Network troubleshooting#

This chapter describes how to connect your Duckiebot to a network.

What you will need

Completed Duckiebot SD Card preparation - introduction.

What you will get

Knowledge on how to connect your Duckiebot to a network.

There is a saying in robotics: “90% of problems come from networks”. Getting your network set up right should be a very high level priority to ensure a joyful learning experience.

Modifying the Wi-Fi settings on a Duckiebot#

To edit the Wi-Fi networks known to your Duckiebot, edit the wpa_supplicant.conf file on your SD card. If your Duckiebot has an NVIDIA Jetson Nano, this file is located in the /etc directory in the APP partition.

Note

The following is from a wpa_supplicant.conf file with two Wi-Fi networks defined:

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
country=CH

network={
    id_str="network_1"
    ssid="mywifiisbeautiful"
    psk="sobeautiful"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

network={
    id_str="network_2"
    ssid="notyournet"
    psk="thisisnotthenetyouarelookingfor"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

Using Ethernet#

Note

This method assumes that you can connect your computer to a network that is out of your control or is not open (e.g., one that is protected using PEAP).

To connect your Duckiebot to a network through your computer:

  1. Connect your computer to the network.

  2. Connect your Duckiebot to your computer using an Ethernet cable.

  3. Navigate to Network Connections (run sudo nm-connection-editor).

  4. Click the + (Add a new connection) button.

  5. Select the Ethernet option from the drop-down menu.

  6. Click the Create... button.

  7. Enter a Connection name (e.g., “Duckiebot connection”).

  8. Click the IPv4 Settings button.

  9. Select the Shared to other computers option from the Method drop-down menu.

  10. Click the Save button.

Testing your connections#

All these tests should pass.

Test if your computer is connected to the internet#

One way to test if your computer is on the internet is by trying to ping any website, e.g.:

ping duckietown.com

Test if your computer and robot are on the same network#

From your computer, try to ping your robot using its HOSTNAME:

ping HOSTNAME.local

Attention

This is one of the most important steps and potential initial failure mode. If the command above does not work as is, fix this before proceeding.

Test if your Duckiebot is connected to the internet#

First, make sure your robot and computer are on the same network. Then, ssh into your robot with (the default password is quackquack):

ssh duckie@DUCKIEBOT_NAME.local

From the robot side:

ping duckietown.com

(or, a more modest ping 8.8.8.8, unless you are trying from China).

Note

Over time, the resulting output should look similar to the following:

PING duckietown.com (123.45.678.90) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 123.45.678.90 (123.45.678.90): icmp_seq=1 ttl=53 time=26.4 ms
64 bytes from 123.45.678.90 (123.45.678.90): icmp_seq=2 ttl=53 time=24.9 ms
64 bytes from 123.45.678.90 (123.45.678.90): icmp_seq=3 ttl=53 time=27.4 ms
64 bytes from 123.45.678.90 (123.45.678.90): icmp_seq=4 ttl=53 time=24.0 ms
64 bytes from 123.45.678.90 (123.45.678.90): icmp_seq=5 ttl=53 time=24.5 ms
...

Troubleshooting#

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

I cannot ping my Duckiebot (ping DUCKIEBOT_NAME does not work) over Wi-Fi.

RESOLUTION

Make sure that the contents of the wpa_supplicant.conf file are correct.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

The contents of the wpa_supplicant.conf file are correct and I can ping my Duckiebot over Ethernet but not over Wi-Fi.

RESOLUTION

If you have control over the network access point, make sure that both your computer and Duckiebot are connected to the network.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

Running ssh duckie@DUCKIEBOT_NAME.local results in the following output:

ssh: Could not resolve hostname DUCKIEBOT_NAME.local: Name or service not known

RESOLUTION

After connecting your Duckiebot to a monitor and keyboard, run:

sudo systemctl restart avahi-daemon

Run:

sudo reboot

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

Running ssh duckie@DUCKIEBOT_NAME.local still results in the following output:

ssh: Could not resolve hostname DUCKIEBOT_NAME.local: Name or service not known

RESOLUTION

After connecting your Duckiebot to a monitor and keyboard, run:

sudo service avahi-daemon status

The resulting output should look similar to the following:

● avahi-daemon.service - Avahi mDNS/DNS-SD Stack Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/avahi-daemon.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-06-20 04:17:36 CDT; 2h 20min ago Main PID: 3814 (avahi-daemon) Status: "avahi-daemon 0.7 starting up." Tasks: 2 (limit: 4183) CGroup: /system.slice/avahi-daemon.service ├─3814 avahi-daemon: running [DUCKIEBOT_NAME_IN_AVAHI.local] └─4000 avahi-daemon: chroot helper

If DUCKIEBOT_NAME_IN_AVAHI matches DUCKIEBOT_NAME-XX, where XX is a number, edit the /etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf file by changing use-ipv6=yes to use-ipv6=no and #publish-aaaa-on-ipv4=yes to publish-aaaa-on-ipv4=no.

Run:

sudo service avahi-daemon restart