Skip to content

Cinebot Mini/Max — Payload Calibration Upgrades

Who Needs This?

Cinebot Mini and Cinebot Max operators with early-delivery units.

If your Cinebot Mini or Max was delivered before approximately mid-2024, two upgrades are likely missing that significantly improve move accuracy. Units delivered after that point had these applied at the factory before shipping — but it is worth checking either way.

Why This Matters

The Cinebot Mini and Max are UR robotic arms. Their accuracy depends on two things the software needs to know precisely:

  1. The exact geometry of your specific arm — every UR arm has tiny manufacturing variations. Loading your arm's actual calibration data into Flair means moves are calculated against real measured geometry, not a generic model.

  2. The exact weight of your camera build — the arm uses payload values to calculate how much force is required for each move. Wrong payload values mean less accurate motion, especially at speed or with PushMoco.

Early Cinebot deliveries shipped without either of these properly configured. The result is moves that work, but are not as precise as they could be. Both are fixable.

Upgrade 1 — Payload Calculation Wizard (Control Program Update)

What it does

From Flair 7.4.0 Beta 31 (May 2024) onward, Flair can run a Calculate Payload wizard directly — the arm moves itself through four positions, measures the actual load, and saves the result automatically to Flair's kinematics setup.

This requires a matching update to the MRMC control program running on the robot controller. Early Cinebot Mini and Max units do not have this control program version installed.

Without the update, the Calculate Payload wizard either won't appear in Flair or will fail to complete.

How to check if you need it

In Flair, go to System → Calculate Payload. If the option is not present, or if Flair shows an error when you try to run it, your control program needs updating.

If the wizard runs and completes successfully, you already have the updated control program — skip this step.

Procedure

The upgrade requires two MRMC-specific downloads plus the Polyscope OS (obtained directly from Universal Robots):

The full package contains the FlairControl program, Polyscope 5.24, VNC, and the official procedure PDF — everything needed in one download.

Download CinebotMiniMax-ControllerUpgrade.zip

Open the PDF inside the zip first (CinebotMini-MaxUpgradeProcedure-v1.4.pdf) and follow it in sequence — it covers the Polyscope update, FlairControl installation, and VNC setup in the correct order.

Upgrade 2 — UR Arm Kinematics Calibration

What it does

Every UR arm has a calibration.conf file stored on its controller. This file contains the precise measured geometry of that specific arm — joint offsets, link lengths, and axis alignments as actually manufactured (not nominal values).

Loading this file into Flair replaces the generic default kinematics model with your arm's real measurements. The difference is small but meaningful for precision work.

This option has been available since Flair 7.4.0 Beta 35 (July 2024). From that version onward, MRMC loaded the calibration file into Flair before shipping. Earlier deliveries did not have this done.

How to check if you need it

In Flair, go to Setups → Kinematics → Joint Parameters → Calibration (Delta).

  • If the boxes contain numbers — the calibration is already loaded. Nothing to do.
  • If the boxes are empty — you have nominal default values. Follow the procedure below.

Procedure

This does not require any download — the file already exists on your arm's controller. You just need to copy it across.

On Linux (Flair PC running Ubuntu)

  1. Open the Files application on the Flair PC
  2. In the address bar, enter: 
    sftp://192.168.1.20
  3. Log in with:
  4. Username: root
  5. Password: mrmc1234
  6. Browse to /root/.urcontrol/
  7. Find calibration.conf and copy it to the Home directory on the local machine

On Windows (Flair PC running Windows)

  1. Download and install FileZilla Client from filezilla-project.org
  2. Open FileZilla and connect with:
  3. Host: 192.168.1.20
  4. Username: root
  5. Password: mrmc1234
  6. Port: 22
  7. Browse to /root/.urcontrol/ in the right-hand panel (the robot controller)
  8. Drag calibration.conf to the left-hand panel (your local machine)

Load the file into Flair

  1. In Flair, go to Setups → Kinematics → Joint Parameters → Calibration (Delta)
  2. Click Select File and navigate to the calibration.conf you just copied
  3. The table will populate with your arm's actual calibration values
  4. Click Done, then Save and Apply in the Kinematics Setup

That's it. Flair will now use your arm's real geometry for all move calculations.

After Both Upgrades — Run Payload Calibration

Once the control program is updated, run the full payload calibration with your actual camera build attached:

  1. In Flair, go to System → Calculate Payload
  2. Follow the on-screen wizard — the arm will move through four positions automatically
  3. When complete, the estimated payload and centre of gravity values are shown
  4. Click Store and Save Kinematics to apply them

Redo this calibration whenever you change camera bodies, lenses, or add/remove significant accessories.

Clear the workspace before running

The arm moves automatically during payload calibration. Ensure no cables, equipment, or people are within the arm's reach before starting.

Source: talk.mrmoco.com topics 1781 (UR Arm Kinematics) and 1912 (Controller Update); Flair changelog v7.4.0 Beta 31 and Beta 35; MRMC posts by @gordon_admin