Support and shipping question(s)

[Joel Einhorn]

Hi Steve,

Not sure if this is the place to ask but first of all: Thanks for the quick shipping, I received my electronics last Sunday, The extra stuff I added later (well before it shipped) is not there though (1x rangefinder and 2x extra servo)

The shipment arrived so fast I didn't even have my batteries charged yet but now I have... the robot is not powering up, I will triple check my connections but just wondering if you check all electronics before shipping? 
I am a complete newby when it comes to this stuff so I might be doing something wrong but just want to make sure.

Then a few (minor) concerns:

1. - the on/off swich does not have the screws/screwhole, it is hard to mount now as it is already soldered to the battery holder and converter (assuming thats what the other piece is)
   
2. - the manual is not very clear, Is a video coming at some stage or even some pictures would be really appreciated.
   
3. - the manual says to Connect the beeper V+ and ground (marked "-") pins (red and black respectively) to Port 14 of the Servo Controller But later on it says:
   Servo port 14 RED pin goes to a 20cm ORANGE Dupont connector and is routed to the accessory port to provide +5V for sensors or other accessories And Servo port 14 BLACK pin goes to a 20cm BROWN Dupont connector and is routed to the accessory port to provide GND for sensors or other accessories. This is quite confusing for someone like me not really knowing what needs to go where.
   
4. Then it says to Connect the switch/battery module regulated BEC output (a three pin Dupont connector where only two of the pins are populated, one with a red V+ wire, one with a black ground wire) to an unused servo port power and ground. Make sure the red wire is going to VCC and black wire to GND. - I am no  sure which servo port to use for this any suggestions?
   
   

Sorry for all these questions, I realize it must be busy shipping these things but I would really appreciate some help.

Thanks!

Joel

[Steve Pendergrast]

Hello,

Trust me, I've been swearing I was going to make a video of the build every week for the past six, something always comes up that's a higher priority. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and just do it. Even if I post it initially with little or no editing, it would still be helpful for a lot of people.

And I know the docs need a lot more diagrams. Here are some diagrams that I just now made, showing how the switch is inserted. It's inserted from inside the base, not through the hole. It won't fit through the hole because it's attached to the electrical system. The adapter also allows people who source their own parts to adapt other switch sizes to the hole by making their own custom 3d printed adapter.

The screws then go in from the outside of the robot, into the two holes you see on the final diagram above.

I will get these diagrams into the build docs tonight.

Regarding power ports on the servo controller, any of those items can go on any port above 11 (0 through 11 are used for actual servos). Power is power and all those +5V and GND pins are connected to each other. I will go over to the build instructions tonight and I will make sure they are consistent with each other and give an actual number for each one.

Hope this helps!

Steve P.

[Joel Einhorn]

Ahhh so THAT's what that adapter is for! haha that makes sense.

still wondering about the first part of my question however: Am I still going to receive the parts I ordered extra? I know when you posted about the possibility to do so you mentioned to make sure the money was there before you shipped. Mine definitely was but the extra parts were not there :(

And do you test all the parts before shipping? I assume I must have wired something wrong but did doublecheck before powering up... 

Thanks,

Joel

[Steve Pendergrast]

I just found the paypal with the order for extra items, sorry for missing that. I think I got confused because the paypal was sent in by a person with a different name, but yeah there is a note that its for you.  I'll get those parts right out to you.

Regarding testing parts, we do not test every single electrical part. We test the servo motors and we flash the nanos (which in effect finds ones that are dead, about 1 out of every 50). We also configure the bluetooth modules, which finds ones that are dead on arrival (about 1 out of every 200).  We visually inspect the servo controller as we insert the shunt on V+/Vin.  About one out of every 200 of those has obvious soldering defects.

One thing you should check is whether you inserted both batteries in the correct direction. I know I occasionally will put one of the two going the wrong way, in which case the project gets 0 volts since they cancel each other out.

If you're getting no lights at all, like no lights on the nano, no lights on the bluetooth module, it almost certainly is a bad +5V or GND connection somewhere (assuming the switch is good and the batteries are inserted properly).

There is a small chance the on/off switch is bad but that's pretty rare. Does it feel 'clicky' when you turn it on and off?  If it feels mushy, you feel no distinct "click", that might be due to overheating during soldering. We do check for that during bagging, but one could possibly slip through.  i can send you a new battery/switch with your extra parts if it feels mushy.

If none of that seems wrong and you have a multimeter, seeing if you get +5v coming out of the BEC would be the first step I would take.

I guess I would also smell the bec.  If it smells like burnt plastic, you've got a short somewhere (i.e. +5V and GND are directly connected). This could happen if you had something plugged in the wrong way and caused a short circuit, that will pull too many amps and overheat the bec.

[Joel Einhorn]

well, I just rewired everything (actually disconnected all and reconnected following the instructions line by line but nothing. Ofcource I don't have a multimeter but will try and pick one up tomorrow, smellingthe BEC merely has a faint electrical smell, nothing burned as far as I can tell. I never had the power on for longer than a second as nothing happened and that freaked me out. what i do notice is the solder on the switch being loose (ie the wire moves loose in the connection hole and the tape slid off that part too but holding that on and powering also gives me nothing.
In the worst case scenario If anything would have burned would nothing light/power up or would i still get something somewhere? And if so, what would i need t replace? If anything I do think something is wrong with the power module. Any chance I could replace that (including wiring & BEC)?

Thanks again,

Joel

[Steve Pendergrast]

Hi Joel,

I think there's good evidence based on your observations that the switch assembly is bad. It must have been a cold solder joint. I am including a new switch/battery/esc assembly with the order I'm sending out today to you. I will personally be testing it to make sure its good.

If you have a moment, could you take the batteries out, untape the switch, and email a picture of the terminals to sup...@vorpalrobotics.com.  I want to show employees what a bad switch looks like so we can avoid this in the future.

Also, based on this experience, we are adding a testing step for the switch assembly to our quality assurance procedures.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

-Steve P.

[Joel Einhorn]

ok tested and indeed it was the switch, thanks for so quickly sending out replacement!

[Steve Pendergrast]

We have added an extra test to our production procedures now to avoid future problems like this.

Thanks for your patience and understanding!

[Joel Einhorn]

Awesome! once I figured it out I jerryrigged it all together and I have a working robot now, So cool!

Will there be any tutorials on how to program this? And how to use the rangefinder and light sensor and stuff?
 I have very basic programming skills but would love to dive into this together with my daughter.

Again: thanks so much for the quick replies and you'd be happy to know it is a great hit at work :)

[Steve Pendergrast]

There is some preliminary information about Scratch on the wiki, and yes a lot more is coming including video tutorials. We're still very early in the life cycle of the product so we thank you for your patience!