Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
boe bot not working — Parallax Forums

boe bot not working

HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
edited 2006-07-22 01:36 in BASIC Stamp
my boebots power connector (for the battery pack) doesnt work. i put fresh batteries and checked connections, it doesnt work, the 9v port does though.
and my servos dont work. im sending a simple pulsout and they dont move. anybody know whats up?

Comments

  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2006-05-14 21:43
    Does the Pwr LED illuminate when you turn the power on?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-14 21:56
    with the 9v battery,yes. with the battery pack, no. and the stamp editor detects the stamp. so, i have no idea whats wrong.
  • A.C. fishingA.C. fishing Posts: 262
    edited 2006-05-14 22:34
    See any smoke lately? Have you been setting the bot to one?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

    Somebody said...
    -Never Underestimate the power of human stupidity.
    ·
  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2006-05-15 01:02
    Do you have a voltmeter? You can check to see if you're getting 6 volts from the battery pack. Or use a continuity tester to check the battery pack's connections.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-15 02:06
    no smoke, already checked voltage and batterypack connections. would accidentally hooking the pack up backwards mess it up? the leads from the pack cam unsoldered and i guessed and soldered it, it didnt turn on, so then i hooked it up the other way and it worked, turned it off, programmed, loaded the code, and now it doesnt work, its my stamp fried? i thought it had voltage protection and such...
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-05-15 14:18
    Sounds like the where the wires attach to the battery pack they may have come loose.· In any event, with the 9V battery you say you're getting power but no servos.· Do you have the power switch in position 2?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-15 16:31
    ive tried both switch posistions, and like i said, the wires to the battery pack broke off, i soldered them back on, tried it, didnt work, soldered them the other way around, the light came on, but now the battery pack doesnt work at all, and i have a good connection to the plug connector. the 9v powers it up, but the servos wont move, on either switch posistion, the editor detects the stamp though, and i never saw any smoke and i dont see andy visual damage to any componets.
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-05-15 16:39
    Are the servos plugged in correctly so that the white wires are facing the outside of the board?· Also is there jumper between the X4 and X5 headers connected?· Which position is it in?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-15 19:30
    yes, the servos are connected correctly, the jumper in the middle is in the posistion the occupied the middle pin and the pin closest to the breadboard
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-05-15 20:06
    Perhaps you should contact Tech Support directly on this one.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-16 16:02
    so, just tell them what i told you guys?
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-05-16 17:15
    You can refer directly to this thread.· Any Tech can help you.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-22 15:54
    UPDATE:

    well, my serovs work by themselves. but the power jack on the BOE still doesnt work, and the stamp is able to do math and print stuff to the debug window, but not able to control the servos, at least thru the BOE, so im thinking that i may have fried the I/O pins that control the servos. im going to try and pulse the servos using different pins when i get home, i still havent talke to tech support, havent had the time. im gonna borrow a multimeter and test my theorys. thanks for all the help.
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-23 01:22
    UPDATE 2:

    k, my i/o pins must be fried. i tried hooking the servos up the way your supposed to hook them up on a homework board. i tried all of the pins. servos dont even flinch. yet they work when voltage is directly applied.

    EDIT:

    i think i fired the battery pack. it no longer puts out any voltage. fresh batteries. i saw some smoke come off of the battery pack when i hooked it up like it was hooked up in the manual. soooo...... maybe the stamp isnt fried. i dunno. i just know this sucks.

    Post Edited (HavoKane) : 5/23/2006 1:27:39 AM GMT
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-05-23 01:28
    What works when voltage is directly applied?

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-23 16:32
    the servos flinch when voltage is directly applied to the pos and neg leads. the move continuously if you "pulse" the servo by rapidly applying and disconnecting cuurrent to the servo. IE touching wire, not touching, touching, not touching...
  • Ryan ClarkeRyan Clarke Posts: 738
    edited 2006-05-23 17:24
    You are seeing drift, or surge when you connect power like that. The white wire on a servo cable is the signal cable. This is designed to be pulsed at a refresh of 20 mS. There is no way you were able to physically pusle the line with a battery. Can you confirm the code you used to run the servos? (i.e. post it here)

    Ryan

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Ryan Clarke
    Parallax Tech Support

    RClarke@Parallax.com
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-23 21:33
    ' {$STAMP BS2}
    ' {$PBASIC 2.5}

    DEBUG "program running"

    DO
    PULSOUT 0, 750
    PULSOUT 1, 750
    PAUSE 20
    LOOP



    ive tried using pins 0 thru 13 with no avail.
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2006-05-23 21:36
    Two things...P0 and P1 aren't connected to the servo headers on the board.· P12 through P15 are, and are powered with the Switch in position 2.· If your servos are centered they will not move with the code you posted, since that code is supposed to stop them if they're contiuous rotation.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Tech Support
    csavage@parallax.com
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-05-24 00:44
    ive tried 650, 750, and 850. and i hooked the servos up like you would on a homework board to test them and to test the stamps I/O pins. i couldnt get it to work. on any pin, ant any speed.
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-06-02 13:15
    fixt it. i feel retarded. i noticed that the stamp kept falling out, and i knew it wasnt supposed to do that. so i pushed it in a litle harder. presto. although im still not sure why that would prevent the battery pack from working...


    EDIT:
    ok, well, i thouhgt that had fixt it, but apparently not. im just now toying with the robot, ive been pretty busy, i can communicate with the stamp, but i cant control the servos from any pin. but the servos are not fried. so, i think this comes down to having to buy a new bot...

    Post Edited (HavoKane) : 7/16/2006 5:21:01 AM GMT
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-07-16 05:17
    ok, well, i played with some code, added some debug stuff, and the servos wont move. i dont know whats wrong. i can communicate with the stamp, and the servos work, but the stamp wont move the servos. can somebody load this code into their whiskers bot and tell me if the autopilot works for them, according to the debug printings, it should work.


    ' {$STAMP BS2}
    ' {$PBASIC 2.5}

    '
    Variables

    MyVar VAR Nib
    InPutVar VAR Nib
    pulseCOUNT VAR Byte
    counter VAR Nib
    old7 VAR Nib
    old5 VAR Nib


    '
    Declarations

    counter = 1
    old7 = 0
    old5 = 1


    '
    Pins

    Right_Servo_Wheel PIN 12
    Left_Servo_Wheel PIN 13


    '
    Constants

    CRMid CON 750
    CRDeviation CON 225
    CRMax CON CRMid + CRDeviation
    CRMin CON CRMid - CRDeviation
    CRHMid CON CRMid + 200
    CRLMid CON CRMid - 200
    CLMid CON 750
    CLDeviation CON 225
    CLMax CON CLMid + CLDeviation
    CLMin CON CLMid - CLDeviation
    CLHMid CON CLMid + 200
    CLLMid CON CLMid - 200
    Stopped CON 5
    Forward CON 8
    back CON 2
    Turn_Right_Sharp CON 6
    Turn_Left_Sharp CON 4
    Autopilot CON 0

    '
    '
    Manual Operation code
    '
    DO
    DEBUG CLS
    InPutVar = Stopped
    SERIN 16, $4054, 30,LoopBegin,[noparse][[/noparse]InPutVar]

    LoopBegin:
    myvar = InPutVar
    SELECT myvar

    CASE = Stopped
    PULSOUT Right_Servo_Wheel, CRMid
    PULSOUT Left_Servo_Wheel , CLMid
    DEBUG "Stopped"

    CASE = Forward
    PULSOUT Right_Servo_Wheel, CRMin
    PULSOUT Left_Servo_Wheel , CLMax
    DEBUG "Go FWD"

    CASE = Back
    PULSOUT Right_Servo_Wheel, CRMax
    PULSOUT Left_Servo_Wheel , CLMin
    DEBUG "Go RVS"

    CASE = Turn_Right_Sharp
    PULSOUT Right_Servo_Wheel, CRMax
    PULSOUT Left_Servo_Wheel , CLMax
    DEBUG "Turn Right"

    CASE = Turn_Left_Sharp
    PULSOUT Right_Servo_Wheel, CRMin
    PULSOUT Left_Servo_Wheel , CLMin
    DEBUG "Turn Left"

    '
    END MANUAL OPERATION
    '
    '
    ENTER AUTOPILOT

    CASE Autopilot
    DO
    IF (IN7 <> IN5) THEN
    IF (old7 <> IN7) AND (old5 <> IN7) THEN
    counter = counter + 1
    old7 = IN7
    old5 = IN5
    IF (counter > 4) THEN
    counter = 1
    GOSUB Back_Up
    GOSUB Turn_Left
    GOSUB Turn_Left
    ENDIF
    ELSE
    counter = 1
    ENDIF
    ENDIF

    IF (IN5 = 0) AND (IN7 = 0) THEN
    HIGH 15
    HIGH 1
    FREQOUT 4, 250, 3550
    FREQOUT 4, 200, 3550
    GOSUB Back_Up
    GOSUB Turn_Left
    GOSUB Turn_Left
    ELSEIF (IN5 = 0) THEN
    HIGH 15
    FREQOUT 4, 200, 3575
    GOSUB Back_Up
    GOSUB Turn_Right
    ELSEIF (IN7 = 0) THEN
    HIGH 1
    FREQOUT 4, 200, 3575
    GOSUB Back_Up
    GOSUB Turn_Left
    ELSE
    LOW 15
    LOW 1
    GOSUB Forward_Pulse
    ENDIF
    LOOP

    Forward_Pulse:
    PULSOUT 13, 850
    PULSOUT 12, 650
    PAUSE 20
    DEBUG "Go FWD"
    RETURN

    Turn_Left:
    FOR pulseCount = 0 TO 20
    PULSOUT 13, 650
    PULSOUT 12, 650
    PAUSE 20
    DEBUG "Turn Left"
    NEXT
    RETURN

    Turn_Right:
    FOR pulseCount = 0 TO 20
    PULSOUT 13, 850
    PULSOUT 12, 850
    PAUSE 20
    DEBUG "Turn Right"
    NEXT
    RETURN

    Back_Up:
    FOR pulseCount = 0 TO 20
    PULSOUT 13, 650
    PULSOUT 12, 850
    PAUSE 20
    DEBUG "Go RVS"
    NEXT
    RETURN

    '
    END AUTOPILOT

    ENDSELECT

    LOOP
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-07-16 05:23
    ok, im really sorry guys. i feel retarded for real now. i was just fiddling with the bot. turns out the was a poor connection on the jumper. now the bot works fine. and now im happy. lol. thanks for all your help guys.

    EDIT 1: although, now that it can move the servos, it doesnt follow the code uploaded to it. it just spins the servos.


    EDIT 2a: According to my code, and the way it used to work, its not supposed to move at all until i press a movement or autopilot key...

    EDIT 2b: I cant make the bot turn. it will only go FWD. i think some code is burned into the eeprom or something. i have it running off of a DC wallwort at 6v. so i have the jumper in the VDD position, but it behaves the same in either position. in the debug, the RX light blinks so fast, that its almost solid, and the TX light only comes on when i press a key, like it should. and i have an echo and a loop. i am completley stumped.

    Post Edited (HavoKane) : 7/16/2006 5:44:56 AM GMT
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-07-18 21:01
    so, does anybody know?
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2006-07-18 21:16
    I would put your program on a "shelf" for now and go through the BOE-BOT manual (and Robotics book) trying out the various test programs and examples one at a time to make sure all the pieces work the way they're supposed to work and that you understand what you're doing with the simple stuff. Once you're comfortable with simple things, go through your program with some additional DEBUG statements so you can follow what it's doing, especially in the Autopilot routines.
  • RongRong Posts: 25
    edited 2006-07-21 04:01
    This has been an interesting thread...my son and I are building a couple of boebots, and are watching what problems others may have. Good luck you. I guess I would advise rewiring the whole bot carefully, and as was just mentioned, testing each part as it is rebuilt...

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Ron Giuntini

    San Francisco
  • HavoKaneHavoKane Posts: 109
    edited 2006-07-22 01:36
    ya, i did. i started over completley. and it still doesnt work properly. im kinda irritated becuase i payed $250 for it. i suppose i could just go get antoher one since theyre like $95 at RS. but im trying to save for a jeep.
Sign In or Register to comment.