Quick Start

Learn how to control MARS with your phone and the controller arm, make it navigate and talk, and trigger autonomous agents & skills made by others

This page describes the experience of receiving your MARS robot for the first time and running it.

If you want a more technical introduction to our SDK and the underlying ROS2 system, please go to:

MARS Quick Development

Go deeper on SDK usage, ROS2, and building your first custom agent.

Prerequisites

• A MARS robot from Innate, configured with your service key.
• The Innate Controller app — download links in the steps below.

A quick overview

Powering up and connecting to MARS

1. Place and power

   Put MARS on the floor and plug in the battery. The robot powers on automatically.

2. Install/open the app

   Use the Innate Controller App on your phone.

   AndroidiOS
3. Connect to your robot

   Follow the app onboarding flow and connect to your MARS.

Update MARS to the latest version

Before anything else, update your robot. We ship improvements and fixes frequently, and running the latest stable version is the single most important thing you can do for the best experience. Skipping this step is the most common cause of issues with a brand-new MARS.

Updating happens on the robot over SSH. On the app, go to Settings -> Wifi and read the robot’s IP, then from your computer:

1. SSH into the robot

   ssh jetson1@<YOUR-ROBOT-IP>
   
2. Check for updates

   innate update check
   
3. Apply the latest stable version

   innate update apply
   

   This pulls and installs the latest stable release. Run innate update status afterward to confirm the version.

Make a habit of running innate update apply periodically — new agents, skills, and capabilities land in regular releases.

Create your first map

Innate robots have spatial memory, and mapping starts automatically after you connect if no map exists yet.

If you want to create a new map later, use the Mapping screen:

1. Open Mapping tab

   In the app, go to Configuration -> Mapping.

2. Create a new map

   Press Create New Map (or the add button) to begin mapping.

3. Drive and scan

   Drive around your space and watch the map build in real time.

Experience the phone control

Once connected, you can verify that MARS is properly running by controling the robot straight through the app.

1. Open Manual Control

   Go to the Manual Control screen in the app.

2. Drive and move head

   Use the joystick for base motion and the slider for head movement.

3. Test the leader arm (optional)

   If you have the leader arm (the small controller arm that ships with MARS), plug it into your phone via USB-C and toggle arm control. MARS’s arm should mirror your motion within a second — if it doesn’t, check that the arm is powered and the cable is seated.

Talk to MARS for the first time

MARS can run the Innate agent, our embodied agent that allows the robot to act in real-time and decide what to do based on what it sees and hears.

Put MARS on a table, in front of you, go to “Agentic” on the app, and ask it what it sees. You should start seeing its thoughts and answers appear in the chat.

Make MARS navigate

When running the Innate agent, MARS can navigate. On the agentic screen, ask him things such as “move forward 1m”, or “go to the fridge” if the fridge is in sight.

You can also try more complex requests such as “explore until you see a human”.

Use an autonomous arm AI skill

Innate robots can use “skills” to perform actions — moving and manipulating objects in the physical world, or reaching external services like email and APIs.

You can observe which ones are installed by going in the app to Skills (in the tab bar, middle icon) and looking at the list of installed skills.

To run an arm skill, go to Home -> Manual Control, and select a skill in the dropdown.

You can also run a parametric skill (needs input parameters from you) by going in the Skills tab, picking a skill, entering its input parameters, then pressing “Execute”.

Use an existing agent

The Innate agent allows to run programs we call “agents” that determine the robot’s purpose and abilities. On the app, you can see which ones are already installed.

Examples that come pre-installed:

• Demo Agent: An agent that is proactively talking with you, and following your gaze

• Chess Agent: An agent to play chess with its arm with you if you put MARS in front of a chess board

• Security Guard: An agent that moves around and warns you if it sees someone

You can also create your own agent:

Anatomy of an Agent

Learn how an agent is structured and how to define prompts and attached skills.

Congrats, you can control your robot!

Now you know how to run basic controls of the robot from the app.

Next up: Create your first agent and train your first manipulation model, to run them autonomously!

MARS Quick Development

Continue with SDK setup, code-defined skills, and your first custom agent.