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Firmware Update

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Jessica Janiuk edited this page Jul 26, 2026 · 2 revisions

Firmware Update

The Firmware Update page lets you flash new firmware to your droid over Wi-Fi — no USB cable required after the first flash.

Before You Start

  • Make sure you are connected to the droid's Wi-Fi network
  • Do not power off the droid during a firmware update
  • Only flash .bin files built for the Amidala PCB. Flashing the wrong binary can prevent the board from booting (though it can always be recovered via USB)
  • The droid automatically e-stops the moment you start a flash, and stays e-stopped for the whole upload — see E-Stop During Firmware Updates below

Updating Firmware

  1. Open http://amidala.local/update in your browser (or navigate to it from the home page)
  2. The page shows your current firmware version, MCU, and build date
  3. Click Choose File and select your .bin file
  4. Click Flash Firmware and confirm the warning prompt
  5. The progress bar shows upload progress, then write-to-flash progress
  6. The board restarts automatically once flashing is complete
  7. The page polls until the board is back online and shows the new version number

The whole process typically takes 30–60 seconds depending on file size and Wi-Fi speed.

How It Works

Amidala uses a dual-partition OTA layout (ota_0 / ota_1). The new firmware is written to the inactive partition while the current firmware continues running. On restart, the bootloader boots from the newly flashed partition. If the update fails for any reason, the previous firmware is still intact on the other partition.

First Flash (USB)

The very first flash must be done via USB to program the partition table. After that, all future updates can be done wirelessly.

pio run --target upload

Connect the Amidala PCB to your computer via USB before running this command.

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