basicly, i got the board…plugged it all according to the manual. all seemed to work okay when moving the sliders on the terminal…then i tried to program up some macros. now this is where the problems started…
after using a macro to control servo 1 (worked no problems) and then going to a macro which used servo 2 it would just move servo 1 to whatever position servo 2 was supposed to go to.
ive checked, checked and checked again the macro coding and emailed tech support about it, but still i get the same problems. till last night…
all the servos started shaking around and then the board light went out and stopped responding completely to slider commands aswell on any channel. tried three different batteries thinking this was to blame, but still nought. tried hooking up a DC power sup to it…still nothing. and then i stick the first battery in in the morning, and its back to macros wont work, sliders work half the time.
would i be correct in assuming the board is fried? just id rather not go through the hassle of mailing it back to active robots if its a good board and then have to pay yet more money to get it shipped back to me…
At first you were using leading zeros in your macro. So moving 01 or 06 was the same as moving 0, it only saw the 0. So that could give you some confusing results. The most common problem people have with the SSC-32 involves incorrect or under powering. For now remove the VS1=VL jumper and put the 9vdc battery clip onto the VL terminals, red=(+) and black=(-). Now connect the 9vdc battery and see if the green LED lights. If so then connect it to the serial port and open the terminal program and type VER then hit enter. The screen should quickly respond with SSC-32 V1.06 or close to that. You should also note that the green LED goes out and now only blinks when it is accepting data. Now install a servo onto channel 0 and provide 6vdc to the servo voltage terminal (VS). type onto the terminal screen #0 P1500 then enter. The servo should hold the centered position. Install a second servo in channel 1, and type #1 P1500 and the second servo should hold the centered position. Now type #0 P1800, you should see the channel 0 servo move CW a bit. The macros are the same as typing the commands directly on the screen. Let me know at what point you are not able to follow my above instructions. Please provide details of what did or didn’t happen.
I know that Jim and others could probably give a better answer. But if it were me, here are some of the steps I would try… Note, these suggestions are generic as I don’t know how many and what type of servos you are using, what types of batteries you tried, Does the battery have the correct voltage and capacity for the type and number of servos you are using, etc.
I am guessing that it is not directly a battery problem as you stated that you tried three different ones. But I would fully recharge one and check the voltage of it, to make sure it is OK. I would check to make sure that my battery connector was in correctly, and there were no stray strands of wire that may cause a short. If I was only using one battery, I would make sure that the jumper from VS to VL was there. I would try switching to two batteries. One for the servos and a 9 volt battery for the logic. I would double check all of the wiring going into this board for possible shorts. For example a servo wire could get pinched and short out…
I would make sure that all of my servos are plugged in properly. Depending on how many servos I had installed, I might try unplugging some of them and see if it works… If servo 2 is not responding correctly I would try swapping servos to see if that makes a difference.
Sorry I could not give you any more specific help.
soon as i hooked up the DC power sup to the servo power and started plugging in servos (with the 9v disconnected) it took the first servo no worries, when i plugged in the second one (one that had been used in the project) it started buzzing a lot indicating a short :S.
took that servo off and lo and behold no buzzing…blown servo perhaps?
stuck a fresh one in and it all seems to be responding propperly to the tests…
other than that it all seems to work fine on the tests you suggested.
You should also note that the green LED goes out and now only blinks when it is accepting data. Now install a servo onto channel 0 and provide 6vdc to the servo voltage terminal (VS). type onto the terminal screen 