Connecting to ScratchX, Bluetooth disconnects from pairing.

[Chris Moody]

 When connecting the USB cable to the Gamepad, once setting up ScratchX, the bluetooth disconnects pairing.

 If I plug in the USB cable to the Gamepad first then switch on the Hexapod and Gamepad, I can't get the bluetooth to pair.

The Hexapod and Gamepad work fine if not connected via the USB cable, apart from my DPAD module isn't working correctly each button is doing the wrong thing.

I did not purchase the DPAD from Vorpal Robotics, but sourced it myself and aware that some of them the outputs nonstandard values.

Turned on DEPADDEBUG mode in program to monitor serial monitor port output, but don't see any values, this could because I'm plugging in the USB cable and

the bluetooth pairing drops out.

Any ideas??

[vorpalrobotics]

You should have the gamepad turned on before plugging in the USB.

If that also doesn't work and you don't see any debug messages (make sure the Arduino console is set to 9600 baud) then you may have a bad gamepad nano.

Also, it's not necessary for there to be a Bluetooth connection to see the gamepad debug messages. The buttons should still generate messages if the debug option is enabled. Even if no debug defines are turned on you should see a version number print out to the serial monitor.

If you see nothing and the serial monitor is set correctly then the nanomiht be bad.

Did you successfully flash the gamepad nano? It would be very odd if you were able to flash it yet no debug messages appear.

[Chris Moody]

Serial monitor set to 9600 baud,

Re-flashed gamepad nano again, just to make sure after changing the: #define DEBUG_BUTTONS to 1.

When I open the serial monitor after connecting the USB up to the gamepad nano, I now get

#GV2r1
#SDBF

But when I push any of the DPAD buttons I still get nothing back in the serial monitor window?

[oliver....@web.de]

Hello Chris,

I had the same problem with the #SDBF. When I search in the Arduino-Gamepad-Code I saw this snippet in the setup()-Method.

  if (!SD.begin(SDCHIPSELECT)) {

    Serial.println("#SDBF");    // SD Begin Failed

    return;

In my case it was a wrong cabling of the the SD-Card Reader. Maybe you could check this?

[Chris Moody]

Thanks Oliver,

I have checked and double check the cabling a number of times, I even changed each lead just in case I had a bad connection.

I have ordered another DPAD module and waiting for it to arrive, hopefully this is the issue?

Cheers,

Chris.

[Chris Moody]

I changed over the DPAD module and its now working correctly regarding the Gamepad DPAD buttons.

But it seems I have another unrelated issue, using the Gamepad works fine for about 30 to 60 secs and then there's no response from any of the buttons, ( Left, Right, Forwards, backwards ).

And when it stop working, after a while the bluetooth disconnects intermittently, doesn't always disconnect. Its as if there's noise on the power line which causes it to stop working and disconnect?

Its not the batteries as their fully charged, and I have changed them over with another known good pair of 16850 3.6amp batteries.

Any ideas??

[vorpalrobotics]

What brand of 18650 batteries are you using? We've found that some brands have extremely sensitive "protection" circuits which will cut power to the robot very frequently, and what you're describing here sounds very similar to what we've seen.  If you could post a picture of your 18650 battery, showing the label, I might be able to tell you if they're know bad ones. Also, if you buy cheap no-name batteries from china, many of them have fake capacity ratings, their actual capacity may be half, or even in some cases one-tenth, of what is claimed.

We strongly recommend EBL 3000 mAh "white top" batteries (do not get the EBL "yellow tops", also called "protected", as they have sensitive protection circuits and you'll only get 15 to 20 minutes of useful life). They work great and are very inexpensive if you're in the USA.

[Chris Moody]

Hi,

These are the two brands of 18650 batteries I’m using.I’m using these batteries on other Hexapod robots that draw a lot more current than the Vorpal one, and work perfectly. I really don’t think it’s the batteries causing this issue.

I've attached a photo of the two different branded batteries I'm using.

Chris.