Thanks. I will look into different batts. I think I need to know if the motor driver behaves like I am expecting, which is that when no signal is controlling the motors, they will just keep running as long as you put some current through M1/M2. At present that is true for M2 but not M1 and I don’t have the knowledge to know if that is because the board is faulty or because the switches are not correctly set or a signal is required. Hopefully someone from RobotShop will see this thread on Monday.
Just an FYI, I had all kinds of issues prior to setting the DIP switches in the proper configuration. I had one set of wheels that would spin correctly and the other side would just randomly spin slower and sometimes in the opposite direction, even when I didn’t send signal to that side. I.e.; I sent forward (180) to M1 (which ran correctly), M2 would sometimes run forward, sometimes backwards, sometimes shutter… This is the only reason I keep asking about the DIP switches.
@tonyd Back (sorry, we don’t reply over the weekend). Seems like you’ve gotten pointers regarding the motor controller, so feel free to update on that situation. I didn’t spot anything regarding the “clonk”, though there is an audible sound when the track hits the ground (sounds like a tank) due to both the sprocket and the width of the track segment. If you can provide a video with audio, we can tell you if it’s normal, or something is wrong. Be sure to have the sprockets at the same position to ensure they’re aligned (and aligned with the track).
HI @cbenson, I didn’t expect you to reply over the weekend, so don’t worry about that.
I think I have solved all of the problems now. The clonk was the track hitting the chassis, I didn’t notice it at first, but its was hitting, I am afraid the problem is the instructions which clearly show the motor spindles at the bottom of the chassis slot. When I put them at the top there was enough clearance top and bottom for the tracks to pass the chassis. You really need to sort those instructions out!
After @bmoscato last comment, I decided to try adding the Arduino to the mix and wrote a simple program to engage all 4 motors back and forth. It worked fine, so thank you again @bmoscato for your input. The vehicle does pull to one side a little, but I think I can address that by adding an offset to power variable on one side.
I did find it odd that the motor driver did not work without the signal, I had thought in the absence of instructions , it would just apply power to both m1 and m2, but as I explained to @bmoscato, I am very much a software guy (39 years as a developer) and the hardware side it new to me. So this is a case of me making assumptions based on zero knowledge.
I still don’t know why my bench DC supply wouldn’t spin the motors with the tracks on, but I am guessing the motors weren’t able to draw enough current from it and the motor drive does something magic.
Anyway, the hardware is working now so I can concentrate on the sensors/software. I still think you need to send me a new set of tracks when your machine is fixed though.
