Author Topic: Finished my bot! Few problems I need help with however :p  (Read 2006 times)

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Offline lacanauTopic starter

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Finished my bot! Few problems I need help with however :p
« on: September 15, 2010, 12:15:22 AM »
Hey guys,
So I've finished the 50 dollar bot. Let me give you a run down on the issues I have at the moment.

I initially connected the programmer, and successfully programmed my Atmega 8. (The circuit is done exactly how it is explained in the tutorial.

So I crossed my fingers, connected the sensors and the servos. and plugged in my 6V Ni-Mh battery.
The servos started moving and changed direction for a couple of seconds and then slowly came to a stop. It sounded almost like it was runing out of juice. The servos then came to a complete stop.

I didnt buy servos that required modification, They were called continuous servos with a 360 degree angle of operation. Would anything need to be different in terms of programming for this?

Anyway I checked the voltage and it still read 6.45 Volts. Everything seemed to be connected appropriately, and voltages distributed well.

Something appears to have happened however, as now when I connect the programmer and I try to re-program the chip, I get an error. The servos also do not move at all.

Anyone give me an idea as to what is happening? Or could i get some more info on a way to find out what is wrong? :)

P.S.
I am definately getting changed pulsewidth in accordance with the photoresistors. (Measured in Hz) One photoresistor doesn't seen to have an effect on the width.

Thanks in advance guys,
Oh and a special thanks to all those who helped write the 50 dollar robot tutorial :)

« Last Edit: September 15, 2010, 12:41:03 AM by lacanau »

Offline garrettg84

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Re: Finished my bot! Few problems I need help with however :p
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2010, 08:56:16 PM »
Depending on how everything was wired up, it is possible the chip is blown up. I would hope that the motors weren't drawing current from the micro-controller itself.
-garrett

Offline lacanauTopic starter

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Re: Finished my bot! Few problems I need help with however :p
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2010, 08:03:49 PM »
The circuit was a la 50 dollar robot tutorial to the point. The only difference with my circuit is that I used the 6 pin programmer header. The servos are running from the 6V power bus, How can I check if my circuit blew up? I got no smoke, and no heat every time i've plugged in the battery.

Thanks

Offline waltr

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Re: Finished my bot! Few problems I need help with however :p
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2010, 08:55:37 PM »
How are the voltages in the circuit? Does the regulator put out 5V?
Does the battery voltage measure correctly when the processor and servos are powered? Or does the battery need charging?

Offline lacanauTopic starter

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Re: Finished my bot! Few problems I need help with however :p
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2010, 04:56:26 AM »
K, so i did a bit more reading and found this neat battery charger calculator, cause I had no idea, turns out I wasn't charging it anywhere near enough. Once it was fully powered everything started working fine. Seems I'm getting good responses with the photo-resistors, though I think I will make use of the in built scope on the Pololu programmer to see if I'm getting different readings for whatever reason.

So I'm fiddling with the program so that its optimal, then I will post a video up :D

cheers for the help

 


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