Hi !
Recently purchased SSC-32U and BotBoarduino.
SSC-32U seems to wrongly interpret the voltage from sensor output. Because, actual voltage on the sensor output pin is 0.53 volts (measured with multimeter). This voltage should be converted to value 27 by SSC-32U and returned to BotBoarduino. Actual value, that I receive from SSC-32U is “227”, very rare (maybe when voltage fluctuates a little bit, it fluctuates between 0.53 and 0.54) it returns “27”.
I am sure that sensor is working correctly also because I tried to connect it to BotBoarduino analog input, and BotBoarduino is correctly reading and converting this voltage.
Here is the code how I read sensor output from SSC-32U:
void SCAdapter::ReadSensor(String com)
{
_ssc->println(com);
delay(30);
Serial.print("/*");
while(_ssc->available())
{
Serial.print(_ssc->read());
Serial.print(" ");
}
Serial.println("*/");
}
As “com” parameter I pass “VC” (obviously sensor is connected to “C” sensor pin).
System returns /*227 */ (I’m checking sensor output twice a second, and output remains the same).
What can be wrong ?
Thanks.
Hi,
Could you please try the same code but with the C input connected to a different voltage. Maybe try when connected to VCC or to GND and see if you get the expected values or something weird still.
Hi, scharette
Thank you for your response.
I tried to connect sensor power pin to free servo VS1 pin, tried to connect to “H” power pin, tried to connect to free servo ground pin. Similar situation, except I get 228, and rarely 32 (for servo power pin) and 1 (for ground).
Something else I can try ?
Regards,
Erik Martirorsyan
If you have a multimeter available, could you please check the voltage at these locations:
]VS1 +&- screw terminal/:m]
]VS2 +&- screw terminal/:m]
]Random VS1 servomotor channel’s power and ground pins/:m]
]Random VS2 servomotor channel’s power and ground pins/:m]
Also, please make the same tests with VA, VB, VD, VE, VF to see if you get different results.
VS1 Screw terminal - I use as main port for power supply.
VS2 Screw terminal - 5.92 volts (actual power supply).
VS1 Servo - 5.92 volts
VS2 Servo - 5.92 volts
Tested with sensor connected to VA, VB, VC, VD, VE. Similar results.
Maybe I have to power VL separately ?
Please provide us with one or more pictures of your setup clearly showing the SSC-32U board, all jumpers, connections (including power) and any other connected components.
You add an attachment by going into Full Editor mode. The attachment bar is above the 4 orange buttons (Preview, Submit, Save draft, Cancel). See the attached image for details.
Sincerely,
UBEC voltage regulator is connected to VS1 Screw Terminal, input voltage is 6 volts.
Freescale MPX4080D - sensor I use.
If any more photos needed, please do not hesitate.
Thank you for the information and pictures. Well, it seems like your wiring/setup is all good.
So, please try the following:
]Turn off power to SSC-32U and disconnect it from USB./:m]
]Disconnected the wires going from the TX/RX/GND from the SSC-32U going to the BotBoarduino./:m]
]Connect an SSC-32U analog input (ex: C) to the 5 V rail of the SSC-32U (the middle row where the three rows of signal/5/G pins of the inputs are)./:m]
]Connect another SSC-32U analog input (ex: D) to the GND rail of the SSC-32U (the row closest to the screw terminals where the three rows of signal/5/G pins of the inputs are)./:m]
]Power up your SSC-32U and connect it by USB to your computer./:m]
]Download and run Lynxterm, our free SSC-32/SSC-32U diagnostic tool./:m]
]Use the top-right Setup button to change the COM port and baud rate./:m]
]Connect to the board./:m]
]Type VER followed by return] in the black text box. The board should respond with its firmware version./:m]
]If it responds with the firmware version, try typing VC followed by return] in the black text box. The first command will be ignored (initializing pin with ADC), but subsequent commands should return an ASCII character (code equivalent to voltage). In most cases, you should receive a code in the 245-255 range, such as ÿ./:m]
Let us know the results of the two inputs. Of course, the once for ground will return “0” so you should normally not see a visible result.
Just to make it clear that I have done everything right: I connected “C” input pin to “C” ground pin, and connected “G” input pin to “G” power supply pin.
When I enter “VER” in Lynxterm I recieve “SSC32-V2.50USB”
“VC” command returns nothing, just changes the line
“VG” command returns “я” symbol … Or something like it … I attached screenshot of Lynxterm
Ok, it seems to be responding with 2 bytes (that get combined into a Unicode character…).
Please try again using RealTerm. Once downloaded, install this software and run it.
In the Display tab, change the Display As option to Hex[space] or Hex + Ascii (preferred mode). This will allow you to view the actual value sent back in binary (in hex encoding).
You may also have to change the Baud option in the Port tab. We also had to change the Port optino when using it and trigger the port by unpressing Open and clicking it again before we got responses from the SSC-32U.
Please try VER and VC (or whichever ever is on 5 V) a few times and then provide us with the full output (screenshot would be sufficient).
First row is result for “VER”
Second row is result for “VC” (connected to the ground)
Other rows are result for “VG” (connected to 5 volts) return value is actually correct …
I seen 255 sometimes 250 as a return value, when sensor was not connected (try to read from empty input)
When I now try to read from empty input (nothing connected)
“VB” - returns 8A, 89
“VD” - returns FC
“VE” - returns F9
Ground should return something close to 0x00.
5 V DC should return something close to or at 0xFF.
Reading a pin for the first time (after a power cycle) should return nothing or 0x00 as it is not initialized yet.
Reading a pin that is floating (not connected to anything) will get a combination of spurious signals (ambient RF, human hands, etc.) and other ADC channel values. Therefore, those should be disregarded as they are undefined.
Please try a few analog read commands with the sensor connected to VC (or any other analog input pin) and let us know what results you get. If it seems to be in the right range (~0.5 V DC), then the issue is probably with the code you use to read the result from your BotBoarduino since your SSC-32U, its jumpers, the sensor, the wiring and power supply are all good.
Sincerely,
Yeap.
You are right … I recieve " 1B" … which is equal to 27 … But why is there a space symbol, before “1B” ? Is this space returned ? Or just LynxTerm and RealTerm are adding it to separate recieved data ?
Indeed, it looks like that I am reading it wrong … Okay, where can I get an example of working with SSC-32U analog inputs?
Thank you very much for your rapid and useful responses.
Kind regards,
Erik Martirorsyan
But are you sure that there is no mistake when sending this value to the BotBoarduino ?
I was reading from USB port, when BotBoarduino is connected I read from Serial. This is strange, because I was recieving “227” (which is wrong) and “27” (which is correct, but very rarely).
Hi,
We decided to test this out and see what would come out of it. We did hit a few issues, so here is a rudimentary example that seems to be working consistently.
Feel free to fork this project/repository and make pull requests if you improve it!
Sincerely,
Hi,
Rudimentary example is working correct ?
This example gave me a thought. I tried to read not value from 1 pin, but from all pins, from A to H. As a result if sensor is connected to pins from C to H, correct value is returned at appropriate place (“27”), but when it is connected to A or B, it returns strange things …
So, it looks like that problem is not so big … At least I can work with 6 sensors … This is funny, because my application requires 8 
If I got it right, there is an issue in SSC-32U software ? When can I expect fix ? If there will be a fix …
Kind regards,
Erik Martirorsyan
Hi,
But it seems that it works correctly only when I read all 8 values … When I tried to read 3 or 4 … it still returns strange results …
Kind regards,
Erik Martirorsyan
Please make sure that all values read are connected to something (and not left floating). You may also get weird results if they are connected to an analog output from a sensor but it is sometimes floating itself (maybe tristate between measurements).
We will try another test later and post again here if we find anything else.
Concerning the SSC-32U, if there is a firmware bug we will look into it but we doubt it since you would otherwise be the first person to mention it in years of use by thousands of users… 
But, we will still investigate it just to be sure.
But, we will still investigate it just to be sure.