EarthRover Mini Plus#

← Tutorial Library · Other Hardware and teleoperation

This section introduces the general functions of LeRobot. Please configure the example according to the target robot, data set and operating environment; before using it with AlohaMini 2 / 2 Pro, you need to confirm the hardware and interface compatibility.

EarthRover Mini Plus

The EarthRover Mini Plus is a fully open source mobile robot that connects through the cloud using the Frodobots SDK. This lets you control the robot and record datasets for training AI models.

What You Need#

Hardware#

  • EarthRover Mini robot

  • Computer with Python 3.12 or newer

  • Internet connection

Setting Up the Frodobots SDK#

The robot needs the Frodobots SDK running on your computer. Here’s how:

  1. Download and install the SDK:

git clone https://github.com/frodobots-org/earth-rovers-sdk.git
cd earth-rovers-sdk
pip install -r requirements.txt

  1. Save Credentials:

Write your .env variables with the SDK API key and bot name provided by the Frodobots team.

SDK_API_TOKEN=your_sdk_api_token_here
BOT_SLUG=your_bot_slug_here
CHROME_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/path/to/chrome_or_chromium
# Default value is MAP_ZOOM_LEVEL=18 https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Zoom_levels
MAP_ZOOM_LEVEL=18
MISSION_SLUG=your_mission_slug_here
# Image quality between 0.1 and 1.0 (default: 0.8)
# Recommended: 0.8 for better performance
IMAGE_QUALITY=0.8
# Image format: jpeg, png or webp (default: png)
# Recommended: jpeg for better performance and lower bandwidth usage
IMAGE_FORMAT=jpeg

  1. Start the SDK:

hypercorn main:app --reload

  1. Open your web browser and go to http://localhost:8000, then click “Join”

The SDK gives you:

  • Live video from front and rear cameras

[!IMPORTANT] The SDK must be running before you can use the robot.

Install LeRobot#

Follow our Installation Guide to install LeRobot.

In addition to the base installation, install the EarthRover Mini with hardware dependencies:

pip install -e ".[hardware]"

How It Works#

The robot uses the internet to communicate:

  • Movement commands: Sent through the SDK

  • Camera video: Received from the SDK

  • Robot info: Battery, location, speed from the SDK

You don’t need to plug anything in - it all works through the SDK.

Calibration#

No calibration needed! The robot is ready to use as soon as the SDK is running.

Controlling the Robot#

You control the robot using your keyboard - just like playing a video game with WASD keys.

Keyboard Controls#

Key

Action

W

Move forward

S

Move backward

A

Turn left (with forward motion)

D

Turn right (with forward motion)

Q

Rotate left in place

E

Rotate right in place

X

Stop all movement

+/=

Increase speed

-

Decrease speed

ESC

Disconnect

Speed Settings#

You can adjust how fast the robot moves:

  • Forward/backward speed: Default is full speed (1.0)

  • Turning speed: Default is full speed (1.0)

  • Speed changes: Use +/- keys to adjust by 0.1 each time

Try It Out#

Test driving the robot before recording data:

from lerobot.robots.earthrover_mini_plus import EarthRoverMiniPlus, EarthRoverMiniPlusConfig
from lerobot.teleoperators.keyboard import KeyboardRoverTeleop, KeyboardRoverTeleopConfig

# Initialize robot
robot_config = EarthRoverMiniPlusConfig()
robot = EarthRoverMiniPlus(robot_config)

# Initialize teleoperator
teleop_config = KeyboardRoverTeleopConfig(
    linear_speed=1.0,
    angular_speed=1.0,
    speed_increment=0.1
)
teleop = KeyboardRoverTeleop(teleop_config)

# Connect
robot.connect()
teleop.connect()

# Teleoperate (use keyboard controls)
try:
    while True:
        action = teleop.get_action()
        robot.send_action(action)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    pass
finally:
    robot.disconnect()
    teleop.disconnect()

[!TIP] If you’re using a Mac, you might need to give Terminal permission to access your keyboard for teleoperation. Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Input Monitoring and check the box for Terminal.

Recording Data#

Once you can drive the robot well, you can start recording data to train AI models. The system records:

  • What you do: How you move the robot (forward, backward, turning)

  • What the robot sees:

    • Videos from both cameras

    • Robot speed and direction

    • Battery level and location

    • GPS position and signal

    • Other sensor data

  • When it happened: Timestamps for everything

Setting Up Hugging Face#

We use Hugging Face to store your data online. First, log in with your token from Hugging Face settings:

hf auth login --token ${HUGGINGFACE_TOKEN} --add-to-git-credential

Store your Hugging Face username:

HF_USER=$(hf auth whoami | awk -F': *' 'NR==1 {print $2}')
echo $HF_USER

Start Recording#

Use the standard recording command:

lerobot-record \
    --robot.type=earthrover_mini_plus \
    --teleop.type=keyboard_rover \
    --dataset.repo_id=your_username/dataset_name \
    --dataset.num_episodes=2 \
    --dataset.fps=10 \
    --dataset.single_task="Navigate around obstacles" \
    --dataset.streaming_encoding=true \
    --dataset.encoder_threads=2 \
    # --dataset.rgb_encoder.vcodec=auto \
    --display_data=true

Replace your_username/dataset_name with your Hugging Face username and a name for your dataset.

What Gets Saved#

Your dataset includes:

Your Actions (2 features):

  • linear_velocity: How much you moved forward/backward

  • angular_velocity: How much you turned left/right

Robot Observations (24 features):

  • Front camera video

  • Rear camera video

  • Current speed

  • Battery level

  • Orientation

  • GPS (latitude, longitude, signal strength)

  • Network signal strength

  • Vibration level

  • Lamp state (on/off)

  • Accelerometer (x, y, z)

  • Gyroscope (x, y, z)

  • Magnetometer (x, y, z)

  • Wheel RPMs (4 wheels)

Where Your Data Goes#

On your computer: ~/.cache/huggingface/lerobot/{repo-id}

After recording, your data automatically uploads to your Hugging Face page:

echo https://huggingface.co/datasets/${HF_USER}/earthrover-navigation

Your dataset will be tagged with LeRobot for community discovery.