Device Setup

Once the device has been mounted and an appropriate power source has been identified, it is ready to be set up and configured.

Sensor & Power Connections

One physical connection is required for power, and one for the main sensor (Cam1). If a second sensor (Cam2) is required, that may also be connected. To connect the sensor and power to the Slamcore Aware device, follow these steps:

1. Screw in the Wi-Fi antennas to the ANT1 and ANT2 connectors.
2. Connect the FAKRA cable between the sensor and the port labelled Cam1 of the compute.
3. If using a second camera, connect the FAKRA cable between the second sensor and the port labelled Cam2 of the compute.
4. Check that the protection film on all connected sensors' lenses have been removed.
5. Next, connect the compute box to a power supply, either provided by the vehicle or an external battery source (See Power Requirements for details). The red PWR LED will start blinking and the device will power up automatically.
6. Wait up to 5 minutes for the device to fully power on and the web interface to become accessible.

The sensor unit(s) must be connected to the device before providing power for correct initialization. If a sensor unit is connected whilst the device is already powered on, please reboot the device using the REBOOT DEVICE button in the settings page of the web interface, as explained in Device Reboot & Shutdown.

Setting the Vehicle dimensions and center position

The footprint of the vehicle is represented in the system as a bounding box defined by the vehicle width and length. With the requirement of Cam1's forward direction (its x axis) to be aligned with the forwards/backwards direction of the vehicle, the Length parameter defines the size of the bounding box along the x axis, and the Width parameter defines the size of the bounding box along the y axis. The position of the bounding box is defined as the position of its center relative to Cam1, and is set via the X Offset and Y Offset parameters. See the figure below for an example vehicle set up.

Setting Vehicle Dimensions and Position

Changing the Vehicle Tracking Point

By default the system reports the vehicle's pose with respect to the map as the pose of the main Slamcore Aware sensor unit (Cam1): the default tracking point is on the underside of the unit casing, centered on the threaded mount point, and the orientation convention is as specified in the figure below. This is the default vehicle tracking point used by the system. The tracking point can be changed to another point on the vehicle by applying an offset relative to the Slamcore Aware sensor through the web interface settings, indicating the position and orientation offset of the tracking point from the sensor unit:

Default Tracking Point - Sensor unit Sensor Frame

1. On the web interface, select Settings from the left panel > POSITIONING tab and scroll to the bottom of the tab for the Tracking Point input fields under the Control Points section.

   

   Tracking Point Input Fields

2. Input the offset values to transform the tracking point from the sensor unit sensor frame to the required position, following the axes convention provided by the diagram above.

   For example:

   • X = -3.0 sets the tracking point 3.0 m behind the sensor,
   • Y = -2.0 sets the tracking point 2.0 m to the right from the sensor, and
   • Yaw = 180° rotates the tracking point around the Z-axis, resulting in the X-axis pointing in the opposite direction to the sensor unit sensor. For example, if the sensor is mounted facing backwards on the vehicle.

   

   Tracking Point Input Example

   note

   Should you need to reset to the default values, set input field values to X = 0.0, Y = 0.0 and Yaw = 180.0

3. Select SAVE CHANGES on the POSITIONING tab inside to the Control Points section to apply your settings.

   

   Control Points Saved

4. The poses will now be published from the specified tracking point, indicated by the 3D axes which is now at a different location from the camera icon.

   

   Tracking Point Visualisation

Configuring the second sensor (Cam2)

If a second sensor is connected to the device, its pose on the vehicle relative to Cam1 must be set through the UI:

1. On the web interface, select Settings from the left panel > POSITIONING tab and scroll to the Cam2 input fields under the Control Points section.

Cam2 Input Fields

2. Input the offset values to define:

   • the position of the sensor relative to the Cam1 sensor unit 1/4′′ thread hole, and
   • the yaw of the sensor relative to the Cam1 sensor unit forward direction, following the axes convention provided by the example below, where:
   • X = -0.9 sets the Cam2 position 0.9 m behind the Cam1 sensor,
   • Y = -0.4 sets the Cam2 point 0.4 m to the right of the Cam1 sensor, and
   • Yaw = 180° rotates the Cam2 point around the Z-axis (Up), resulting in the X-axis pointing in the opposite direction to the Cam1 sensor.

   

   Cam2 Pose Example (top-down view)

   

   Cam2 Pose Input Example

3. Select SAVE CHANGES on the POSITIONING tab inside the Control Points section to apply your settings.

   

   Cam2 Saved

Configuring Alert (requires Alert license)

Alert is enabled via the toggle on the ACCESSORIES tab in the Settings page. This tab also contains a toggle to enable/disable the beacon buzzer. Note that only one of the two beacon ports will switch the buzzer on; if using only one beacon users should ensure they connect it to this port.

On the POSITIONING tab, the user can set the alert zone Danger and Caution distance thresholds: When the vehicle is moving, the zones around it that are checked for pedestrians adapt to the vehicle's velocity. These values set thresholds on proximity to the vehicle in these zones that configure the alert to be at Caution or Danger level.

Default Network Connection

To access the device web interface for configuration and monitoring, a network connection must be established between the Slamcore Aware device and your computer.

The following network interfaces are available:

• Wi-Fi:

  • Each new Slamcore Aware device will start its own Wi-Fi access point / hotspot. This enables direct connection to the device over Wi-Fi. Alternatively, the device can also be configured to join your facility's Wi-Fi network.

• Ethernet:

  • An Ethernet port on the device enables direct connection with a computer or, alternatively, to a regular wired network running a DHCPv4 server.

note

The sections below will cover how to connect to the device through either its Wi-Fi Hotspot or using a direct Ethernet connection, for initial device setup. Instructions on how to change the default network settings and connect the device to your facility's local network are provided later on in the Local Network Connection section.

Wi-Fi Hotspot Network Connection

The default out of the box Wi-Fi configuration for each device is access point / hotspot mode. In this mode, the device will host its own Wi-Fi network, enabling easy direct wireless connection to the device. It is also possible to change the default mode and connect the device to your facility's network, this is covered later in the Local Network Connection section.

To connect your computer to the device using its hotspot network,

1. Identify and select the device's network under your computer Wi-Fi settings:
   • Hotspot Network Name: sc-aware-<device-ID>-hotspot
   • Hotspot Password: sc-aware-<device-ID>

<!-- -->

2. Access the Slamcore Aware web interface for the device via a web browser using the default hotspot IP address - 192.168.42.1 .
3. You will be presented with a login page - enter the login details provided by Slamcore.

Slamcore Aware Login Page

note

To connect to a different device, connect to the hotspot network of the other device and follow the same steps.

If you have successfully accessed the web interface using the Wi-Fi hotspot you may skip the next section, which covers an alternative approach using Ethernet.

The first things to do before you start using the device are

1. (If specified by Slamcore) updating the software, and
2. Updating the license file.

These steps are covered in the sections below.

Direct Ethernet Network Connection

It is also possible to connect to the device over Ethernet. The device has a static Ethernet IP address (169.254.1.1) through which the web interface can be accessed when connecting an Ethernet cable directly between the device and a computer. Alternatively, you can connect the device to a wired network running a DHCP server, where it will get assigned an IP address by the router.

To connect the device directly to your computer and access its web interface,

1. Connect an Ethernet cable between the device and your computer.

<!-- -->

2. Configure the network settings on your computer following the instructions in the table below depending on your operating system.

Network Configuration for Direct Ethernet Connection

Operating System	Network Settings
Ubuntu	Access the Wired Network connection settings in Network Manager. Go to the IPv4 tab and set the IPv4 Method to Link-Local Only. Apply the settings. Ubuntu Link-Local Configuration
Windows	No configuration is required. Simply connect an Ethernet cable between the device and your Windows computer, wait up to 30 seconds for the connection to be established.
macOS	No configuration is required. Simply connect an Ethernet cable between the device and your Mac, wait up to 30 seconds for the connection to be established.

3. Wait up to 30 seconds for the connection to be established. Then access the Slamcore Aware web interface for the device via a web browser using the default Ethernet IP address - 169.254.1.1. If this does not work, please see Troubleshooting for details on how to connect over Ethernet using a static IP address on your computer.
4. If the connection was established successfully, you will be presented with a login page - enter the login details provided by Slamcore.

Slamcore Aware Login Page

Once you have access to the web interface, the first things to do before you start using the device are updating the software and the license file.

Software Update

After receiving a new unit, a software update may be necessary. This may be an app update (.tbz2 file type) or full system update package (.raucb file type) depending on the contents of the release.

note

The MK2 and MK3 devices use the same app update package (.tbz2 file type), but different system update packages (.raucb file type).

To update the device with either types of packages:

1. Download the software update package provided by Slamcore.
2. In the web interface, go to Settings > General > Upgrade Software > click on Choose file and select the software update package, e.g. slamcore-webui_jetson_arm64_0.x.x.tbz2

Software Update

3. Click UPGRADE to start the update. Slamcore Aware App updates may take up to 15 minutes to complete, whilst full Slamcore Aware system updates may take longer.

Software Update Status - Ongoing

4. A final pop-up notification will appear once the upgrade has been successful.

Software Update Status - Success

License Update

The license file on the device will need to be updated manually upon receipt of the Slamcore Aware device.

Download the license file (.json file type) provided to you. On the web app, go to Settings > General > License > Update License > Choose file and select the license file. Then click UPDATE to update your Slamcore Aware license.

Software License Pane

Device Reboot & Shutdown

The Slamcore Aware device provides options to safely reboot and shutdown the device.

To reboot from the web interface, go to Settings > General and click Reboot device. Confirm the hostname shown in the dialog before applying the reboot.

note

On versions prior to v25.07, avoid using the REBOOT DEVICE button in the web interface due to a known issue where it may shut down the device instead of rebooting it.

The physical RESET button on the outside of the device can also be used to reboot the device, as explained in Hardware Interfaces. A 3 seconds press of the RESET button will force shutdown the device and then reboot the device if external power is connected.

warning

If the device does not reboot successfully and can not be reached over Wi-Fi or Ethernet, you will need to remove the power connector and wait for the device to shut down fully (up to 4 minutes) before reconnecting power.

If power is disconnected from the device, it will automatically enter a 3 minute grace period during which the device operates as normal. If power is restored during this time, the device will continue to run in normal operation mode. If power remains disconnected, at the end of the 3 minute grace period, the device will automatically stop the ongoing run and save map updates and run data before shutdown. When shutdown is complete, the Power LED will be turned off. There is no need to press the physical RESET button to power off the device.