Open the Dashboard
Connect both computers, reach Asimov Manager in a browser, and confirm the RPU link is healthy.
With both boards flashed, the rest of setup happens in Asimov Manager — the control panel served by the robot itself. This page gets you into it and confirms the two computers are talking.
Connect and Power On
- Connect an Ethernet cable directly between the Raspberry Pi 5 and the RPU. This is a private link between the two boards, not a connection to your router.
- Power on both boards.
- Wait about two minutes for them to start.
Open the Dashboard
If you set a Wi-Fi network when flashing the Raspberry Pi, the robot joins it on its own.
Put your laptop on that same network, open http://<name>.local:8080 using the hostname you chose, and sign in with admin / admin.
If the Robot Could Not Join
When the robot has no network it can reach, it raises one of its own instead — so there is always something serving the dashboard.
- Look for a network named
asimov-XXXX, whereXXXXis the last four characters of the robot's Wi-Fi hardware address. - Join it using the 16-digit code behind the QR code on the Raspberry Pi 5 retail box as the password.
- Open
http://10.42.0.1:8080and sign in withadmin/admin. - Use the Wi-Fi page to put the robot on your own network, then continue at
http://<name>.local:8080.
The page dies when the robot switches networks
The Raspberry Pi has one radio. The moment it starts joining your network, its own network disappears and the page stops responding — that is success, not a failure. Put your laptop back on your own Wi-Fi and reopen the dashboard at its hostname.
Phones often abandon a network that has no internet. Disable mobile data, or use a laptop.
The First-Run Prompt
A robot that has never been set up opens with a prompt:
Choose Set Up Later for now. The motors are not assembled yet, and there is a check to do first.
Confirm the RPU Link
Open Firmware from the sidebar. This is the page that tells you whether the two computers can actually talk.
You are looking for RPU · online, with both rows beneath it green:
| Row | Means |
|---|---|
| Network (ping) | The RPU answers over the Ethernet link |
| Control | The Raspberry Pi can actually drive it, not just reach it |
They are reported separately on purpose — a dead cable and a stopped service produce very different problems, and this tells them apart. Network green but Control red means the cable is fine and something on the RPU is not.
Overview carries the same state at a glance:
Do not continue past a red RPU
Everything after this — assigning motor IDs, checking motors, zeroing, starting the firmware — runs on the RPU through this link. If it is not healthy, check the Ethernet cable at both ends and confirm both boards have power before going further.
Set a Password
The dashboard ships with admin / admin and is reachable by anything on your network — Asimov Manager warns you about it on Account until you change it — see Asimov Manager.
Setting a password now is cheaper than remembering to do it later.
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