RC and Beeper issues

[in...@machwas-makerspace.ch]

Hello, 

first of all the Bot is working in demo mode perfectly except that the beeper gives absolutely no signs of life and I did try out several beepers.

Now I use an HC-05 as master and a HC-06 as slave in the bot and the connection stands as well, but something seems not to work like it should.

And I'm not familiar with programming, so I'm quiet lost in space......

Could someone help me on base of the pictures I postet here?

And: Yes I did read within the forums and I did try as well the mentioned solution to set the HC-06 on 9600 baud, but his did not help in my case.

[Steve Pendergrast]

I think you misunderstand.  The serial monitor speed should be 9600.  The UART on the modules should be 38400.  It looks like you reversed it.

The UART on the module is connected to different pins than the serial port and uses SoftwareSerial.

Misconfiguring the bluetooth modules is one of the most common errors made by people who self-source.  There are many different modules with slightly different firmware so it's not possible for us to debug pairing issues on self-sourced modules. We can make suggestions for the most common errors of course (UART speed is one common error). There are lots of  tutorials on the internet about this topic, but many of them are slightly wrong, incomplete, or only work for certain module brands.

[in...@machwas-makerspace.ch]

Hello Steve,

Thank you, but if I set my monitor speed at 9600 baud, the Bluetooth board does not reply anymore at AT commands. And if I did understood you well, The UART must be configured as on the picture.

[Steve Pendergrast]

OK, I guess i'm just not sure how you're programming the bluetooth modules. Are you using a serial-usb converter then hooking directly to the module or something?

Like I said, it's very difficult for us to support self-sourcers in programming the BT modules due to the large variations in how it can be done and the variations in firmware versions from different manufacturers.

[in...@machwas-makerspace.ch]

Thank you for reply, but:
Nope, to my bad I don't have a USB serial converter, I just have Arduino Uno and Mega.

And if not only the shipment company and the border office would be the winners, I would have ordered at yours, that's no question. But seen that I had to go for self sourcing. :(

btw: There are lots of source code versions arround could you link me the most actual and reliable one for digital servos on the bot? Maybe this could solve the beeper question. 

[Steve Pendergrast]

Yes, I know some countries have very high tariffs. I just shipped a robot kit today to a country with a 100% tariff, but the customer was aware of it and wanted it anyway.

We do sell just the paired bluetooth modules.

But in any case, I'm assuming you're using an uno with some kind of program on it that relays the usb serial to the bluetooth module.  I still don't understand your configuration but it must be something like that.  if you can get the two bluetooth modules talking to each other and the UARTs are both set to 38400 then it should work. Do you actually have the ability to send data from one to the other over the air using your setup?

Regarding the source code, what's at the top of the github source should work fine. There is a global variable called FreqMult on line 92, set that to the number 2 and that makes it more optimal for digital servos.  You can also find the latest code here in this shared dropbox folder:

tinyurl.com/VorpalFiles

However, regarding the servos, you need to be aware that there are tons and tons of defective and marginally working cheap servos on the market that claim to be digital but which are really not digital.  If you have a counterfeit that says Tower Pro MG90S or MG90D then even though the manufacturer claims it's digital, it's not really digital. And its not tower pro either.  Here is a wiki page on our website that explains how to tell if you bought counterfeit servos:

http://vorpalrobotics.com/wiki/index.php/Tower_Pro_MG90S_Vs._Clones

Regarding the buzzer, the most common self-source problem for that is that some people try to use a raw two wire piezzo buzzer instead of a threee wire passive piezzo module.  It has to be a passive module, just hooking a two wire piezzo buzzer up won't work. It could also not work if you use a 12 volt module instead of a 5 volt module.

Hope this helps!

-Steve P.

[in...@machwas-makerspace.ch]

Hi Steve and:

Nope, as its written in most tutorials about, I just uploaded an empty scetch on the arduino.

I keept my Master in the transmitter and the slave I did connect to the arduino and as shown on one of my pictures the Slave receives constant signals from the master, without pushing a button. I did disconnect as well all button elements as well as the SD card reader and still had the same reaction at my  monitor. This is what I can say about receiving signals