Society of Robots - Robot Forum
Software => Software => Topic started by: meiralfasi on August 02, 2009, 08:26:00 AM
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I order this microcontroller and i have difficulties to program it .
To bad their is no costumer support , in the web site it's describe how easy anybody can program it , but i cant pass the setup stage and every time i program it seams like that it's not warking .
Never again i will buy anything without costumer support and good instruction .
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We are your customer support right here.
What exactly did you type in the command line to get it to bootload?
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O.k
This is what I did: I installed the software according to the instructions in the website. I used the bootloader to upload the servo center program axon_ser.hex (fboot17.exe -b115200 -c2 -paxon_ser.hex -vaxon_ ser.hex )to test the MCU , after upload the program to axon the green led turned on, i connected the servo to pin H2 the servo pulsing slowly to the end and kept pulsing. I tried a different servo the same thing happened , I get the same result in all the pins . so I upload a different program like the switch led program and nothing happened . I uploaded the oscilloscope program, I get measurement only from one pin.
I don't know if it's the way I program the mcu or maybe I got a defective axon mcu.
I installed all the new software there is in the website and I got the same result.
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To bad their is no costumer support
Actually, I make it a point to have timely answers to all Axon related questions :P
Looking at your last post, its a bit hard to tell your problem. So here are a few questions that will narrow it down.
What battery are you using, and is it fully charged?
Did you modify the servos?
When using axon_ser.hex, did you push down the button first?
When using the oscope, is the measurement from that single pin correct?
Did you select the correct oscope program? (some only use a single pin)
I personally test *every* Axon before shipping, so I guarantee its not shipped as defective!
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I used four AA batteries that give me 6v .
I pressed the reset butten and the same thing happened a connected diffrent servos micro and standart , same results .
Uploaded the led switch program nothing happend the green led stay on.
Help.
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What type of AA batteries? Lead acid or NiMH?
Also, you need to hold the button down. :P
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Four ALKALINE batteries 1.5v x4 that gives me 6 volts.
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ah ha! thats the problem!
Alkaline batteries will have the voltage, but not the current, to run a servo.
You need to use NiMH or NiCAD batteries, only. :P
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O.K. maybe you are right about the servo which I doubt, what about the led switch program and the oscilloscope program that doesn't require a lot of current?
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The Axon requires very small amounts of current, but servos require quite a lot.
Just try a new battery and your problems will go away!
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Ha , my problems will not go away as long as I'm married .
Just joking , i will try different batteries tomorrow.
Any thought of what could be the reason if its not the batteries?
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O.k. take 17.
I connected 7.2v Ni Cad battery uploaded the servo center program, pressed the little switch and the servo pulsed to the right and kept pulsing to the right and the green LED was on.
I uploaded the 16 channels oscilloscope simultaneous channels program ,I opened the SOR program selected all inputs.
now when I measure analog input ,all the Channels responded at the same time no matter which pin I measured , you can see how the bar in all the channels are moving at the same time.
Now I'm convice that the MCU is defective . I don't mind buying another Axon MCU I just wand one that works.
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now when I measure analog input ,all the Channels responded at the same time no matter which pin I measured , you can see how the bar in all the channels are moving at the same time.
Its called floating voltage. If you apply a voltage to a single ADC pin, nearby ADC pins will copy the voltage. Try applying different voltages to different pins at the same time.
I connected 7.2v Ni Cad battery uploaded the servo center program, pressed the little switch and the servo pulsed to the right and kept pulsing to the right and the green LED was on.
Is the servo modified? If so, then thats normal operation. :P
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I connected 7.2v Ni Cad battery uploaded the servo center program, pressed the little switch and the servo pulsed to the right and kept pulsing to the right and the green LED was on.
Is the servo modified? If so, then thats normal operation. Tongue
it could also be that the DDR (data direction register) is set but the servo is not getting the correct pulse.
At Admin. If I were to make a hex(s) file for meiralfasi to test can he easily upload it using your bootloader?
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At Admin. If I were to make a hex(s) file for meiralfasi to test can he easily upload it using your bootloader?
yup
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ok this hex file I'm posting will move servos on pins PE3, PE4, and PE5 between ~45 to 135 degrees.the status led will blink at 20 Hz. Last the USB port will print the current servo positions at 115200 baud. Let me know if you have any problems. I just tested this so I know the code is good.
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Thank you for the afford .
I uploaded this program (FBOOT17.EXE -b115200 -c2 -pATmega640.hex -vATmega640.hex ) and i got a massage open failed ! program_error .
Did you try to upload this program to Axon MCU?
And The Servo that I used is not modified , still a verging .
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my board is for the atmega640 which is the axon's mcu. The code will work regardless of the target board .The 115200 baud is for hypertermnial I don't know what the boot loader baud is.
EDIT: Now that I checked it looks like 115200 is the preferred baud for the boot loader.
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OK, I've done some more research.
follow the instructions here precisely http://www.societyofrobots.com/axon/axon_getting_started_bootloader.shtml (http://www.societyofrobots.com/axon/axon_getting_started_bootloader.shtml)
here is a problem
'file' is the name of your program you want uploaded. The filename MUST be 8 characters or less or it will not work (a bug in the bootloading software).
For example, if Axon.hex was your file, do this:
-pAxon.hex -vAxon.hex
(yes, you need to say it twice, with p for the first time and v for the second time)
1) rename the hex file I sent you to Axon.hex that way you can upload in the same way the tutorial shows. The maximum character length is 8. My name "atmega640.hex" is too many characters. My bad, I use a hardware programmer not a boot loader. So I don't have to worry about that stuff.
2) check what com port the axon is connected to. To do this
-1 right click on my computer and select properties
-2 select the hardware tab
-3 click on device manager
-4 select "PORTS (COM & LPT)" and look for something like usb serial converter
-5 if the port number is higher than 4 you will need to change it to a lower one
to do so.
-1 double click on the USB Serial Port
* -2 click the port settings tab
-3 click the advanced button
-4 then select a port 1 to 4 which I believe are synonymous with c1-c4 in the
bootloader command line.
*this where you select you port settings too such as baud for more details read this
http://www.societyofrobots.com/bootloader_50_robot.shtml#debug (http://www.societyofrobots.com/bootloader_50_robot.shtml#debug)
hows that for customer support ;).
let me know if you have any more problems.
Final note you may need to save the hex file in the same directory as the boot loader, but I don't know that for sure.
EDIT: put '*' on correct step
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Final note you may need to save the hex file in the same directory as the boot loader, but I don't know that for sure.
That is correctomundo
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The com port is O.K. Because I uploaded other programs successfully.
I will try to upload the program that you wrote and see what happen,
If it is not function properly then can we assume that the MCU is defective?
What other tests can we preform to determine if the MCU is warking properly?
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The com port is O.K. Because I uploaded other programs successfully.
well your programs didn't work did they. I'm trying to solve your problem, but I gotta eliminate all possible points of failure. There is no harm in looking up the port settings. A simple change of your baud rate could possibly fix this problem. As Armin's tutorial says the boot loader does not wait for the mcu to catch up ie the serial connection has no hardware flow control (another thing you should set in the port settings).
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O.k. I will follow the instruction that you submitted and test the MCU.
I appreciate your help.
I will post the results later .
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sounds good.
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Have you tested the board again?
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Yes ! I don't care what people say about you , I think you are grate .
It is warking fine the servo moving slowly from right to left on all 3 pins .
Then can you explane what was going on with the example program that did not work ?
And if you don't mind can you post the same file in c. format so i can learn from it?
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Yes ! I don't care what people say about you , I think you are grate .
I didn't realize anybody was say'n bad things about me... just kidding. Its good to know the board works. Now as far as why the other program didn't work I'm a bit confused. Did you try uploading the previous programs again to see if they work. There shouldn't be any difference in how you upload them. did you code the other programs your self or did you just upload a pre-made hex?
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I can post my code, when I switch to my other computer. Right now I'm on one of my MACs.
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I upload them pre-made hex.
I just uploaded the servo centering program and it didn't work .
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can you post the link of where you got the program from?
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Probably these:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/axon/axon_function_list.shtml#programs
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meiralfasi how did you download the hex file? did you right click and "save target as"? what did you name the file? could you send me the exact file you uploaded. I can try uploading it to my board as a test.
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http://www.societyofrobots.com/axon/axon_function_list.shtml
Axon center servo.
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uh I just tried it and I don't think it worked for me either ???. I'll get back to yah. Here is my code there is a lot of libraryies and such. I apologize if its difficult to understand I haven't taken time to properly comment my code.
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Thank you very much .
So after all their is a glitch in the matrix , i was going crazy.
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Probably, I think your mcu is fine. You should be able to program it with no trouble. My advice is to get an ispmkii hardware programmer so you don't have to deal with the boot loader. There is more risk of doing bad things though. With a boot loader you don't have to worry about screwing up the fuse settings which can brick your board.
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Thanks for the advice , I'm surprised that nobody encounter this problem before.
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I don't know for sure if it is a problem. I don't have the "exact" axon hardware. I tested the code on my hand soldered, homemade board, and simulated a button press with a short circuit of the axon's swich i/o pin. What matters is that your board is functional because you were able to upload my hex file. I already told Admin about the possible problem with the servo centering program, so he can test it if he wants.
Now go make robots! ;D
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Ok I'll look into it soon . . .
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The first Robot I'm going to build is going to be a robot that will Torture my wife ,
and I'm going to call it androtorturewife...
Got The Joke ?
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Now this is the problem, can i trust the axon setup instructions, may be the instructions are wrong,
is anybody going to test the setup instraction ?
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The first Robot i'm going to build is going to be a robot that will torcher my wife ,
and i'm going to call it androtorcherwife...
Did you just say you were going to torch your wife? ???
And on the internet?
Now this is the problem, can i trust the axon setup instructions, may be the instructions are wrong,
is anybody going to test the setup instraction ?
Hundreds of people own an Axon, and I've been selling them for over a year now. :P
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http://www.societyofrobots.com/axon/axon_function_list.shtml
I uploaded and tested the six premed hax programs .
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Well i can't explain why this pre made hax programs are not warking ,the just cause me to believe that the MCU is defective.
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Just because you couldn't get the test programs to work doesn't mean everything is screwed up! Like Admin said he's had huge sales of the Axon and there hasn't been too many problems. The fact is your board is functional. Your going to find with any microcontroller product that at some point you will be scratching your head wondering what the #$*& is going on. Robotics is like that. Its so easy to mess something up completely trivial, and end up stumped for hours or days. This is why Admin has made so many tutorials and FAQs to lower the learning curve.
The first Robot i'm going to build is going to be a robot that will torcher my wife ,
and i'm going to call it androtorcherwife...
get some help.
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Then you for your help.
About my wife, I just wanted to input sum humor in to our conversation but I guess when you program alot you lose your seance of humor .
You need Help....
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To administrator . Instead of blaming me for doing something wrong why don't you backup your product , admit that there was something wrong with your
programing and correct the problem.
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You are under the incorrect assumption that because you and I could not get the centering program to work, that there must be a problem. As I said before I do not have an Axon, and therefore any test I preform on my board does not mean it won't work on the axon. Admin said he will look into the problem already.
quote from Admin
Ok I'll look into it soon . . .
quote from meiralfasi
Instead of blaming me for doing something wrong why don't you backup your product , admit that there was something wrong with your
programing and correct the problem.
You have to give him time to look into the problem. He isn't even online right now.
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To administration .
About that joke i meant to write torture my wife, as if to annoy hare. I misspelled it but you ware not smart enough to catch that
just like the axon programing...
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@ merialfast:
have you tried to write your own program (something simple to just turn an LED on)?
what environment and method are you using to program your axon?
could you post the output from when you try to program the axon (like whatever errors it gives)?
@everyone else:
could it be a makefile issue?
if the makefile is configured incorrectly (even the folder setup) it could cause programming errors
it might not even be uploading properly, it sounds like that could be the issue here
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@ wil.hamilton
merialfast hasn't been uploading programs he's made, just hex files he downloaded. There are no makefiles involved because nothing is being compiled.
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That is right, Thank you .
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This my point .
http://www.societyofrobots.com/axon/axon_FAQ.shtml
Axon FAQ
I am a very weak programmer, is that a problem?
No, it is not! All the complicated programming has already been done for you. Almost any feature can be used by calling simple one-line functions, of which is listed in the Axon function list.
I have a little knowledge in programing I wanted to use first the pre made programs and then I got into problem with The programs.
If you wrote instruction and programs in your website to be followed we expect those programs to work.
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Ok I tested it and it turns out it was a bad file. Not sure when I broke it . . .
Anyway, I fixed it and uploaded it.
No need to admin-bash, if my product has flaws, I lose sales! :P
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Supreme Robot .
My apology, That was not my intention.
by far this is the best product out there , i guess this is part of the hobby , after all this is an open source format.
My advice to you is this , turn your knowledge off for 30 minuets pretend that you are newbie and go step by step the why you instructed in
axon website and see the results, try to compile a program build it and uploaded to Axon MCU.
::)
Do not forget to program the emotion chip if A= ;D then B=$ .
Number five alive Stephanie.
And post the results.
Your prompt response is greatly appreciated .
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its ok admin we still love you ;D and im sure meiralfasi meant to thank you for the promt fixing of the program :P
Truckstop
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Yes ! we love ya .
Thank you for your help.