Stopping the Robot

Every way to stop Asimov 1, what each leaves the robot doing, and how to recover after an E-Stop or a fall.

Asimov 1 has five stops, and they leave the robot in very different states. Pick the one whose result you can accept.

Stop	Where	What happens
Pause	Cockpit: `Space` or PAUSE	A walking robot stops moving and keeps balancing in place
E-Stop	Cockpit, page headers, phone top bar, gamepad	Every actuator damps at once. A free-standing robot falls. The firmware keeps running
Damp & shut down	Cockpit posture controls	The same release as an E-Stop, done deliberately on a supported robot
Turn Off Robot	Overview	The firmware stops and the actuators go offline. The console stays up
Cut power	The battery unit	Removes all power. The only stop that doesn't depend on software

Pause

Pause is the everyday stop. It sets the velocity to zero and the robot keeps balancing where it is. The Cockpit shows STOPPED and "Velocity zeroed — holding position"; select Resume Driving to carry on.

Letting go of the keys, a touch pad or the stick also brings the robot to a halt: input is held, and release means zero velocity.

Use Pause only while the robot is walking. It always commands Walk at zero velocity, so pressing it in Stand or Damp asks the robot to walk.

E-Stop

The E-Stop damps every actuator immediately, with no confirmation. Use it when a limp robot on the floor is better than whatever is happening now.

Where	How
Cockpit, on a desktop	E-STOP, or press `X`
Page header on a desktop: Overview, Firmware, Wi-Fi, Controller, Account and Troubleshoot	E-Stop — one click
Top bar on a phone, on every page	E-STOP — press and hold for about half a second. A tap only flashes HOLD TO E-STOP
A gamepad	`Options` / `☰` — see Gamepad

On a phone, the Cockpit has no E-STOP button of its own — use the one in the top bar.

The header and top-bar E-Stops need no drive session. Anyone signed in can stop the robot.

The confirmation means the command was sent, not that the robot obeyed: "E-stop sent, actuators damped. Re-arm from the cockpit." Watch the robot.

It is disabled when Asimov Edge is not running, because there is no path to the robot. Use Turn Off Robot on Overview instead, or cut power.

Damp & Shut Down

Damping releases the actuators on purpose, for when the robot is supported and you are done. In the Cockpit, select Damp, tick The robot is physically supported, then hold Hold 2s to damp. Bring It Back Down covers the full sequence from walking.

Turn Off Robot

Turn Off Robot on Overview stops the firmware. All 25 actuators go offline and driving stops; Asimov Edge and the console stay up. Support the robot first — see Power On and Off.

Cutting Power

Press the button on the battery unit to power the robot down. Before working on the electronics, also disconnect the battery from the XT90 connector on the RPU, as described in Electronics Disassembly.

Recovering After an E-Stop or a Fall

After an E-Stop or a fault, the robot is limp but its firmware is still running. Recover in this order:

Wait until the robot is still. Don't try to catch a falling robot.

Turn it off. Select Turn Off Robot on Overview, so the actuators are unpowered before you touch the robot.

Find out why. Look for fault N on the Cockpit's status line and for Error flags in its Telemetry tab, then read the Firmware log on the Troubleshoot page. Note the time — the logs roll over.

Inspect and support it. Check for damage, then lift the robot back onto its gantry hook or a bench — see Lifting and Carrying. After a hard fall, run Check Liveness on the Actuators page before going further.

Start it again. Select Start Robot on Overview, then stand it up from its support: Stand Up and Walk.

Restarting the firmware also clears a fault latched by a fall. Until the firmware restarts, the robot refuses to stand.

If you pressed the E-Stop while the robot was still supported and nothing fell, you can skip straight to re-arming it: take control in the Cockpit and select Stand.