loading
 
Roboard module servos not moving
Austin Duff from United States  [8 posts]
14 year
Hey, I checked the forum and googled around and I couldn't find any solution to my problem. The sliders on the DMP_RoBoard module are not moving any servos connected to the PWM pins on the roboard. I have tried several different PWN pins and different servos. I have clicked "run" and unclicked it, played around with numbers inside the module. I am giving the servos direct 6V from a separate power supply and I know they have power as they are digital and hold their default position when plugged in. I have read the help document on the Roboard module and followed all directions including putting the files from the microsoft redistributable download into the Roborealm folder. I have also put RoBoIO.dll in the Roborealm folder. Any help would very much appreciated as I am working on a deadline. Thank you guys.
Anonymous 13 year
Austin,

I assume you are not getting any errors from RoboRealm while you are trying these tests?

We just verified that things are working ok on the RoBoard with the latest version of RoboRealm. Unfortunately for you everything checks out.

Are you able to find something else (perhaps one of the examples that
DMP distributes) that can be used to test a servo connection? Perhaps something in hardware is going wrong. I also assume that you have tested more than one servo just in case the one was bad and that the negative (black) side of the connector is towards the outside of the RoBoard?

At this point you'd need to determine if you have a hardware or software issue. Given another software app that should work that does not would answer that question. Its possible that one app may not work but if both agree chances are it is in the hardware.

STeven.
Scott Portocarrero from United States  [12 posts] 13 year
Hey Austin

Did you ever figure out the problem?  Please advise, it looks like I can't get any output on any RoBoard PWM pins.  Do I have to install RoBoIO.dll if so how do I, MS VS is very confusing to me.  Heeeeeellllllp!
Anonymous 13 year
Yes I did fix it,

It turns out I didn't fully include all the necessary files that are needed. I also needed to install the necessary Microsoft framework that the Roborealm instructions talk about. I would recommend re-reading the Roboard module page and including all the necessary file (.dll  and others) in the Roborealm installation folder and in the windows system32 folder as well as installing the latest .net framework from microsoft.
Scott Portocarrero from United States  [12 posts] 13 year
Do you think you can expand on exactly what you did?  I am trying to upgrade to .NET 4.0 and it just keeps hanging.  I downloaded the needed files from the Roborealm website - Roboard section and extracted then into the Roborealm folder and the System 32 folder of Windows.  

Anybody else want to add anything that would be great.  I am so frustrated with the Roboard, cool idea but extremely slow!
Anonymous 13 year
Scott,

I'm not sure about the .net requirement. While RR does NOT need .net I am not sure if the RoBoard.dll does ... given that it also works with Linux, etc. I doubt that the most recent version of .net is required even for the DLL that they provide.

If you don't get any errors from RR then most likely it thinks that things are fine. We did come across a situation recently where the PWM pins were blown since the servo pin power (a different power connector on the newest RB version) do NOT get regulated. Thus if you pump in 12V into that power supply your servos will get 12V ... and most likely blow and send a spike back to the RB that will destroy the PWM pins.

So if you have been putting more than 6V (most servos require just that amount) you probably have blown those pins. There isn't any way to circumvent this problem that we know of besides purchasing a new board.

One additional thought is versioning ... what RB do you have? 1st gen or 2nd? You will know by one or two white power connectors. It is possible that the latest boards may not work with the RoBoIO.dll that we have. You may need to update to their latest at

http://www.roboard.com/download_ml.htm

STeven.



This forum thread has been closed due to inactivity (more than 4 months) or number of replies (more than 50 messages). Please start a New Post and enter a new forum thread with the appropriate title.

 New Post   Forum Index