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Eddie Rotate Degrees Not Working Correctly — Parallax Forums

Eddie Rotate Degrees Not Working Correctly

T3rr0rByte13T3rr0rByte13 Posts: 29
edited 2013-12-21 21:04 in Robotics
I am trying to get the Eddie to Rotate a certain number of degrees, It Doesn't seem to matter what I put in the input values for degrees and power only the right motor turns on for 2 seconds and then stops. I would think that the eddie's right motor should travel in one direction and the left motor in the other to rotate the eddie, and then it should only rotate the degrees specified.

I'm thinking there is something wrong with the encoder or the firmware I have placed on the eddie control board.

When installing the firmware on the Eddie I think this is the process. Download the eddie firmware. Open up the propeller tool. Open the Eddie.spin file and upload to the control board. Is there something that I need to do to make sure I'm using the code for the new Quadrature Encoders, and not the older encoders?

Comments

  • bomberbomber Posts: 297
    edited 2013-11-30 22:31
    T3rr0rByte,
    What firmware version did you load onto the control board? Version 1.3 is what you need to use the quadrature encoders. If you are using the old position controllers (green circuit board on the encoders), you need the older firmware version. What command and parameters are you using to make the robot turn? There are different commands to allow it to do different types of turning. It can turn in place (as you hypothesized above), or it can power one wheel and pivot on the other. Double check the wiring to the encoders, and the firmware version. typing the command "ver" will return the firmware version in hexadecimal. Good Luck!



    Bomber
  • T3rr0rByte13T3rr0rByte13 Posts: 29
    edited 2013-11-30 23:44
    Thanks for the reply, I'm using the rotate degrees function in Parallax2011ReferencePlatformIOController in VPL to rotate the robot and I am using the v1.3 firmware. When Installing the firmware do I have to load each of the individual files in the firmware package somehow or do I just load the eddie.spin file?
  • T3rr0rByte13T3rr0rByte13 Posts: 29
    edited 2013-12-01 01:43
    I was reading through the assembly instructions and read that you are supposed to set the Jumpers on the encoders. I see no jumpers on the encoders, maybe its referring to the 3 pin connectors labelled A and B. The instructions say that you are supposed to remove B from one of the encoders and leave A attached. On the other encoder you are supposed to leave both A and B attached. I am using the newer Blue encoders. The odd part is that later in the assembly instructions it says to connect all four 3 pin connectors to the Eddie Control Board.
  • bomberbomber Posts: 297
    edited 2013-12-01 19:43
    You don't need to worry about that part of the jumpers; that part was left over from the old documentation about the green encoders. Make sure all 4 of the cables are connected to all of the pins on the encoders and plugged into the correct pins on the control board. The white wires on the encoders should both be facing toward the center of the encoder board. You can rule out the possibility of the cause being software by directly sending commands over serial to the control board. Open up the Propeller Tool, press f12, and a blue console window should pop up. Set the com port to the port that you USB cable is hooked up to, and set the Baud rate to 115200. Then enter the command "verb 1" so that any errors produced by the board are more human readable. Next type "turn fef1 4b" and the robot should turn. Do NOT copy and paste the commands from the post to the terminal. Type the commands manually, and hit enter after each command. Good Luck,
    Bomber
  • T3rr0rByte13T3rr0rByte13 Posts: 29
    edited 2013-12-02 17:44
    It appears that the encoder on the left side of the Eddie is broken. When launching the eddie command from the DSS command prompt the encoder ticks are not registering in the control console. Swiching the pinouts of the encoder to the other side of the eddie confirms that the encoder is not working. I have contacted parallax support directly to see if they can replace the encoder for me as I just got the eddie a couple weeks ago. Thanks for the troubleshooting tips Bomber.
  • bomberbomber Posts: 297
    edited 2013-12-03 00:11
    You're welcome T3rror! I'm actually working on an Eddie myself, forum post coming soon (when, or if, life decided to give me a break :) ). Those encoders are pretty sensitive, and can be quite annoying at times.
  • PhilWheatPhilWheat Posts: 14
    edited 2013-12-07 13:21
    Bomber, I look forward to your post. I've actually gone back to the original encoders, but keep meaning to troubleshooting the new ones again sometime.
  • T3rr0rByte13T3rr0rByte13 Posts: 29
    edited 2013-12-21 21:04
    I replaced the broken encoder, however when I issue a TURN 4b 20 command which should rotate the robot 45 degrees, only one motor activates. Basically I'm still having the same issue, however it is registering the encoder ticks correctly now. Maybe I need to try going back to an older firmware. Is there an older firmware that will work with the quadrature encoders? Any other suggestions?
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