# M5. Touch the skiff > For agents: start with the [agent guide](https://parol6.build/llms.txt). Every page is Markdown by default; add `Accept: text/html` for HTML. **Whole task:** register a Eurorack skiff in the robot's frame, then press a button and turn a knob to a set position. **Our design.** The PAROL6 manual stops at pick-and-place. From here on the plan is ours, built on the [Python API](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/programming/02-python-api/) and the [end-effector docs](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/end-effectors/). ## Parts - The skiff. See [the skiff target](/lore/skiff-target); the choice is open. - A rigid shared base plate for the arm and the skiff. The robot's base mounts on 30 by 30 mm profile ([Mounting](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/04-installation/mounting/)). - A knob-turning end effector: a printed knob socket or a TPU-padded finger. ## Concepts - **Coordinate frames and registration.** Touch three fiducials on the skiff panel to find its pose in the robot's frame ([Reference frames](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/theory/reference-frames/)). - **Eurorack mechanics.** Rails, HP (5.08 mm, from [Doepfer's A-100 construction details](https://www.doepfer.de/a100_man/a100m_e.htm)), and the jack and knob geometry of each module. - **Why compliance matters** when a rigid arm touches something rigid. **needs\_source:** the jack and knob positions of each module, measured from the real panels. ## How-to - Python API motion, the tool frame and slow approach moves ([Python API](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/programming/02-python-api/)). - Our registration script, written as a completion task. ## Practice - Caliper measurement of the panel geometry. - Touch-off drills. - Tuning the approach speed. ## Done check With the skiff at a fresh pose, Joel registers it in under 5 minutes. Then the arm turns a named knob from fully counter-clockwise to noon, measured by the voltage on a CV output, and presses a button 10 times out of 10. ## Terms - **registration**: finding where an object sits in the robot's frame by touching known points on it. This is our design, built on the frames in [Reference frames](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/theory/reference-frames/). - **fiducial**: a known reference point on the skiff panel that the tool touches during registration. Our design. - **compliance**: give in the tool, so that a small position error does not become a large force. Our design, needed because open-loop steppers cannot feel force ([Drives, ratios and resolution](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/03-technical-data/drives-and-ratios/)). ## Video [The M5 video](/lore/video-m5) is planned. ## Sources 1. [Python API, PAROL6 docs 1.1](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/programming/02-python-api/) Source Robotics. Motion, the tool frame and slow approach moves, the base for our registration script. Accessed 2026-11-07. 2. [Reference frames, PAROL6 docs 1.1](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/theory/reference-frames/) Source Robotics. The frames that registration maps between. Accessed 2026-11-07. 3. [Mounting, PAROL6 docs 1.1](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/04-installation/mounting/) Source Robotics. The base mounts on 30 by 30 mm profile. Accessed 2026-11-07. 4. [Custom tools, PAROL6 docs 1.1](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/end-effectors/custom-tools/) Source Robotics. Mounting and registering a printed knob-turning tool. Accessed 2026-11-07. 5. [A-100 construction details](https://www.doepfer.de/a100_man/a100m_e.htm) Doepfer Musikelektronik. Eurorack panel height and the HP grid of 5.08 mm. Accessed 2026-11-07. ## Lore on this page - [The PAROL6 milestones](/lore/milestones) - [The skiff target](/lore/skiff-target) ## What links here - add-a-store → Add persistence through a service named for an application job, with validation, vendor Layers, migrations, bounded reads, and shared backend tests. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/skills/add-a-store) - Agent guide → Joel builds a PAROL6 robot arm, one sourced and filmed milestone at a time. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/llms.txt) - Build and run the PAROL6 wiki (README.md) → What is in the repo and how to run the wiki locally. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/README.md) - Build steps by milestone → The official how-to pages for each milestone, in build order, gathered from the milestone pages. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/build-steps) - Change log → What changed in the files served here, newest first. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/log) - Concepts by milestone → The mental models each milestone teaches, gathered from the milestone pages, with the glossary for single terms. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/concepts) - Full agent guide → Joel builds a PAROL6 robot arm, one sourced and filmed milestone at a time. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/llms-full.txt) - Lint and type escape ledger (debt.md) → A source-linked count of repo-owned lint and type escapes. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/debt.md) - M5 video: Touch the skiff → The video for milestone 5 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m5) - M6 video: Patch a cable → The video for milestone 6 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m6) - M6. Patch a cable → The sixth milestone grips a 3.5 mm patch cable, inserts it into a target jack, verifies the patch electrically and pulls it back out. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/m6-patch-a-cable) - M7. Play it → The capstone milestone runs a script that patches cables and moves knobs on cue to perform a short written piece. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/m7-play-it) - Milestone videos → Each milestone ends in one video, and every video is planned until Joel publishes it. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/videos) - PAROL6 build → Joel builds a PAROL6 robot arm, one sourced and filmed milestone at a time. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/) - PAROL6 sources and licences → Every build fact on this wiki comes from the official PAROL6 manual and repository, which are linked here with their licences. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/sources) - PAROL6 wiki | PAROL6 build → The PAROL6 build wiki: the milestones, their videos and the official sources behind them. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore) - Parts by milestone → What goes on the bench at each milestone, gathered from the milestone pages and the official bill of materials. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/parts) - Source change history (log.md) → The generated change log as Markdown. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/log.md) - The PAROL6 milestones → Seven milestones take the build from a bare control board to a robot arm that plays a Eurorack skiff. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/milestones) - The skiff target → The skiff is the Eurorack case the robot plays from milestone 5 on, and its choice is still open. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/skiff-target) - write-a-wiki-page → Write or revise public wiki pages with short prose, cited claims, meaningful visuals, and pinned code snippets. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/skills/write-a-wiki-page)