ok so I purchased at build your own robot kit from Jaxx's shop. Put it together installed the software and programmed the robot and nothing. I did have some smells intially when first charged it up but think i corrected that. I can make the motors move with direct power but can not from the board. the servo will go to centre position when moved off but will not do anything else. Any suggestions would be great
cheers
ok, step by step…
First off, did the Picaxe software say everything installed correctly?
Second, I would check the wiring to/from your power source, to see if you fried anything.
Third, just recheck all your soldering, maybe its not fully connected…
Keep us updated! Plenty of folks here like to help
Oh no, what do you mean by
Oh no, what do you mean by “some smells?” You said you think you corrected it. What was the problem?
Does the PICAXE still connect to the programming software?
Concerning the servo, what do you mean by “moved off?”
It sort of smelt like cocoa
It sort of smelt like cocoa chips you would put in your garden. i am not exactly sure what i did but it did go away. I did breifly use four AA batteries. Yes the Picaxe software does connect.If I press the reset button and move the servo to the side to test it, it will move back to th centre.
The software siad it installed correctly. How do i check the wiring to see if I fried anything? I resodered just to make sure. As far as I can see it looks like it’s done correctly.
advice
anybody with some advice would be great.
Ground up troubleshooting
Since the whole things seems to not work together I’d break down the program into bits. Try and get the motors to work with the L293D/28X1, see if the IR sensor will return any readings, and test the servo separately. You can isolate the bits of code from the main program and make minor tweaks to test each part out.
If you have a multimeter/voltmeter I would also check that power is getting to all the necessary pins as well. I will assume there is no short as there would probably be a lot more bad smells and probably angry noises to accompany them.
Here are some things for you to test out…
SERVO:
servofun:
servo 0, 75
wait 2
servo 0, 225
wait 2
servo 0, 150
wait 2
goto servofun
The servo should cycle between center, far right, and far left.
SHARP IR:
main:
readadc 0, b0
debug
goto main
Leave the programming cable attached after downloading the program. A debug screen will appear and there should be something other than zero in the “b0” variable field if the sensor is operating.
MOTORS:
low 4
high 5
high 6
low 7
This should make both motors spin, direction is not important.
Let us know what the results are!
Tests
The Servo did not do anything.
The Sharp IR had a reading fluctuating around 100.
The motors did not work.
Do not have a voltmeter but will pick one up.
RE: Tests
Can you confirm the servo cable is connected with the yellow wire closest to the chips and the black wire closest to the edge of the board? Also can you verify that the L293D chip is installed in the correct direction? No offense is meant by these questions, I’m only covering the bases.
If you can take nice, sharp, closeup pics of your board it can sometimes help diagnostics. However if we can’t see the wiring connections than they’re no good. Myself, I’m interested in the corner of the board with the motor headers and IR sensor header.
The Sharp IR is returning distance readings. The reading shouldn’t stay around 100 unless you kept the sensor stationary. Your description of the readings are on par though; the sensors are never 100% steady so I’m thinking it’s ok.
**wire **
The wires are in the right places and the chip appears in the correct position.
How do I upload to photos for you to view?
This may sound stupid but
This may sound stupid but how do I get them to a url, it wont allow me to take them off my computer. Where do I upload them?
Did the step-by-step
Did the step-by-step directions I provided a link to in my comment not help you?
image url
when I click on the image url nothing happens. I disabled the popup blockers.
Send them to me
I’ll post them up for you.
Curious of the current status
I’m eager to get your bot working. The first one should be encouraging, not frustrating. The picture posting process here is less than natural but pictures are incredibly useful for diagnosing problems from afar. You can even shoot a video and host it on YouTube and link to it here.
pics
Do I send pics to you. Is that what you mean? And then yoy will post them.
Yes indeed.
Yes indeed.
pics
Ok so i was able to upload some photos into the robots section it was quite a bit easier.
Although I could not send multilpe pics in one, there was no option in the text box??
I do have more but maybe these will help you advise me.
You upload a pic for a robot project
The pictures you uploaded are used on the front page for your project. You actually made two projects, one of which should be deleted in the name of good form. I don’t know what it is that will let you upload pics like normal. Again, send them to me and I’ll take care of it for you.
Nothing looks overtly wrong in the two pictures you posted. My current suggestion would be to check continuity between the header pins you soldered on to the board with their respective legs on the PICAXE. A few times bad solder connections have been to blame for non-operating SHRs. If the PICAXE is accepting the program and nothing is happening then A) it’s bad connections B) something got fried or C) the power supply is faulty.
Have you acquired a multimeter yet?
multimeter
I am going to pick one up tomorrow. I wiil get back to you when I have one.
