iCubErzelli01 S/N:032 – Robotology-superbuild and Firmware Upgrade

[Ep3896]

Robot Name 🤖

iCubErzelli01 S/N:032

Request/Failure description

We would need to upgrade on the robot:

1. robotology-superbuild from: v2021.11.1 to the latest
2. icub-firmware-build from: v1.23.0 to the latest

Detailed context

In order to run the Stanford demo with the developments of the IK modules in ARE we need to align the robotology-superbuild and the firmware with the latest version.

The plan is to upgrade the robotology-superbuild at the end of September, as the robot will be in use by @jwgcurrie during the preceding period.

Additional context

icub@icub-head:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS
Release:	20.04
Codename:	focal

icub@icub-head:~$ uname -a
Linux icub-head 5.4.0-99-lowlatency #112-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT Thu Feb 3 14:52:40 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

icub@icub-head:/usr/local/src/robot/robotology-superbuild$ git status
HEAD detached at v2021.11.1
nothing to commit, working tree clean

icub@icub-head:/usr/local/src/robot/icub-firmware-build$ git log
commit a06b9b3fd36f50d88cb4f527f5758b34a1d4564f (HEAD -> master, tag: v1.23.0, origin/master, origin/HEAD)
Author: Nicogene <nicolo.genesio@iit.it>
Date:   Mon Jan 3 11:13:52 2022 +0100
 
    Update REadme for the release

How does it affect you?

Even though it’s not critical, the robot is currently unable to run the Stanford demo, which will be needed by the end of September and afterward.

[Fabrizio69]

Hi @Ep3896 , we'll contact you in mid-September to schedule the robot's software update. Thank you.

/remind September 15, 2025

[octo-reminder]

⏰ Reminder
Monday, September 15, 2025 10:00 AM (GMT+02:00)

[AntonioConsilvio]

HI @Ep3896 @gioelemigno! We are available next Wednesday to update the robot.

We will also try to resolve this issue:

• iCubErzelli01 S/N:032 – Torso does not move during calibration #2243

Is that OK with you?

[gioelemigno]

Hi @AntonioConsilvio, yes, next Wednesday is perfect.

Thank you!

[Ep3896]

Hi @AntonioConsilvio @Fabrizio69 ,

Following last Wednesday's successful torso fix, we need to reschedule the Firmware upgrade by compiling distro v2024.08, as we couldn't complete it successfully last week.

This fix is critical for the team, as we currently don't have any robot to run demos.

cc: @ddetommaso @gioelemigno

[AntonioConsilvio]

Hello! Here is a summary of the situation:

The icub-head could not connect to the DHCP network.
The problem was that network forwarding was not working properly.

I was able to fix the problem by following the guide. ✅

After that, I moved on to updating the robotology-superbuild.

The latest version is v2025.08.0, which cannot be installed on this robot because the version of Ubuntu currently present in the head (20.04) is no longer compatible with the latest distro versions. See the following comment by @traversaro

Since robotology/yarp#3048 YARP does not officially support anymore Ubuntu 20.04 with apt dependencies, and after robotology/yarp#3155 YARP master is not compiling anymore with Ubuntu 20.04 with apt dependencies. Unless someone wants to contribute some work on fixing the compilation of YARP on Ubuntu 20.04 with apt dependencies, I think ideally we should ground test the documentation on how to update the icub-head/ergocub-torso on an existing robot with 20.04 to 22.04/24.04, and drop 20.04 compatibility (that anyhow is EOL in 2 months: https://endoflife.date/ubuntu).

As the aim is to update the robot sufficiently to run the Stanford demo, I tried to compile distro versions v2024.08.0 and v2024.11.2, which should theoretically satisfy the request.

However, I was unable to compile robotology-superbuild due to errors during compilation that I was unable to resolve. ❌

Action Point 🎯

There are 2 action points to choose from:

1. Update icub-head (and possibly also laptop to maintain correct compatibility) to Ubuntu 24.04, so that the latest version of robotology-superbuild (v2025.08.0) can be compiled.
   You can therefore try updating the operating system, and we will provide support in case of problems during this process.

   You may find some useful information in this documentation:

   • https://icub-tech-iit.github.io/documentation/icub_operating_systems/other-machines/icub-server-from-scratch/.

   • https://github.com/orgs/robotology/discussions/728

2. You can try again to compile robotology-superbuild to v2024.08.0 or v2024.11.2 and provide us the compilation log in case errors occur again so that we can provide support.

   • https://icub-tech-iit.github.io/documentation/sw_installation/linux_from_sources_superbuild/

Note

We normally recommend a complete update of the robot (i.e. Ubuntu) so that the robot will be compatible with future updates of robotology-superbuild.
However, we understand that this can be challenging and invasive, so choose what you think is best and we will try to help you achieve the goal.

cc @pattacini @Nicogene @Fabrizio69

[Ep3896]

Hello everyone,

I retried the compilation of robotology-superbuild version v2024.08.0 on the icub-head.
The previous build error has now completely disappeared after upgrading the compiler from gcc-9 to gcc-10, which solved the internal compiler error occurring in Qt5 (while building YARP). I think that the problem was due to a bug of the gcc-9 compiler when compiling it with the --std=c++2a flag (I got an Internal Compiler Error).

After switching to the officialy supported GCC 10.5 on ubuntu 20.04, the build completed successfully .

The remaining task is to update the robot’s firmware. I would like to schedule a day to carry out this intervention at Erzelli — which day would be convenient for you to come?

cc @ddetommaso @gioelemigno

[ddetommaso]

@Ep3896 Thank you for fixing the compilation error and reporting the solution.

@pattacini Could you please help us complete the update? Would it be feasible for your team to schedule an intervention at Erzelli next week?

[pattacini]

Hi @ddetommaso

Our support team was on mission this week. We can organize internally next Monday and get back to you proposing a date.

I would also like to grab the opportunity to show you how the FW update process is supposed to be launched and managed.

cc @Fabrizio69 @AntonioConsilvio