RoboSavvy Forum

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-03-21T04:18:59+01:00

Great. That's a VERY reasonable replacement price! It's good to know that Hitec are still helpful.

Statistics: Posted by ozfiddler — Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:18 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-03-21T03:32:07+01:00

UPDATE !!
it turns out that the board needed replacing.
I received my replacement board a couple of days ago, haven't put it in the bot yet, but connected it up to the serial connection and........IT WORKS !!!! YAY !!
the cost of replacement board $97.00 AUD, which i thought was quite resonable. My thanks go to Hitec.

Statistics: Posted by old_goat — Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:32 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-18T05:06:10+01:00

OK.

Statistics: Posted by old_goat — Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:06 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-18T04:56:55+01:00

Let us now how it turns out. I'd be interested to know what they find.

Statistics: Posted by ozfiddler — Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:56 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-18T03:43:46+01:00

Thanks i-Bot and ozfiddler,
I will send the board to Hitech germany, they said they would check it out for me.

Statistics: Posted by old_goat — Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:43 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-15T16:58:49+01:00

Normal construction of the IR sensor is not very pretty. There appears tp be a 1K resistor in series with the data output and a ceramic capacitor (similar to resitor but fatter) across the suply rails. I have used other standard 38KHz receivers without problem too.

The board has proven pretty resilient. Because it is so simple there is little to go wrong, however the many processor pins are naked to the outside world. A few boards have been pronouced dead if you look back over the forum.

If the power is OK. Then if a serial terminal program at 9600 echos back characters when the tip and ring of the jack connector are shorted, but you do not see a "> " when you power up the board, you likely have a broke board.

I don't know what the support/distributor situation is in Oz. Hitec and Multiplex in US and Germany have been very good at fixing stuff for free. Try them first. If not working send me a private message and we will see what else we can do to fix.

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:58 pm

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-15T09:00:18+01:00

My Robo came already assembled so I haven't seen it. Maybe someone else can tell you how it should look, and if the resistors should be there. Doesn't look right to me but I'm certainly no expert (and I'm away from home so can't check at the moment).

I think the most important thing is to get the serial communication working. If you want to do anything with other sensors or other control methods then you will need to be able to load in a revised program. If (and it's a big IF) you can trust the seller and it has the original software loaded then the IR should be able to work and get some response.

Actually I'd be interested to know how hard it is to fry one of these boards. I've had a few times when I was very worried that I'd done some serious damage but I-Bot came to the rescue. I'm not sure though when or how easily you can permanently wreck the C3024.

Statistics: Posted by ozfiddler — Sat Jan 15, 2011 9:00 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-15T06:07:32+01:00

I thoght about that , but I wasn't sure whether the resistors were meant to be there or not ?
I tried hooking up another receiver that I had but it didn't work, iam not sure what frequency the Robonova uses. my receiver was 38khz.

Statistics: Posted by old_goat — Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:07 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-15T05:46:02+01:00

This is how it should look. I wonder if it is worth trying to clean it up and remove the resistors? But it certainly looks like someone has been playing around with it so who knows how much other damage they have done.

Statistics: Posted by ozfiddler — Sat Jan 15, 2011 5:46 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-15T03:43:55+01:00

nope, mine doesn't have the polyfuse.
regarding the IR, can I use something else as the receiving unit eg Sharp IR sensor as a replacement ? or is ther a way to check if it is working.

this is how the receiver looked when i got it:
http://www.melbournestarriders.com/ir.jpg

I do not get a response in hyperterminal, nothing at all in the box.

oh and once again thanks guys for help.

Statistics: Posted by old_goat — Sat Jan 15, 2011 3:43 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-14T11:49:25+01:00

I just saw this:
http://www.acroname.com/robotics/parts/H3-MR-C3024.html

Seems to be later version than either of my C3024 and has a polyfuse at the bottom left corner. This is not in my schematic and likely sits in the power path. Does yours have this ?[/url]

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:49 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-14T11:24:03+01:00

The schematic of the C3024 is here:
http://robosavvy.com/Builders/i-Bot/c3024.pdf
You will see the only thing between the battery and the servo power pins is the switch. You need to be confident of the power first. Check the switch or battery are not intermittent.

The usual problems on the serial port are either related to the PC/USB or a broken jack serial connector.

To run the serial connection all that is needed is good power, crystal, serial and processor. Running robot code needs the eeprom too.

If you connect to the C3024 serial port with a terminal program (hyperterminal) at 9600 baud you should see a ">" character when you turn the power on. This from the bootloader in the processor.

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:24 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-14T11:10:52+01:00

Hmmm... if there is a problem with the serial port connection then it is tricky because you can't try other program options that might bypass the remote control.

Did you say the IR receiver is resoldered and looks pretty bad? I think I'd be taking this up with your seller and possibly registering a complaint with ebay - I really can't see how he tested it as working before he sold it.

Statistics: Posted by ozfiddler — Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:10 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-14T03:17:21+01:00

$170 POUNDS wow that's expensive !!
yeah I don't understand the voltage variation either. I just checked again and now I am getting 4.97 at the top pins, and 6.8v on the servo pins when connected to the BATTERY, just weird.

Maybe i-Bot will have some more ideas for testing>>
I hope so, I am willing to try anything.

this what i think has happened, the controller board has a problem with the serial port, but otherwise is OK. this would explain me not being able to access it via PC. If I plug a spare servo into any of the active connections, the servo immediately starts up, so i know there is enough power.

the IR reciever unit could be damaged (it has been re-soldered and looks pretty bad) or I need to reset the remote controller somehow after putting new batteries in it. this would explain why nothing happens when I use the remote. I did test the remote control, by using my iphone camera whilst pressing it's buttons and I was getting a flashing light, so I am assuming it is working.

Statistics: Posted by old_goat — Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:17 am

Dead RN1-Help please

2011-01-14T02:54:21+01:00

A new board isn't cheap! About 170 pounds. It's strange about the different voltages from battery and lab power supply though. Maybe i-Bot will have some more ideas for testing.

Statistics: Posted by ozfiddler — Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:54 am