Restore SD Card of Embedded Computer

In rare cases a factory reset of the embedded control computer may be necessary. This can fix severe connection issues, however some connection issues come from incorrect settings of the PC, defective Ethernet cables or a defective configuration that can be solved using the TinyCtrl updater - please check these first. If the green LEDs of the motor modules start flashing ca. 2 minutes after startup or if the robot control can be pinged (192.168.3.11) a factory reset should not be necessary.

Follow these steps to do a factory reset:

Remove the Micro SD Card

Turn off the power to the robot. Then take a look at your robot control and find the embedded control module:

• Wide module on DIN rail, fan on top, one Ethernet port, 4 USB ports
  1. Use a screw driver to pull the small black tab, the module should be easy to lift off the DIN rail.
  2. Find the tiny slit on one side of the module and pry out the micro SD card. Using a screwdriver might help
• Integrated control of the ReBeL
  1. The base needs to be disassembled to access the micro SD card. Please contact igus support on how to do this.
• Slim module with two Ethernet ports - these need additional hardware for a factory reset, therefore they need to be sent to us.

Get the Software and SD Card Image

You need the following tools and files:

• We recommend using a program like balenaEtcher.
• The SD card image file (ca. 4GB). Optional: You can use this SHA256 hash to check the integrity of the file.
• The recent Updater iRC and TinyCtrl

Restoring the Micro SD Card

Now you need to write the SD card image to the SD card:

1. Connect the Micro SD card to the PC. You may need an adapter. Ignore all warnings about formatting or access issues.
2. Start balenaEtcher
3. Click "Flash from file" and choose the sdimage.img file that you downloaded earlier.
4. Click "Select target". It should show one entry saying something like "SDHC Card 3.98GB" (the size may vary, some robot controls got bigger 8GB cards). If there are multiple entries make sure to select the correct one, disconnect other SD cards or USB flash drives. Select this entry and click the blue "Select" button.
5. Click "Flash!". You may need to confirm a permission warning (e.g. "Windows command line processor") but ignore all warnings about formatting or inaccessible hard drives. Wait until balenaEtcher is done, this may take a few minutes.
6. Remove the SD card from the PC, put it back into the embedded control module and reassemble the control cabinet.

Restore the Configuration

The robot control now uses an old version of the embedded control software and a default configuration that likely does not match your robot. Use the updater to install the correct configuration:

1. Start the robot control and wait at least 2 minutes.
2. Connect the computer to the robot control but do not start iRC yet.
3. Unpack and start the iRC updater. Follow the steps in the section at the left side ("Embedded Control":
   1. Click "Test Connection"
   2. Click "Make Backup"
   3. Click "Update complete folder"
   4. A file selection should appear. First select the voltage of the robot (24V or 48V, choose 24V for ReBeL), then select the robot type. If you're not sure about the robot type check the iRC project you used to connect or the documents that came with the robot.
   5. Wait until the update is finished. The updater will ask whether you want to restart the robot control, confirm this.

Once the robot control has restarted the robot should be ready to operate. Please check all functions carefully with a low velocity override, if you got an old version of a robot or if you did custom hardware changes the robot may not behave as expected. If this occurs please contact our support.