Penguin Resetting

jaeg

My penguin keeps resetting on larger programs (stock Navigation program, any program with multiple subroutines and jumping around in code). I've tried new batteries. I've tested the voltage while it's running and it's not dropping. I've unplugged the servos and it's still resetting. Any idea what's wrong with it?

Humanoido

Jaeg: Which program are you testing with, when the servos are unplugged?

When you tested the batteries under a load (when operating), what voltages did you see?

What voltage appears with servos unplugged at the instant it resets?

Are you measuring with a meter or oscilloscope? If oscilloscope, does any spiking occur?

There is a sensitivity to reset however this is typically brought on with weakened state batteries and servos loads, and can be averted somewhat by the introduction of an electrolytic capacitor across the power. One easy way to do this is to simply plug in the capacitor to the AUX 5 expansion port while observing correct polarity. The port pin would remain open.

This could also be an anomaly with the Motherboard but these are very rare.

humanoido

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humanoido
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jaeg

I think I fixed it. There was technically two problems. 1. I had a glitch in my program which caused it to reset without the servos. 2. I'm guessing the batteries it came with had an issue. I put new ones in and now it works fine. The batteries voltage was 6.1 when I measured them while the servos where running. Even when they where new the problem was there so I'm guessing they where a bad batch.

Well it's fixed now thanks.


Edit:

I think I'm going to try the capacitor idea and test the old batteries again.

Post Edited (jaeg) : 12/27/2009 9:27:30 PM GMT

Humanoido

jaeg: Actually it sounds like your Penguin batteries are good. The voltage of 6.1-volts during operation is nominal. Although shelf life can affect batteries, it sounds like these are good. The capacitor is still a good mod to do, and it may make the Penguin robot function a little longer on a set of batteries, especially as the voltage declines due to normal use. Good to hear you solved the program glitch on the reset. Actually, we have programs designed to reset the Penguin on purpose. Would you care to post what code you found as the culprit? It may be useful and interesting for others with Penguin robots...

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humanoido
*Stamp SEED Supercomputer *Basic Stamp Supercomputer *TriCore Stamp Supercomputer
*Minuscule Stamp Supercomputer *Three Dimensional Computer *Penguin with 12 Brains
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*Handbook of BASIC Stamp Supercomputing
*Ultimate List Propeller Languages

Capt.Kerry

My penguin keeps resetting too. If I hold it in the air its little legs keep pedalling away but as soon as I put it down it spazzes out. Battery voltage is down to 5.87v so I assume this is the problem (especially given intensive use since Christmas day!) I have rechargable batteries on order but I note the specs say they are 1000mAH and 6.7v. Is this voltage ok for the penguin?

Humanoido

Take a look at U1 in the Penguin schematic. The circuit runs off the LT1121ACS8-5 voltage regulator. If you download the data sheet, you can see it will handle an input of more than 6.7 volts. To test, you should see +6 volts on output (regulator's pin 8).

www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/prod/robo/27313-6%20PenguinDoc-v1.3.pdf

Post Edited (humanoido) : 1/5/2010 3:33:30 PM GMT

jaeg

Just wanted to say the penguin is working now. For some reason the batteries it came with just didn't work properly in it even though they had the right voltage. I put some new batteries in it and now it runs like a charm.

Thanks

Humanoido

I heard this before in email about some other robots being distributed with batteries where apparently the shelf life made an impact on the overall power delivery. On advanced robots, including Penguin, we should be careful to monitor the battery power. Some robots go through a painful appearing process when the batteries die. It's best not to subject any robots to this low battery condition, as it can cause various anomalies to appear, such as resets, etc. In some robot conditions, the program will reset to a place in the program other than the beginning, giving some effects that you would not expect. Glad to hear your Penguin runs like a charm! The Penguin here was doing the Happy Dance yesterday!

humanoido

jaeg

Right now I'm working on giving my penguin some animal like behaviors. Like if the light changes drastically it gets scared or if the ping sensor picks up a large distance change and it goes and hides. If it encounters obstacles it gets frustrated and will to an agitated toddle. It's going to be fun. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Humanoido

jaeg said...
Right now I'm working on giving my penguin some animal like behaviors. Like if the light changes drastically it gets scared or if the ping sensor picks up a large distance change and it goes and hides. If it encounters obstacles it gets frustrated and will to an agitated toddle. It's going to be fun. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Behavior programs can be exciting and even unpredictable! This is an area just waiting to be developed, and you have the basis of some good ideas for programming Penguin personality characteristics. I will look forward to learning about the results. I'm experimenting with a Penguin face that can also exhibit personality, like emotions - this project is ongoing for some time and the experiments with different hardware are very interesting.

humanoido