Getting Started with SO-ARM101 — Unboxing, Assembly, and First Movements

The SO-ARM101 is JuxiTech's open-source 6-axis robotic arm, designed for research labs, education, and industrial prototyping. This guide walks you through everything from unboxing to your first ROS 2 teleoperation session.

What's in the Box

The SO-ARM101 Developer Kit includes six serial bus servos, CNC-machined aluminum frame pieces, a base mounting plate, the control board, a 12V power supply, all required mounting screws and hex keys, and a USB-C cable. No soldering is required — all electronics are pre-wired.

Assembly Overview

Assembly takes approximately 45 minutes with basic tools. The arm uses a modular design: each joint is a self-contained servo module that bolts into the aluminum frame. Cable channels in the frame keep wiring clean and protected. Full step-by-step instructions are available on the product page and in the Feishu Wiki documentation.

First Movements with ROS 2

After assembly, connect the arm to your computer via USB-C. Clone the SO-ARM101 ROS 2 package from our Feishu Wiki, run the calibration script to zero all six joints, and launch the teleoperation demo. You'll have the arm moving within 10 minutes of software setup. The package includes MoveIt2 configuration for motion planning, RViz visualization, and Python/C++ API examples.

Open-Source Ecosystem

The SO-ARM101's full hardware schematics, CAD files, firmware source code, and ROS 2 drivers are freely available on our Feishu Wiki. The community has contributed gripper designs, camera mounts, and integration examples for NVIDIA Jetson and Raspberry Pi. Whether you're teaching robotics, researching manipulation algorithms, or building an automated workcell, the SO-ARM101 gives you a production-grade foundation that's fully open.