

icub-main

• Best Effort Execution Mode for ETH Boards: A "best effort" execution mode has been introduced for the RX, DO, and TX phases of ETH boards. This mode improves the reporting of execution times, resulting in a more configurable and debuggable system.
• Parallel Firmware Updates for CAN Boards: The FirmwareUpdater tool now supports parallel firmware updates for multiple CAN boards via a new --addresses command-line option, streamlining the management of multiple devices.
• Configurable Timeouts for Setpoints: The motor control system now features configurable timeout parameters for PWM, current, and torque setpoints, as well as for torque feedback. This allows for precise control of the watchdog behavior, improving system safety and flexibility.

Resources

• icub-main#1030: Best effort execution mode for RX, DO and TX phases of ETH boards
• icub-main#1036: Can boards parallel update broadcast
• icub-main#1027: Timeout parameters for PWM, current and torque setpoints added to protocol

👴 Deprecations

🔘 Deprecation 1