Issues with Sharp Memory Display

[Victor Cazares]

Hello all,

I built a FED3 and I am able to flash the "Blink" and "FED3_SetClock_063019" sketches. However, I don't see any changes in the Sharp Display. All I see is a speckled pattern (see image). Has anyone encountered/solved this issue?.

Thanks,

Victor

[Antonio Benci]

Hi Victor.

This commonly is an error with the soldered connections. Check all the connections with a jewellers loupe. If they look ok, your next option is code or the main board.

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[Lex Kravitz]

I agree with Nino about checking the soldered connection.  The speckles could be caused by the screen receiving power and ground but not receiving data (the other 3 pins), as one or more aren't making a good connection.  I'd re-melt the solder and see if it solves it.  Let us know what you find!  -Lex

On Monday, November 25, 2019 at 4:25:17 PM UTC-6, nino.benci wrote:

Hi Victor.

This commonly is an error with the soldered connections. Check all the connections with a jewellers loupe. If they look ok, your next option is code or the main board.

On Tue, 26 Nov. 2019, 07:18 Victor Cazares wrote:

Hello all,

I built a FED3 and I am able to flash the "Blink" and "FED3_SetClock_063019" sketches. However, I don't see any changes in the Sharp Display. All I see is a speckled pattern (see image). Has anyone encountered/solved this issue?.

Thanks,

Victor

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[Victor Cazares]

Thanks for the suggestions. I re-melted the solder on all the connections and was able to get the screen to work!

[Nik Hayes]

Hello,

Finally getting around to finishing a Fed3 and I'm also having an issue with the display... I'm getting the RTC clock to print to the Serial Monitor ok with the Set Clock example but getting a blank Sharp Mem screen. Originally, the lights on the Neopixel would turn on one by one in a certain color, turn off, then do the same cycle in a different color. At that point the screen was still completely blank. I realized I didn't solder the Vin pin (?) on the Sharp Memory Display so I tried doing that and now I get two lights on the Neopixel that are lit up but stuck (I've scanned the code on Set Clock but not seeing why this would be triggered). I've checked the rest of the soldering and it seems ok... and the ribbon on the Sharp Display looks good. Is there any way this could be a non-hardware/soldering issue? I've tried the 1.1.0 and 1.0.7 libraries for the Arduino Sharp Memory Display but no luck. I'm using Arduino Samd 1.5.5 and Arduino Samd (32 Bits Arm Cortex M0+) 1.8.12

Thanks,

Nik

[Lex Kravitz]

Hi Nik!  Thanks for providing so much detail.  Unfortunately I think this still sounds like a hardware/soldering issue.  To test this, can you flash the Adafruit "sharpmemtest" example?  This is minimal code that will just run the screen, so if it's still blank it will confirm there's a hardware issue.  You can find the code here:

You have to update the pin definitions in lines 23-25 to these to match the pins that are connected in FED3:

If the hardware is OK you should see a cool graphics demo on the screen:

If the screen is still blank it will confirm you have a hardware issue, mostly likely something not connecting well.  The best way to troubleshoot this is to take a small wire and try jumpering each pin to the appropriate pin on the Adalogger, ie: SCLK on the screen to pin 12 on the Adalogger, MOSI on the screen to pin 11, CS to pin 10.  If jumpering one of these fixes it then you've narrowed down the issue!  Hope this helps! -Lex

[Nikolas Hayes]

Haha I had already tried the sharpmemtest to no avail... forgot to add that detail 😅 Just gave it another shot and still no go.

I'll give those jumpering tests a shot. Thank you for all the screenshots + info. Much appreciated.

Best,

Nik

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[Nik Hayes]

Why does time pass so fast... So I changed the board to the April2019 v5.5 version and soldered things together. The SharpMemTest and Set_Clock now both work but I'm getting an error related to the ArduinoLowPower library when trying to flash the Fed3_Classic or FreeFeeding programs. 

The error also seems to be the same mentioned here:

https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=176930

https://forum.arduino.cc/t/compilation-issues-with-arduinolowpower-library-for-samd21-processors/580010

I've been searching around and tried running the Fed3 programs with older and newer versions of the various Samd libraries and also older versions of the ArduinoLowPower library to no avail. I figured I'd just ask though in case someone happens to know off the top of their head what the issue might be... otherwise I'll keep searching around. So far I've learned a bit more from trying to figure this out :) 

Thanks,
Nik

[Lex Kravitz]

Hmm haven't seen this one.  I'm using Lowpower library version 1.2.2, Adafruit SAMD board definitions 1.7.8 and Arduino SAMD board 1.8.12. 

Can you try flashing from a different computer? That can sometimes be the quickest way to make headway on this sort of thing, once you get it working on one computer you can figure out what's wrong with your Arduino install. 

[Nikolas Hayes]

It looks like this compiling error will happen when you have the Arduino IDE setting as "Tiny usb" rather than "Arduino" :) I tried on our lab computer and it looks like everything works! I've got some compiling issue on my laptop but can figure that out later... 

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[Nikolas Hayes]

Hey Lex,

I just tried this out and it seems to stop the Free Feeding from continuing but the screen itself doesnt turn off -- it just stays stuck in place --- if I turn the switch back it basically seems to restart the program -- is this what's expected to happen?

Thanks,
Nik

On Wed, Apr 27, 2022 at 4:26 PM Lex <lex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

Not too simplistic!  I like having threads end with a resolution, I bet it will be useful to someone else who searches for this.

In terms of the switch, any little 3 pin switch will work, I bought these on Amazon I think they were this part, $9 for 50 of them: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JWB89L9. You just wire it with the center pin soldered to "GND" on the Adalogger and one of the outer pins wired to "EN" - doesn't matter which one, the switch will just turn it on/off the opposite direction if you use the other pin.  You'll need a short (~2cm) piece of insulated wire to get to the "EN" pin. Here are some photos and a video of how it looks when done. 

Have fun! -Lex

On Mon, Apr 25, 2022 at 12:16 PM Nikolas Hayes <nikolash...@u.northwestern.edu> wrote:

Yep! Can do. I was worried about my issue being too simplistic and Reply-Alling... 

That switch looks really nice... I'll probably go for that. Seems like that photo/tutorial would also be better for the general forum? Maybe you already posted that elsewhere though.

Thanks!

Nik

On Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 9:48 PM Lex <lex.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

Cool! Can you post back on the forum with the resolution?

And yeah I saw that cable!  That's what we used for the on/off switch in the design before OEPS started making them.  See here for some history, particularly in the logs :) https://hackaday.io/project/106885-feeding-experimentation-device-3-fed3

BTW you can also solder a small switch like in the photo below between "EN" and "GND" on the Adalogger to act as an On/off switch for FED3.  It requires one piece of wire but not a hard hack and super cheap, like 50 cents.  It's a compact way to get an on/off switch on the 5.2 PCBs of FED3, I prefer it to the large button extension because that is just pretty bulky.  I can take a photo of how to install it on Monday, if you want to see it let me know!  Have a good weekend, -Lex

On Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 2:22 PM Nikolas Hayes <nikolash...@u.northwestern.edu> wrote:

Have you seen this  "JST 2-pin Extension Cable with on/off switch" by the way?

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3064

On Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 2:19 PM Nikolas Hayes <nikolash...@u.northwestern.edu> wrote:

Looks like that error will happen when you have things set to "Tiny usb" rather than "Arduino" :) I tried on our lab computer and it looks like everything works! I've got some compiling issue on my laptop but can figure that out later... now just need to put everything into the housing and can then print an army of Fed3s.

Thanks,

Nik

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[Lex Kravitz]

Hi Nik,

I forgot you are using the old DIY FED3 design, yes this is the expected behavior. The power handling was improved on the OEPS boards so it shuts (almost) everything off when the switch is flipped.  With the FIY FED3, this switch will cut power to the Adalogger board but not the screen or the IR LEDs in the pokes.  So when you flip the switch the Adalogger will shut down, but the screen will remain powered and show whatever state it was in last, and when you unflip the switch the Adalogger will start up again and the FED3 will reboot.

Here's a power consumption graph of a DIY FED3, showing when operating it is consuming ~25mA, when it sleeps this drops to~12mA, and when a switch between GND and EN is connected it drops to ~5mA.  Back-of-the-envelope, with a 4400mAh battery the DIY FED3 should take ~30 days to drain the battery with the switch off.  It's bulkier inside of the case, but to truly cut power for the DIY FED3 you can use the in-line power switch to the battery: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3064

With the OEPS FED3 the switch drops power consumption to 0.2mA, it's still not fully cutting power to everything but it's close.  The OEPS FED3, it should take ~900 days to drain with the switch off.  Hope this clears it up!  -Lex

[Nikolas Hayes]

Ohh ok cool, great information thank you. 30days until drained seems fine. Is it okay to leave the sensors and screens on all the time like that though or is their life shortened do you think? Thanks, Nik

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[Lex]

I think it's fine to leave them on, although I don't have a quantitative test, we've used both parts for years on our devices!