> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cyberwave.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Waypoint reachability

> See at a glance whether a robot arm can actually reach a waypoint you're placing.

<Note />

When a waypoint is attached to a robot arm, a small badge above it tells you
whether the arm can actually put its tool there — updating live as you drag.
Hover the badge to see the reason in full.

## What the badges mean

| Badge       | Meaning                                                          | What to do                           |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| **✓** green | The arm can reach this pose.                                     | Nothing.                             |
| **⟳** amber | The arm can reach the *position*, but not at that *orientation*. | Rotate the waypoint.                 |
| **✕** red   | The arm cannot reach the position at all.                        | Move the waypoint closer to the arm. |
| *no badge*  | Not checked.                                                     | Nothing — see below.                 |

Each badge carries its own symbol as well as a colour, so it stays readable
without relying on telling red from green.

No badge is the normal state for any waypoint this doesn't apply to, which is
most of them: waypoints for mobile robots, waypoints placed in the environment
rather than attached to an arm, and arms without a robot description to solve
against. Those waypoints look exactly as they always have. A badge only ever
appears after a successful check, so a bare waypoint never means "probably
fine" — and a check that fails removes the badge rather than guessing.

## When it applies

The waypoint has to be attached to an arm's base link — set the waypoint's
reference frame to the arm. Waypoints attached to *other waypoints* inherit the
chain, so a waypoint attached to a waypoint attached to an arm is checked
against that arm. Dragging a parent waypoint re-checks everything attached
beneath it.

Checks run while you have edit rights on the environment.

## While you drag

Verdicts update continuously as you move a waypoint. Dragging a waypoint far
outside the arm's reach shows **✕** immediately. Nearer the edge of the
workspace the badge fades for a moment while the answer is computed — a faded
badge means "still deciding", not a verdict.

Only the waypoint you're dragging is re-checked, along with anything attached to
it. The rest keep the verdict they already had.

## Limitations

* **Reach only, not safety.** The check ignores collisions — with the scene and
  with the arm itself. A green waypoint can still be a pose you don't want the
  arm to take.
* **One waypoint at a time.** Each waypoint is judged on its own, starting from
  the arm's current pose. Running a path visits waypoints in order from wherever
  the previous one left the arm, so a waypoint that checks out on its own can
  still fail as part of a longer path.
* **Green is about the arm, not about the run.** The check works harder to find
  a solution than running the waypoint does, so a pose near the edge of what the
  arm can hold — usually an awkward wrist angle rather than a distant position —
  can show green and still fail to run. Rotating the waypoint slightly is
  normally enough.
* **Waypoints attached to a moving link stay blue.** Only the arm's base link is
  supported as a reference frame.