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myCobot 280 Lab

Stock firmware backup

The full flash of the ATOM (4 MB) was read on 2026-10-04, before any custom firmware was installed. The file is outside the repository, because it is Elephant’s proprietary firmware:

~/myCobot/firmware-backups/atom-stock-elephant-v7.2-esp32picod4-e86bea314cf4-20261004.bin
SHA-256 8cfe61a43ca1aadfaf643638c1c8738cc2d1ab949356938ee86880060bf2e66d

The chip verified the file (verify-flash, MD5 digest matched). The stock firmware was built with PlatformIO and Arduino-ESP32 2.0.x.

Partitions

Section titled “Partitions”
Partition Offset Size
nvs 0x9000 20 KB
otadata 0xE000 8 KB
app0 0x10000 1280 KB
app1 0x150000 1280 KB
spiffs 0x290000 1472 KB

Restore

Section titled “Restore”
  1. Remove the ATOM from the arm and connect it with USB-C.
  2. Write the backup:
    Terminal window
    esptool --port /dev/cu.usbserial-A952DE0075 write-flash 0 atom-stock-elephant-v7.2-esp32picod4-e86bea314cf4-20261004.bin
  3. Verify it:
    Terminal window
    esptool --port /dev/cu.usbserial-A952DE0075 verify-flash 0 atom-stock-elephant-v7.2-esp32picod4-e86bea314cf4-20261004.bin

Official firmware from Elephant

Section titled “Official firmware from Elephant”

If the backup is lost, install the official ATOM firmware with Elephant’s myStudio. Download it from github.com/elephantrobotics/myStudio/releases (v3.6.6 on 2026-07-20). myStudio downloads the firmware and flashes it over USB.

  • Select myCobot 280 for Arduino, the ATOM board, and the ATOM main firmware (“AtomMain”). The stock firmware on this arm was v7.2.
  • Remove the ATOM from the arm first. Over USB in the arm, the ATOM powers the servos when the 12 V supply is off, and does not connect when it is on.
  • myStudio may also offer firmware for the base (“Transponder”). This project does not need it. Do not flash it unless you know that the base needs it.

Where myStudio keeps the firmware

Section titled “Where myStudio keeps the firmware”

myStudio stores the firmware files inside the app:

/Applications/myStudio.app/Contents/Resources/static/res/mycobot/

An app update can replace these files, so copies are in ~/myCobot/firmware-backups/elephant-official/ (with SHA256SUMS), outside the repository:

File What it is
MyCobot280_atom_v7.3_beta_20251105.bin AtomMain v7.3 beta (2025-11-05). Downloaded with myStudio 3.6.6 on 2026-10-04.
MyCobot280_atom_v6.5_20231228.bin, v6.4, v6.2, v5.11 Older AtomMain versions, included with myStudio.
CheckPID-2.0.ino.bin Elephant’s PID check tool. It contains the presets “P = 10, I = 1, D = 0”, “P = 5, I = 0, D = 15” and “P = 8, I = 0, D = 24”.
cobot_atom_test_servo.bin Elephant’s servo test firmware.

These are app images (they start with 0xE9), not full-flash images. Do not write them at offset 0 with esptool. Let myStudio flash them.

AtomMain v7.3 (beta)

Section titled “AtomMain v7.3 (beta)”

Elephant’s release notes in myStudio:

  1. The soft limit of J6 did not work. v7.3 adds it.
  2. J5 and J6 of the 280 Pi locked first at power-up (bug 7.3.2). Fixed.
  3. The J5 soft limit is now −155° to +160°, because the structure cannot reach ±165°.

Elephant’s product page gives the joint limits for v7.3 (see joint limits). This arm does not need v7.3: the custom controller firmware does not use the stock limits.

The ESP32 has a ROM bootloader that cannot be erased, so a bad flash cannot damage the ATOM permanently.