I just purchased a RoboBuilder Robotic Construction Kit and have it put together. Now I am having an issue of programming the servos. When I initially turn on the the power, the robot just twitches. I have tried fine tuning, I have an electronics instructor at my school look at it. The computers at our school will not download the C++ programming language that we need, and I was wondering if that would be the issue and if that could be why we can’t get the computer to read that the robot is connected.
Also, all of the other software is downloaded, and I bought the kit version, which is said that we don’t even have to mess with a lot of the beginning stages of turning because everything should already be at 180 degrees, but when he only twitches one time when the power is turned on, something has to be wrong
We originally had gotten one arm to move 90 degrees, when we started putting it together, but we saw that it needed 180, so we adjusted the servo so that it could turn both directions. Once we did that, all it would do is twitch. So we figured that we needed the CD to get everything going. All of the limbs will rotate 180 if we slowly do it by hand. We have not tried anything behaviour wise, we are still in the default settings. I recently borrowed a tower from family that had XP on it, because my Windows 7 had 64 operating system instead of 16 or 32, the group I am working with is coming over tomorrow to see if having the software uploaded that has never had anything else similar on it before, but I do know that the directions that came with the kit did say that the robot limbs should go to its neutral position once power is supplied. We are using the batteries that came with the robot kit, and also have tried plugging in directly to a wall, which does have brand new electrical ran through it.
Alrighty, I will try that and get back to you, thank you for the advice, it is much appreciated… We have also had a problem with the robot software saying that the robot is not connected when we have had all of the cords plugged in. Anything that would help there?
I completely unassembled all of the limbs yesterday and checked all the servos to make sure they were alligned properly. Tried plugging in each limb in seperately and none of them would move. I did try making the rotation a bit smaller and that didn’t work. I took everything to my instructor at school and together we got the software up and going and was talking to the Robot, but it is still doing nothing but twitching. He checked out the board and believes that we have a bad IC Chip. I called the Customer service and they told me to speak with Online Support in this forum about exchanging the board.
Well, i need to get this figured out in the next two weeks, that’s why i need this chip. Yes I have tried step 11 about 15 times. The robot goes completely limp after it twitches, and yes the main controller box. The product is RB-Rbb-01. My instructor knows what he’s talking about and has plenty of experience with robots. I have also had a couple of others in the profession look at the Robot and tell me the exact same thing. I am using this product as a final capstone project and adding sensors and a camera to it, the problem is, I can’t get the robot in its original state to do anything because something is wrong with this chip, so I haven’t had any time to add what we need to to the remaining inputs on the chip.
Also, Robotshop has already put my project on hold for 6 weeks because you didn’t have the product I requested AFTER I ordered it. Telling me that it would be ready on 3 different dates after the previous date had passed and we had to put a rush order on RB-Rbb-01, so that we would have the remaining 5 weeks to get this project to work.
Thank you very much for helping get this issue resolved as quickly as possible. Is there any way that a rush can be applied to this ticket?
Arduino would not be too easy to use with the Robobuilder construction kits; it’s easier to use the program which comes with it or start programming from scratch.
Are the motors forcing when it twitches? You might want to remove a limb and see if the motor wants to go to a more neutral position.
What type of power supply are you using?
Have you programmed any behaviour on the robot or are you simply trying the default settings?
It is very important to set the servo motors to their neutral positions when assembling the robot and to put all the limbs and parts in the right orientation. Else, when the robot powers ON, it will try to go to its neutral position and fail.
We recommend disassembling the robot, powering up the main controller with all the servos (so they go neutral) and then assembling it again with the limbs in the correct position.
The software problem is strange indeed. Make sure you have correctly installed the drivers and maybe try running the software as an administrator of in compatibility mode (XP).
At this moment, it is difficult for us to be sure your robot is defective, let’s see if we can gather some more information.
Once the robot is assembled, did you try step 11 in the assembly manual?
When the robot twitches, do the motors remain powered or they go limp immediately after?
When you say IC chip, do you mean the main controller box? Is your product RB-Rbb-01?
We are sorry for all the inconvenience. If the motors go limp after it twitches, then it is most likely a power issue. If you send us a ticket with your order number to our support centre, we will exchange the main board right away. You can reference this forum thread to make sure we process your exchange as fast as possible. robotshop.helpserve.com/Tickets/Submit
Are you using the Arduino microcontroller? Because Arduino has their program that you might be able to use to do the programming. I used the Dagu Pan and Tilt assembly with servos and when my robot tried to access an angle of 180 degrees it would twitch and make a noise. I was advised to decrease the angle as 180 is the maximum.