First I would like to apologize if this was already posted, but I did not see it.
Secondly, hi my name is Kyle. My professor bought this arm and tasked me with building it and figuring out how it works. I got it all together and know that the chip works, but I can’t seem to get the servos to move at all. This happens on both the lynxterm and rios control software. can anyone help? thanks.
Hi Kyle,
Welcome to the board. There is not enough information here to make very many suggestions.
I will assume that you have an SSC-32 board. How is the board powered? Do you have seperate power for both VS and VL or one supply. What jumpers do you have installed.
Also how is the board connected to the PC? Do you have a wired RS232 connection or are you using a USB to serial adapter. If so which one? Has it worked in the past? Have you configured the software for the right port and baud rate? Does the LED light up on the SSC-32 board? Does it blink at all when one of these programs tries to communicate with it?
Those are some of the obvious things to check out.
Kurt
yes I have the SSC-32 board, the arm was bought 1 week ago so this is the first time I have used it. I am connecting it to my computer with a targus usb to serial cable. the jumper connecting the chip to the arm is removed and the chip is powered by a 9V battery. The chip does blink when it is communicating with the computer, but all of the servos don’t move. I do have the right COM port connected to the board
so far it sounds pretty good. the targus usb-to-serial adapter is an unknown but the fact the LED is blinking suggests serial data is getting to the ssc-32. whether or not it will work with RIOS remains to be seen however lynxterm isn’t nearly as particular so I’d start with that.
some additional questions come to mind… using this for reference
what battery are you using to power the servos, and is it fully charged?
you seem to state you have the VL=VS jumper removed, but do you have the VS2=VS1 jumpers installed (and in the correct orientation)? these are blocks 5 and 3 respectively on the image in the linked users manual.
are the baud rate jumpers in the default position? this is block 9 on the image.
eventually someone will ask for a picture of your wiring setup so, although you might not be able to post a link yet (the 24 hrs thing), be prepared for that if possible.
You did note that you were powering the chip from a 9v battery. my guess is that there is no servo power. make sure you have another battery connected to VS1, and that a jumper should be connected on “VS2=VS1”.
Brandon C.
ok as soon as I can get a camera I will upload the image. Here is whats up:
baud jumpers: 11 config
vs1=vl jumper out
both vs2=vs1 jumpers in
i am powering the chip with an energizer 9v battery.
i am powering the servos with the power supply that came with the arm.
Try disconnecting all but one servo and try moving it with lynxterm. Measure the voltage supply to the servo with a multimeter and see if it drops when a movement command is given.
Are the servos plugged in with the black wire closest to the outside of the board?
here is the picture. I disconnected all of the servos in this pic though. They were all connected with the black wire on the outside
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b138/kyse-zenith/chip-1.jpg
Ok, I have read over this from top to bottom. Please connect a servo to channel 0, start LynxTerm. Click on the window and type VER and enter. Do you get the version report back from the SSC-32? Now type #0 P1500 and enter and see if the servo is holding position. If so then type P1000 and enter see if the servo moves. Type P2000 see if the servo moves…
I did exactly what you said and the servos do not move. I do not have a volt meter, otherwise I would check to see if the servos are receiving power. If I put the VL VS jumper back in and use the power supply the chip should run off of that right? I could do that to see if the ps is actually outputting power
Remove the 9vdc battery and install the VS1=VL jumper. Tell me if the green LED lights up.
You do understand that the switch needs to be turned on, right?
the green led didn’t light up, so something’s wrong with either the ps or the voltage path.
Pull the large wires from the SSC-32 VS terminal to make sure they are not shorting out. The wires just fit, if you are not careful some strands can get pushed out and make contact.
Again… do you understand that the power switch need to be turned on?
---------- ON
| |
--| | ___---\
| |-----|--- ___/
--------| | |___---
| |-----|
--------| |
| |
---------- OFF
yes i understand that the switch needs to be on and that on is in the direction of the switch pin with no wire attached
there was a short. so i fixed it and removed the VS=VL jumper and put the 9v battery for the chip and the ps for the servos and they still don’t move
You’re going to need to replace the power supply. It has probably been blown due to the short. At least you know what the problem is. Go for 6.0vdc 2 or more amps regulated.
The power supply works. When I fixed the short, I tested the ps on the chip and the chip was powered.
Ok so the servo voltage problem is fixed. Please leave the 9vdc battery off and the VS1=VL jumper installed. Install a single servo on channel 0. Connect with LynxTerm and type VER then enter. Do you get the version report back to the screen? If yes then please type in the #0 P1500 thing again…
already did that before I posted last time, the chip works but the servos don’t