# The PAROL6 milestones > For agents: start with the [agent guide](https://parol6.build/llms.txt). Every page is Markdown by default; add `Accept: text/html` for HTML. The final job is a robot that does a useful thing to a synth, safely, and that Joel can explain. Each milestone is a smaller, complete version of that job. | Milestone | Whole task | Based on | | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------- | | [M1. Bench it](/lore/m1-bench-it) | Power the board, turn one motor, stop it safely | Official docs | | [M2. One joint end to end](/lore/m2-one-joint) | Build the wrist, check its sensor, then measure a commanded move of joint 6 | Official docs | | [M3. The whole arm moves](/lore/m3-whole-arm) | Build the rest of the arm, wrist to base, then home, jog and check the witness marks | Official docs | | [M4. Pick and place](/lore/m4-pick-and-place) | Fit a gripper and measure a repeated loop | Official docs | | [M5. Touch the skiff](/lore/m5-touch-the-skiff) | Register the skiff, turn a knob, press a button | Our design | | [M6. Patch a cable](/lore/m6-patch-a-cable) | Insert a patch cable and verify it | Our design | | [M7. Play it](/lore/m7-play-it) | Perform a short written piece | Our design | Diagram: The seven milestones as a ladder: M1 to M4 follow the official manual, M5 to M7 are our design and go past it ```text M7 Play it ┐ M6 Patch a cable │ our design M5 Touch the skiff ┘ ───────────────────────────────────── M4 Pick and place ┐ M3 The whole arm moves │ official manual M2 One joint end to end │ M1 Bench it ┘ ``` ## How each milestone is built Every milestone page has the same parts: - **Whole task:** the complete job for this stage. - **Parts:** what goes on the bench, with links to the official [bill of materials](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/build/bill-of-materials/). - **Concepts:** the mental model, the why. - **How-to:** the official page for each step, opened when that step comes up. - **Practice:** short drills for hand skills that come back in every milestone. - **Done check:** Joel does the job cold, on camera. - **Video:** the plan for the milestone's release, on its [video page](/lore/videos). The structure comes from [four-component instructional design](https://www.4cid.org/). The official build step is the worked example. Our variation of it is the completion task. The done check is the conventional task, with no help. ## Honesty markers **needs\_source** marks a claim the official sources do not cover yet. **Our design** marks milestones 5 to 7, which go past the PAROL6 manual. Both stay visible until a source or a measurement settles them. ## Terms - **milestone**: one stage of the build, with a whole task, a done check and a video. - **whole task**: a complete, smaller version of the final job, practised from start to finish ([4C/ID](https://www.4cid.org/)). - **task class**: a group of whole tasks at the same level of difficulty, sequenced from simple to complex ([4C/ID](https://www.4cid.org/)). - **done check**: the milestone's final test, done cold and on camera. ## Sources 1. [Four-Component Instructional Design](https://www.4cid.org/) 4C/ID. The four components, whole tasks, task classes and fading support that shape every milestone. Accessed 2026-11-07. 2. [PAROL6 documentation 1.1](https://docs.source-robotics.com/PAROL-docs/1.1/) Source Robotics. The official manual that milestones 1 to 4 follow. Accessed 2026-11-07. ## Lore on this page - [M3. The whole arm moves](/lore/m3-whole-arm) - [The skiff target](/lore/skiff-target) - [Concepts by milestone](/lore/concepts) - [PAROL6 sources and licences](/lore/sources) ## What links here - Agent guide → Joel builds a PAROL6 robot arm, one sourced and filmed milestone at a time. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/llms.txt) - Agent skills | PAROL6 build → Hands-on guides to Effect actions, XState lifecycles, and the seams between stack pieces. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/skills) - 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) - Learn the PAROL6 build as cards → How the milestone pages become a learn deck that runs M1 to M7 in build order. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/learn) - M1 video: Bench it → The video for milestone 1 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m1) - M1. Bench it: power, one motor, a safe stop → The first milestone takes a bare control board and one motor to a live bench rig that powers on, turns a motor and stops when the mains switch goes off. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/m1-bench-it) - M2 video: One joint end to end → The video for milestone 2 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m2) - M2. One joint end to end: the wrist and joint 6 → The second milestone prints, assembles and wires the wrist, proves its homing sensor triggers, then jogs joint 6 to a commanded angle and measures the result. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/m2-one-joint) - M3 video: The whole arm moves → The video for milestone 3 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m3) - M3. The whole arm moves → The third milestone builds the rest of the arm from the wrist down to the base, tests the wiring, then homes the arm, jogs every joint and checks the witness marks. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/m3-whole-arm) - M4 video: Pick and place → The video for milestone 4 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m4) - M4. Pick and place, repeatably → The fourth milestone fits a gripper, programs a pick-and-place loop and measures how well it repeats. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/m4-pick-and-place) - M5 video: Touch the skiff → The video for milestone 5 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m5) - M5. Touch the skiff → The fifth milestone registers a Eurorack skiff in the robot's frame, then presses a button and turns a knob to a set position. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/m5-touch-the-skiff) - 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 video: Play it → The video for milestone 7 is planned and not yet recorded. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/video-m7) - 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) - Print timelapses → Every PAROL6 print plate as a sped-up video from the printer's camera, with its parts, material, layer count, print time and milestones. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/lore/timelapses) - Purpose of the PAROL6 build wiki (VISION.md) → What the PAROL6 build wiki is for and who it serves. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/VISION.md) - Source change history (log.md) → The generated change log as Markdown. → [Read page](https://parol6.build/log.md)