In this document we will walk you through quick steps to set up the robot and start programming with it after unpacking.
The first thing you need to do is to mount the robot on a sturdy and stable surface. The robot can operate while installed on the ground or hanged from the ceiling. The base of the robot has four 8mm holes for M8 screws. You can also use 5/16” screws for securing the robot. For quick tests, you can also use woodworking clamps to secure the robot base on a desk.
Unsecure or unstable mounting surfaces will degrade the quality of motion and the maximum capacity of the robot.
Next, you will need to connect the cables going out of the robot to the controller box. There are two cables that connect to the controller box using DB25 screws. Make connector screws tight and secure, as loose screws might cause control errors while the robot is in operation. Now connect the power plug and turn the robot on.
Next, launch the control software for Dorna robot, called Dorna lab on a web browser at: http://lab.dorna.ai/.
You can use a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or cell phone, for launching the application. Note that, after the initial launch of Dorna lab, you don’t need an internet connection for operating the robot as the application runs completely on your local device.
For more information on connection please visit the connection page.
Next we will establish a connection to the robot. Connect your robot to your router. Use Ethernet cable for the connection. Once your robot is connected to the router, you need to find the IP address of the robot.
In a web browser navigate to your router’s IP address e.g.
http://192.168.1.1, which is usually printed on a label on your router; this will take you to a control panel. Then log in using your router credentials, which is usually also printed on the router or sent to you in the accompanying paperwork. Browse to the list of connected devices or similar (all routers are different), and you should see some devices you recognize. Some devices are detected as PCs, tablets, phones, printers, etc. so you should recognize some and rule them out to figure out which is your robot. Also note the connection type; if your robot is connected with a wire there should be fewer devices to choose from. Once you obtain the robot IP address, you can easily connect to your robot. For example, in this image the IP address of the robot is
192.168.1.9 and the robot WebSocket server URL is
# WebSocket URL in Dorna lab ws://192.168.1.9:443
To connect to the controller in Dorna lab click on connection status link on the top of the page.
In the connection window that pops up, place the robot WebSocket URL, which is
ws://robot_ip_address:443 or in this case
ws://192.168.1.9:443 and click on
Now Dorna lab is connected to the controller and you can begin operating the robot.
For more information on homing please visit the setting joints page.
Each time you turn off the robot, the encoders will no longer track the position of the joints. So, the first thing after establishing a connection is to tell the robot what the value of each joint is. From there on, until you turn off the controller again, the encoders will track the joints values.
To set the joints to their correct values, first put the joints in a mechanically defined position. The position is called home position and is defined as follows.
We begin by placing the wrist (joints j3 and j4) in the home position. In this position, the flat surface on the wrist will touch the standoff on the previous link as the picture below.
Next, we place link 3 (j2) and link 2 (j1) of the robot in their home positions. Link 3 will be rotated to its most negative value and link 2 will be rotated to its maximum positive value until they both touch standoffs on their previous links.
Finally, we will rotate the base joint (j0) towards its maximum value until it hits an internal mechanical limit stop. In this position, the cables are coming out at the same direction as the head of the robot.
Now that all joints (j0, j1, j2, j3, and j4) are at their home position, we click on “Set Joint” in Dorna lab.
The default values given in this window for each joint is the value of the joints at their home positions. We can either set each joint individually or use “Set all” to set them altogether.
If you are using a different home position or another reference position for your robot, you can enter your custom joints values in the “Set joint” window and use that as a starting point.
After all joints have been set to their correct values, we can turn the motors on and start moving the robot.
To move the robot, you will have few options in Dorna Lab. You can use the jog buttons on the right hand side of the screen, to move the robot joints or choose the jog line to directly move the robot head on straight line, towards your desired location. The velocity, acceleration and jerk values for a motion, can be changed using the sliders in this area.
You can also write motion commands directly in the command window. Activate command window by pressing on its icon on the left hand side of the screen.
Then compose your set of commands and press the “Play” button to run the commands on the robot.
For a set of commands that you can use, please refer to the commands page on our documentation: https://doc.dorna.ai/docs/cmd/intro.html
You can also design a complex motion in path design area of Dorna lab.
Simulate, play and convert the designed path into motion commands using the tools available in this area.
To see the status of I/Os, change their values and control external actuators, using the I/O window of Dorna lab by clicking on the IO button at the top of the screen.