Nothing on starup

[Mr. JC]

Hello,

First of all thanks for making this project open source.

I have everything powered and I get no sounds, or movement. 

This is a self build, sourced "cheap" chinese parts build. 

Here is what I know.

Fresh batteries, voltmeter reads 7.2v

All wires checked and double checked to be correct

Put the appropriate bootloader on the chinese nano

Everything powers on, I've sent a blink test to the nano and that works

I feel my issue with how I'm loading the files onto the nano. I'm not sure I know what I'm doing.

I have 1.8.5, and downloaded the current library. I loaded all three onto the nano without issue, but I'm not sure that I am supposed to upload all three or not? (sdfat, pixy, pwmservo...)

[vorpalrobotics]

Hello,

The libraries all need to be loaded into your IDE using the procedure given here:

http://vorpalrobotics.com/wiki/index.php/Vorpal_The_Hexapod:_Flashing_The_Arduino_Code

They do not get directly loaded onto the nano, they get compiled into the robot/gamepad code and then that goes up to the two nanos.

Did you actually load the robot code on the robot's nano and the gamepad code on the gamepad's nano? Were there any error messages when you uploaded?

-Steve P.

[Mr. JC]

I saw that the first step was to load the gampad, but I was assuming the hexapod would boot up on it's own without the gamepad. Facepalm.

Thank you for the quick response Steve, I'll be back after I upload the gamepad.

[vorpalrobotics]

Well, sorry if I'm confusing you ... yes the robot does work without the gamepad. You can run it in demo mode and test mode for example with no gamepad.

I had asked you if the robot (and gamepad) code loaded with no errors.  Errors show up in red at the bottom of the arduino IDE.

[Mr. JC]

I have not gotten to the controller yet, but to answer your question. I did not have any issues loading the libraries to the hexapod nano. Nothing happens when I put it in in tst or demo mode.

[vorpalrobotics]

Could you press the RESET button on the robot nano and tell me the sequence of light flashes from the LED on pin 13? That will confirm the robot code is running there.

Another thing that would stop the servos from moving would be if you didn't have a shunt across V+ and VIN pins on the end of the servo driver. You can use a jumper wire to do this instead of a shunt if you don't have one.

[Mr. JC]

PWRstays solid red, and L (pin 13) flashes once. I did catch the shunt in the instructions.

[Mr. JC]

This was a waste of time, effort, and money. Throwing in the towel.

Thanks

[vorpalrobotics]

Hello,

I'm sorry you feel frustrated.  The single flash you reported indicates you've not been successful uploading the code to the nano. After hitting reset there should be a very brief flash, then a long flash, then a short flash. A single flash defniitely isn't right.

I'm not sure what your level of experience building arduino based projects is, but this project is considered an intermediate level if you used one of our kits, and self sourcing adds a layer of difficulty beyond that. A lot of people who self source will make substitutions that won't work, for example, and configuring HC05 modules, soldering up the electrical system, etc. all add complications that you don't have with the kit.

I can tell you that thousands of people have built this project successfully, you can go to youtube and see lots of vidoes of people showing it off.

Anyway, good luck in your future projects.

[Kevin Welch]

I just want to take a sec and toss in a couple of thoughts....

1.) I really want to encourage you to take a breath and give it one more go.  I self sourced and ran into a number of little issues that I overlooked in the original build.  Still, I overcame those with a bit of patience but I did run into a couple of bad parts that threw me for a loop. 

2.) I print the parts and bought the electronic kits from Vorpal for a STEM camp I did with 20 incoming 6th graders.  I found that I only spent about $20 more getting the kits and didn't have a single faulty part.  Each student had a fully functioning bot after two days. So that really is worth it.

3.) The final product is so cool!  I've modded mine, added on components, added new functions, and designed new bodies and legs.  This bot is so scalable. Your perseverance will be rewarded.  

So hang in there! You won't be sorry.

kw

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[Sven De Brabanter]

Hello
I also sourced my own parts for about 30 euro. None of them where faulty. Now my robot is working without the gamepad in demo mode. Make sure you have the potentiometer cables correct otherwise it wont work correctly.

The problems i encountered:
Wrong bootloader was written on the arduino nano by the provider. I reflashed it with the correct bootloader.

I downloaded a wrong release of the hexapod code from github.... You need the version dowloadable via tinyurl found in this forum.

Also make sure you are using the libraries available in the tinyurl zip package.

I had to pair my own bluetooth modules with a specific arduino sketch.

I suggest you upload the code and power your robot via usb. Have a look at the serial monitor to see if you receive errors. (Ctrl + shift + m) in arduino program.