So I’ll start this off by saying that I’m perfectly willing to accept responsibility for this, as long as someone can explain what I did wrong.
I’m a novice, but not completely inexperienced. I have a Computer Science degree, work on cell phones for a living, and have played around with microcontrollers before. I found the included assembly instructions straightforward. I got it together and went to load the code into the controller according to the controller’s wiki (seeedstudio.com/wiki/Hercules_Du … #The_Usage). When I plugged in the UartSBee, I noticed that it wasn’t detected by my computer.
“That’s weird.” I thought, and re-read the page. The walk-through has the user unplugging the controller from the PC before plugging in the battery, but I’ve also seen plenty of applications with this board involving connection to a computer via the serial port, so maybe the communications don’t power up without that battery power present?
I plugged in the battery that was included with the kit. A-ha! My computer is adding a device, and the UartSBee is blinking happily!
And then I looked over to see that the controller board was unhappily releasing the Magic Smoke. I quickly unplugged the battery and yanked the cable from my computer.
The visible damage appears to be the component in the location C23.
I greatly appreciate any help that can be offered. Did I mess this up somehow? If so, how do I keep that from happening again?
Yes, I did try unplugging the motors when the controller wouldn’t connect, per the wiki.
I have further isolated the problem. The component at C23 overheats and begins smoking when the battery is plugged in, whether or not the serial port is connected. The fact that the serial port doesn’t power up properly is a separate issue. I believe that I have a defective board. Is it possible to make a return?
Also, the manufacturer states that the serial port and battery should not be connected at the same time, but on the company’s own wiki it instructs the user to connect the power supply and then connect the serial:
“The controller cannot be powered directly from the programming connector which connect to PC for code downloading. The controller must be powered from the Power screw J1, by batteries or a DC supply (6-20V). The controller uses 2 15A slow blow fuses to protect the “H” bridges. After connecting the power supply:
-Connect a DC Motor to Channel 1 Screw Terminals.
-Connect the controller to your computer with UartSBee and a USB cable.”
This seems like a warranty issue. Please contact us via the RobotShop support center with your RobotShop invoice number and a link to this thread and we will proceed there.
We apologize for any inconvenience and will get this sorted out ASAP.
