RoboSavvy Forum

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-08-03T08:07:26+01:00

Blacky123/Roboard I hope the new board will serve you better than the previous unit.
It would be nice if you can tell us the actual fault when rectified so we can avoid what ever problems you may of suffered.

Personally Blacky I think the advice to keep the supplies for the motors and electronics seperate to be a very good one giving you more flexability on Volatages of nothing else!

Best of Luck ..John

Statistics: Posted by ProblemChild — Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:07 am

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-08-03T08:00:32+01:00

Thank your for your fast answers. I got a new RoBoard and I will send the damaged one to the technical support in Canada.

Statistics: Posted by Blacky123 — Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:00 am

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-07-30T11:51:52+01:00

Blacky123 wrote:
Well I have new capacitors and diodes and I will give it a try. Let's see what happens

Hi, we have sent the repair information to you; please check your email.

BTW, a remark about the power supply issue for RoBoard's users: the Vxx pins on RoBoard are designed for well-designed servo motors, such as Bioloid, KONDO, and HiTEC servos; we add the Vxx pins on RoBoard in order to ease their connections.

If a user want to connect a cheap servo (e.g. GWS servos) that may significantly affect the power quality, we sugguest him employing separate power sources, one for RoBoard and the other for servos. The reason is that while RoBoard can tolerate modest power variances, a power source with very bad quality may make RoBoard reset (due to the built-in power protection scheme) or run instably.

Statistics: Posted by roboard — Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:51 am

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-07-29T15:44:19+01:00

Well I have new capacitors and diodes and I will give it a try. Let's see what happens

Statistics: Posted by Blacky123 — Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:44 pm

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-07-29T14:36:37+01:00

Quite Likely.
I find the problem with Switch mode designs is that rarely do you blow just one component. When they are working everything is sweet and they are reliable, however when they go they take out a few of their component mates as well !!

Ask Mr RoBoard what the return rules are...If you aren't skilled in SMD soldering you may well cause yourself more problems than its worth.

If you fancy a punt at fixing it then buy the whole set of components for the PSU as this would be no more than say £10 from the likes of RS/RAPID/ or digikey and postage would likely be more than the parts

Good luck with it!

John

Statistics: Posted by ProblemChild — Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:36 pm

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-07-29T13:19:25+01:00

It looks like the C40 is damaged. Could this be the reason for my problem?

Statistics: Posted by Blacky123 — Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:19 pm

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-07-29T13:14:45+01:00

To me it looks like those I/O are well clamped to stop excursions above VCC or below GND!

it may be a good Idea to knock up or buy a Regulator to make sure it don't push more than say 7.4V through it thus saving the Board and the servos.

How about a Diode to quench the Back EMF from the Motor that way you don't get any negative pulses blasting down the power rails

Either way It does sound like the DCDC converter on the board may well of bought the farm. I don't know what the repair/warranty situation is unfortunately.

You may even want to power the Roboard form a separate battery pack next time ?

John

Statistics: Posted by ProblemChild — Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:14 pm

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-07-29T11:33:18+01:00

in PCB design have 2 protechtion for power

Statistics: Posted by roboard — Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:33 am

RoBoard probably damaged by ESD

2009-07-29T09:39:32+01:00

I have a RoBoard for building a remote controlled car.It worked well until yesterday. When I wanted to disconnect the power from the Board I got a small electrical shock. I think it was a ESD. Since that time the red LED (LED3) on the Board is on all the time when i connect the power but the green (LED4) is always off an the Board does not start anymore. Is there some sort of protection against high voltage on the board which I can controll?

Statistics: Posted by Blacky123 — Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:39 am