SW Setup

Set up the i2rt Python SDK and CAN bus environment. This is a one-time setup that all I2RT products share — once it's done, you can move on to the per-product Hardware Setup checklists.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Version
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (recommended)
Python	3.10+ (3.11 recommended)
CAN adapter	CANable or compatible USB-CAN device
Build tools	build-essential, python3-dev

Raspberry Pi users

The Flow Base ships with a Raspberry Pi pre-configured with the SDK. You can skip this page entirely and jump to Flow Base Hardware Setup.

1. Install from source

1.1 Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/i2rt-robotics/i2rt.git
cd i2rt

1.2 Install uv (fast Python package manager)

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
source $HOME/.local/bin/env

1.3 Create a virtual environment

uv venv --python 3.11
source .venv/bin/activate

1.4 Install system build dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential python3-dev linux-headers-$(uname -r)

1.5 Install the package

uv pip install -e .

The -e flag installs in editable mode so you can modify source files and run examples without reinstalling.

2. Verify the install

python -c "import i2rt; print('i2rt installed successfully')"

Or launch the MuJoCo simulator (no hardware required):

python examples/minimum_gello/minimum_gello.py --mode visualizer_local

This opens a 3D viewer with the YAM arm model.

3. CAN bus setup

All I2RT arms and the Flow Base communicate over CAN bus at 1 Mbit/s.

Bring up the interface

# Check which CAN devices are detected
ls -l /sys/class/net/can*

# Bring up the interface at 1 Mbit/s
sudo ip link set can0 up type can bitrate 1000000

Auto-enable on boot (recommended)

sudo sh devices/install_devices.sh

This installs a udev rule that runs ip link set ... up for every can* interface.

Reset a stuck CAN device

sh scripts/reset_all_can.sh

If you see RTNETLINK answers: Device or resource busy, unplug and replug the USB adapter.

4. Persistent CAN names (multi-arm only)

For multi-arm setups (e.g. YAM Cell with 4 arms), assign deterministic names like can_follower_l instead of can0/can1.

Find sysfs paths

ls -l /sys/class/net/can*

Read the serial number (plug adapters one at a time)

udevadm info -a -p /sys/class/net/can0 | grep -i serial

Create udev rules

sudo vim /etc/udev/rules.d/90-can.rules

Add one line per adapter:

SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{serial}=="004E00275548501220373234", NAME="can_follower_l"
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{serial}=="0031005F5548501220373234", NAME="can_follower_r"

Interface name limit

Names must start with can and be 13 characters or fewer.

Reload and verify

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo systemctl restart systemd-udevd && sudo udevadm trigger
ip link show

Naming convention for YAM Cell:

Arm	Interface name
Left follower	can_follower_l
Right follower	can_follower_r
Left leader	can_leader_l
Right leader	can_leader_r

Next step

Pick the product you're setting up:

• YAM Arm
• YAM Cell
• YAM Box
• Flow Base
• Linear Bot
• Motors