Operating your Sentinel platform is simple and controlled through the HUD. In normal operation, the robot should not need to be power cycled, plugged in, or opened at any point. Sentinel charges wirelessly through contact with the Wibotics charging box, and power cycling can be done remotely through software.
That being said, understanding how to operate your robot manually is important for any on-site maintenance that may be required. Let's start with powering on your robot.
The Sentinel power switch is located on the back left of the robot behind the water-resistant cover panel. This panel will be closed by default to maintain the robot’s resistance to weather, but in the event of needed access, the panel can be removed by the 4 M5 socket screws. These can be removed using a size 3.0 Allen Wrench.
The Sentinel power switch is located on the back left of the robot behind the water-resistant cover panel. This panel will be closed by default to maintain the robot's resistance to weather, but in the event of needed access, the panel can be removed by the 4 M5 socket screws. These can be removed using a size 3.0 Allen Wrench.
The RED switch shows 3 positions. ON, OFF, and OUT . The ON position should be set by default and powers on the base and computers of the robot. Turning the switch to OFF will shut down the robot and power off all systems. The OUT position allows you to remove the switch, in the event that you’d like to store the robot long-term and do not want to leave the ability to power on the robot.
Above the power switch is an Ethernet access port. This can be used for connection to the robot when the network is unavailable. After connecting your computer to the port, the HUD can be accessed at the address 192.168.42.42:3000.
The robot has two estops on the left and right side that can be used to stop all movement on the robot. The estops cut power to the base, which would cease all movement when pressed. To trigger an e-stop, press down on the red button to trigger it into a depressed state. To reset an estop, twist the button counterclockwise and it will pop up into a raised position. These estops are shown below.
By default, the robot will charge though the wireless contact pad affixed to the back of the housing. When this contact pad is pressed up against the Wibotics charging box, the robot will begin charging as denoted by a BLUE light on the charge box.
In the event that the robot is not in the proximity of the wireless charge box, or can otherwise not use its doghouse, it can be charged via the included charger from the back of the robot. Underneath the charging cover, there are two rubber sealed access ports. The port on the left is for charging, and the power supply connector can be plugged into here.
To plug in the connector, put the connector clip side DOWN and press into the charging port. If successful, the cable should insert fully and clip into place.
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The Wibotics can charge the robot significantly faster than the cable charger. The Wibotics charger can fully recharge the unit in ~3 hours while the cable charger may take more than 8 hours to bring the robot from completely dead to a full charge.
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The charging access ports are shown below, with the charging port being the connector on the LEFT
