To control your robot, you need to install phosphobot and completed the quickstart. - If you don’t have a robot arm, you can get hardware here. If you built your own robot arm, you should first calibrate it.

phosphobot lets you control the SO-100 or SO-101 robot arm with:

  • your keyboard
  • a game controller
  • the HTTP API
  • the Meta Quest app
  • a leader arm or another follower arm
  • by playing back a recording

You can also control other kind of robots and write your own controllers.

​
How to control the SO-100 with a keyboard?

Use phosphobot to control your SO-100 robot arm with your keyboard, using the arrow keys to move the robot arm in the desired direction.

Go to localhost in your web browser to access the phosphobot dashboard. Go to Keyboard Control. Click on the Start robot button to start controlling the robot arm with your keyboard. Click on the Stop robot button to stop controlling the robot arm with your keyboard.

​
How to control the SO-100 with a game controller?

You can control your robot arm using standard game controllers (Xbox, PlayStation, or similar) for more intuitive and ergonomic control.

  1. Connect your controller to your computer via USB or Bluetooth.

  2. Go to localhost in your web browser to access the phosphobot dashboard. Navigate to the Control page and select the Gamepad control tab.

  3. Press any button on your controller to activate it. The dashboard will detect your controller automatically.

  4. The robot will start moving automatically once the gamepad is detected.

Control mapping:

  • Left stick: Rotate (X-axis) and move up/down (Y-axis)
  • Right stick: Strafe left/right (X-axis) and move forward/backward (Y-axis)
  • D-Pad or face buttons (ABXY): Wrist pitch and roll control
  • L1/R1 bumpers: Toggle gripper open/close
  • L2/R2 triggers: Analog gripper control (0-100%)
  • Start/Menu: Move arm to sleep position

The gamepad control feature requires a browser with Gamepad API support (Chrome/Edge 21+, Firefox 29+, Safari 10.1+).

​
Send your first commands to the API

Once your phosphobot server is running, you can send your first command to the robot arm.

Make sure the robot is well fixed and the area around is clear before sending any command.

  1. Go to the interactive API docs on the phosphobot dashboard: localhost/docs. On the control module, the address phosphobot.local/docs. This page lets you send commands to the robot arm.

  2. Trigger the /move/init endpoint to initialize the robot (click Try it out and then press Execute).

  3. Your robot arm moves to the default position. It’s alive! 🎉

  4. Now, you can call the /move/absolute endpoint to move the robot to a specific position. The distances are in centimeters, and the angles in degrees.

​
Meta Quest app

​
Set up your Meta Quest app

The phospho starter pack is shipped with a Meta Quest app for teleoperation. In this section, we will set up the app on your Meta Quest headset.

If you didn’t buy a starter pack, you can still get access to the Meta Quest app by purchasing it

  1. After purchasing your phospho starter pack, you’ll receive an email invitation to the Meta Alpha program of the phospho teleop app. Follow the email instructions to link your Meta account to the Alpha program.

  2. Make sure your Meta Quest headset is turned on and connected to WiFi. Once you’ve linked your account, the Meta Quest will automatically download the app. This can take a moment.

The Meta Quest connects to the phosphobot server through a shared WiFi connection.

  1. Open the phospho teleop app from the library. Once downloading is done, you can open the software library on the Meta Quest. In the list of All apps, you’ll see the phospho teleop app. This app is automatically updated with the latest releases.

​
Use the Meta Quest app

Make sure the Meta Quest is connected to the same WiFi that the computer running the phosphobot server.

Connect to the dev kit through WiFi in the phospho Meta Quest app.

  1. In the Meta Quest, open the phospho teleop application. You should see a screen displaying phosphobot along with the server ping. Click the Connect button using the Trigger Button.

Troubleshooting if you don’t see the server:

  1. Make sure the port field in the Meta Quest app settings matches the port of your phosphobot server (default is 80, then 8020).
  2. Use the manual connection option by Adding to favourite your phosphobot server’s IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.X) and port.
  3. Your computer may have a firewall blocking the connection. Make sure the port is open and check your local network settings.
  1. After connecting, you should see the main camera feed if a camera is connected. Move the windows with the Grip button to organize your space.

  1. Press A once to start teleoperation and begin moving your controller.
    • The robot will naturally follow the movement of your controller. Press the Trigger button to close the gripper.
    • Press A again to stop the teleoperation. The robot will stop.

You just teleoperated your robot arm! 🎉

​
Using a leader arm

The leader arm is optional.

If you have a leader arm, we offer some basic support.

  1. Plug the leader arm.

  2. Calibrate the leader arm the same way you calibrated the robot arm.

  3. Go to the phosphobot dashboard, in the Control page and click on the Leader Arm section.

​
What’s next?

Record a dataset

How to record a dataset with your robot

To control your robot, you need to install phosphobot and completed the quickstart. - If you don’t have a robot arm, you can get hardware here. If you built your own robot arm, you should first calibrate it.

phosphobot lets you control the SO-100 or SO-101 robot arm with:

  • your keyboard
  • a game controller
  • the HTTP API
  • the Meta Quest app
  • a leader arm or another follower arm
  • by playing back a recording

You can also control other kind of robots and write your own controllers.

​
How to control the SO-100 with a keyboard?

Use phosphobot to control your SO-100 robot arm with your keyboard, using the arrow keys to move the robot arm in the desired direction.

Go to localhost in your web browser to access the phosphobot dashboard. Go to Keyboard Control. Click on the Start robot button to start controlling the robot arm with your keyboard. Click on the Stop robot button to stop controlling the robot arm with your keyboard.

​
How to control the SO-100 with a game controller?

You can control your robot arm using standard game controllers (Xbox, PlayStation, or similar) for more intuitive and ergonomic control.

  1. Connect your controller to your computer via USB or Bluetooth.

  2. Go to localhost in your web browser to access the phosphobot dashboard. Navigate to the Control page and select the Gamepad control tab.

  3. Press any button on your controller to activate it. The dashboard will detect your controller automatically.

  4. The robot will start moving automatically once the gamepad is detected.

Control mapping:

  • Left stick: Rotate (X-axis) and move up/down (Y-axis)
  • Right stick: Strafe left/right (X-axis) and move forward/backward (Y-axis)
  • D-Pad or face buttons (ABXY): Wrist pitch and roll control
  • L1/R1 bumpers: Toggle gripper open/close
  • L2/R2 triggers: Analog gripper control (0-100%)
  • Start/Menu: Move arm to sleep position

The gamepad control feature requires a browser with Gamepad API support (Chrome/Edge 21+, Firefox 29+, Safari 10.1+).

​
Send your first commands to the API

Once your phosphobot server is running, you can send your first command to the robot arm.

Make sure the robot is well fixed and the area around is clear before sending any command.

  1. Go to the interactive API docs on the phosphobot dashboard: localhost/docs. On the control module, the address phosphobot.local/docs. This page lets you send commands to the robot arm.

  2. Trigger the /move/init endpoint to initialize the robot (click Try it out and then press Execute).

  3. Your robot arm moves to the default position. It’s alive! 🎉

  4. Now, you can call the /move/absolute endpoint to move the robot to a specific position. The distances are in centimeters, and the angles in degrees.

​
Meta Quest app

​
Set up your Meta Quest app

The phospho starter pack is shipped with a Meta Quest app for teleoperation. In this section, we will set up the app on your Meta Quest headset.

If you didn’t buy a starter pack, you can still get access to the Meta Quest app by purchasing it

  1. After purchasing your phospho starter pack, you’ll receive an email invitation to the Meta Alpha program of the phospho teleop app. Follow the email instructions to link your Meta account to the Alpha program.

  2. Make sure your Meta Quest headset is turned on and connected to WiFi. Once you’ve linked your account, the Meta Quest will automatically download the app. This can take a moment.

The Meta Quest connects to the phosphobot server through a shared WiFi connection.

  1. Open the phospho teleop app from the library. Once downloading is done, you can open the software library on the Meta Quest. In the list of All apps, you’ll see the phospho teleop app. This app is automatically updated with the latest releases.

​
Use the Meta Quest app

Make sure the Meta Quest is connected to the same WiFi that the computer running the phosphobot server.

Connect to the dev kit through WiFi in the phospho Meta Quest app.

  1. In the Meta Quest, open the phospho teleop application. You should see a screen displaying phosphobot along with the server ping. Click the Connect button using the Trigger Button.

Troubleshooting if you don’t see the server:

  1. Make sure the port field in the Meta Quest app settings matches the port of your phosphobot server (default is 80, then 8020).
  2. Use the manual connection option by Adding to favourite your phosphobot server’s IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.X) and port.
  3. Your computer may have a firewall blocking the connection. Make sure the port is open and check your local network settings.
  1. After connecting, you should see the main camera feed if a camera is connected. Move the windows with the Grip button to organize your space.

  1. Press A once to start teleoperation and begin moving your controller.
    • The robot will naturally follow the movement of your controller. Press the Trigger button to close the gripper.
    • Press A again to stop the teleoperation. The robot will stop.

You just teleoperated your robot arm! 🎉

​
Using a leader arm

The leader arm is optional.

If you have a leader arm, we offer some basic support.

  1. Plug the leader arm.

  2. Calibrate the leader arm the same way you calibrated the robot arm.

  3. Go to the phosphobot dashboard, in the Control page and click on the Leader Arm section.

​
What’s next?

Record a dataset

How to record a dataset with your robot