AL5B not moving anymore

Lynxmotion Robot Arms
1

I used AL5B with SSC-32U and Servo Sequencer Utility. I play with the arm and everything was fine. Suddenly all the servo act like they turn off and the arm fell. I try to make it move with Center all button. The arm shake a little but didn’t move. What is causing this fault and what can I do?

Thanks

2

Hi,

Please provide pictures of your setup, showing clearly all components (SSC-32U, wires, jumpers, power connections, power supply, etc.).

The problem you are describing sounds like a power issue.

We see 3 possible causes:

  1. Issue in wiring / jumpers / etc. Seems very unlikely since it was working well recently.
  2. Power supply issue. We did recently change our power supplies for a better version since the previous one was causing issues. Therefore, it is possible yours is causing the issue.
  3. Dead motor causing a short or near-short. This could easily take most of the power available from the other servomotors and prevent the arm from working.

After taking the pictures, please disconnect all the servomotors from the SSC-32U except one. Then, power the arm and connect with the servo sequencer utility and try to move that servomotor.

If it works, add one more servo, test again (both this time) and repeat until all servomotors are added and working or until is stop working properly (most likely what will happen).
If it did stop working, remove the last servomotor and try again. If it still works without it, add a different servomotor (if any are left).

We await your reply to further help you.

Sincerely,

P.-S.: To add attachments to your reply, go into Full editor mode and access the attachment bar (above the orange buttons Preview, Submit, Save draft, Cancel).

3

Hi

I disconnected all servo and I tested it one by one. All servo are working fine :slight_smile:

I plug all the servo (7) and I was able to move the arm using the sequencer :slight_smile:

I make a new pattern using 13 frames (2 or 3 movements by frame). The arme is working fine :slight_smile:

I saved my pattern and click the “play” button and BANG! the arm fall without any power to execute the pattern :frowning:

Then I try to “center all”, nothing. Try to move some servo with the slider but no one is responding. I disconnect the arm, plug it again. Nothing. The arm was working and suddently it stop. Exactly the same thing as yesterday.

Thanks for your help.

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4

Thank you for all the details.

In the pictures, there is some glare hiding a few details. Therefore, we are working with the assumption that:

  1. The 6 V DC power supply is connected to the red/black cables going into the VS1 screw terminals
  2. The VS=VL jumper is NOT in place.

Other than that, all the wiring and setup seems good.

When the arm stopped working, did the blue power LED (silkscreen = PWR) near the screw terminals stay on? Or flicker?

If it did not flicker or turn off, did you try replacing the robotic in its default “resting position” and then controlling it again?

Let us know about those questions. It seems very likely that the power supply is the issue. In this case, it would probably work well until it is overloaded. At that point, it most likely shuts off temporarily until the internal state returns to a stable level, at which point it works again. We will know more with your next reply.

Sincerely,

5

Hi,

6volts power supply is connected to VS1 terminal
VS=VL jumper is not in place.

I think you are right. Problem is probably the power supply.

I run my pattern with only 5 of 7 servo and everything worked fine. Then I run the same pattern with all the servo (7 of 7) and bingo, arm stop working and the blue PWR LED is blinking.

My power supply is 6V 3A. What is your recommandation?

6

Thanks for all the extra details.

The blinking blue PWR LED indicates a brownout condition, which means it is very likely a power issue. Since you purchased that AL5B kit, we have replaced all power supplies with a newer, more powerful adapter (6 V DC, 5 A, RB-Hap-01).
This is a known issue but it does not affect all of the older power supplies, only a small subset of them. Therefore, we unfortunately have to wait for customers to let us know they have this issue before we issue a replacement.

The simplest way to resolve this problem is to replace the power supply with the newer (and better!) version.

Follow this link to send a message to our support center. Make sure to do the following in your message:

  1. Mention that you are faced with the power supply issue and need an RMA for it. The replacement product is RB-Hap-01.
  2. Add your invoice or order number for reference to your account.
  3. Copy a link to this forum topic, to provide context

Once the ticket is received you should receive a confirmation email. Afterwards, someone will contact you to confirm the details of the replacement (free of charge).

Sincerely,

7

Hi, I will send a message to the support center.

Thank you for your help.