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Hardware Readiness

Use this checklist before running DAM against physical robot hardware. It is intentionally practical: confirm the environment, validate the Stackfile, then move from monitor-style learning to enforce-style operation only when the signals make sense.

Before Connecting Hardware

  • You completed Quick Start without hardware.
  • make validate passes for the example Stackfiles.
  • You can explain the task name and active boundaries in your hardware Stackfile.
  • You know how to stop the robot outside DAM.
  • The robot workspace is clear and the physical stop procedure has been tested.

Check The Hardware Stackfile

For the SO-ARM101 example:

.venv/bin/dam inspect examples/stackfiles/so101.yaml

Confirm:

Field What to verify
hardware.sources.arm.port Matches the connected serial device
Camera sources index_or_path values match local cameras
policy.device Uses a device supported by your machine
safety.enforcement_mode Starts from the mode you intend
tasks.soarm101.boundaries Contains only boundaries you want active

Run In Small Steps

  1. Validate: .venv/bin/dam validate examples/stackfiles/so101.yaml
  2. Inspect: .venv/bin/dam inspect examples/stackfiles/so101.yaml
  3. Start with a short controlled run: 
    .venv/bin/dam run examples/stackfiles/so101.yaml --cycles 50 --task soarm101
  4. Watch the console for guard decisions and latency.
  5. Stop and review any reject, fault, repeated clamp, or latency warning.

What To Watch In The Console

Signal Why it matters
Guard status Shows which layer is making decisions
Event log Shows recent clamp, reject, fault, and control events
Risk gauge Summarizes current risk state
Cycle latency Shows whether the loop is staying inside budget
MCAP Sessions Lets you inspect safety events after the run

Do Not Continue If

  • The Stackfile does not validate.
  • The selected task name is wrong.
  • Hardware health boundaries reject immediately and you do not know why.
  • Console latency is repeatedly over budget.
  • You cannot stop the robot independently of DAM.

Return to Troubleshooting or Console Walkthrough before continuing.