Troubleshooting

Making a robot - or, indeed, any electronic system - can be difficult and frustrating at times. We hope that you won't have any issues with the RoboPad, but for those times that you do, the information on this page should serve you well!

Please note that while we offer this information in good faith and with the best intents in mind, any advice found here is not a substitute for qualified, experienced guidance. If at any point you find yourself struggling with any aspects of assembling, testing or operating a robotic or autonomous system please seek out the advice and guidance of an experienced professional. Blayze Tech Ltd. cannot and will not claim liability for any injuries sustained while attempting to perform electronics, hardware, or any other kind of potentially dangerous activity.

General Hardware Tips

In order to make a good, long-lasting solder joint, a number of steps must be taken.

Here are some general tips for working with electronics and assembling a robot.

• Ensure that your working environment is safe and free of clutter - not only is this beneficial for your personal health, but knowing where the correct tools, parts and equipment are, and being able to reach them easily will make the process of building a robot a lot easier and a lot less likely to fail.
• Make sure that you're familiar with the power source that you're planning on using for your robot.
  • Remember that the RoboPad only accepts up to 10v DC input - some batteries will output a range of power as they drain: it's always best to check the voltage of a battery a full charge before attaching it to any potentially voltage-sensitive equipment.
  • Different power supplies can provide different amounts of current - in some rare occurrences, RoboPads can draw a peak load of 1 amp, which may overload some voltage regulators.
  • Not only does the RoboPad itself draw current, but any motors connected to it will cumulatively draw current from the power supply - in the case that driving forward too fast causes the RoboPad to cut out, reboot, or loose connection, the motors might be drawing more current than your battery can supply.
• Make sure that you understand the power requirements and specifications of any motors you have attached - some motors may draw more current, or expect a lower voltage than the battery you are using provides.
• Also remember that motors can move erratically, especially if you've configured them in a non-standard way, so make sure that if they are to spin suddenly or unexpectedly, that they will not risk harm (i.e. by driving the robot off a work surface, or rotating an object into yourself). In general, it's always best to leave wheels and attachments off of motor axels while assembling and testing, only placing them on at the end.
• Before turning on your RoboPad, make sure that you have correctly soldered the the pads to the rest of your robot. The image to the right shows in simple terms soldering best-practice, however we recommend you look up videos on the internet or seek advice from a veteran solderer if you're unsure.

RoboPad-Specific Hardware Information

Like any microcontroller and software package, the RoboPad itself has a number of quirks to it's behaviour that might catch you by surprise or you might want to know about when designing a robot. The most prominent of these are listed here (others may be found around this wiki next on associated pages).

• Boot motor jolt: As a hold-over from previous design generations which lacked boot and power LED behaviour, the motor attached to M1 would jolt, performing a small, sub-second movement indicating that the RoboPad had initialised. In later generations this is being phased out, meaning that as of hardware version 1.3, it is unlikely to occur. However, this behaviour is difficult to remove entirely and will still occur if the RoboPad is power-cycled too rapidly and may, in rare instances, occur spontaneously on boot as a result of variations in hardware tolerances. To avoid this behaviour, please ensure that you wait a minimum of 10 seconds between powering off and powering back on a RoboPad.
• Signal noise on non-E pads: While the primary outputs of the RoboPad are the M1 and M2 pad pairs, additional actuators can be connected to many of the other pads present on the RoboPad. While E1 and E2 are designed for this and exhibit predictable behaviour, all other pins (marked "advanced") may exhibit signal noise on boot and may serve other functions you may not want to obstruct. Please refer to the table on the IO Config Editor Page for more information on pin behaviour.

RoboPad Boot Codes

As of firmware version 2.4, when the RoboPad is turned on, the blue indicator LED on the top side of the board will blink a number of times to indicate what it's doing and the boot mote that the RoboPad has entered. What follows is a description of the boot flash sequence, what each state means and how to diagnose problems.

1. Initially, the indicator will flash 4 times, with a second's delay between each flash. This is indicating that the RoboPad is booting, and provides time for you to potentially physically place the RoboPad into safeboot mode
2. The RoboPad will then attempt to read it's internal configuration files. If it fails to do so, the indicator light will turn blue and remain that way, after which a "RoboPad-error-boot" network will be accessible with further information on the nature of the error accessible at 192.168.4.1
3. If safeboot mode has been activated, the indicator will emit a single blue flash that lasts 3 seconds, after which the "RoboPad-safe-boot" network will be accessible.
4. The RoboPad will then attempt to load the configured IO arrangement and configure itself. If it fails to do so, the indicator light will blink twice for roughly 0.5 seconds each, and then remain on, after which a "RoboPad-error-boot" network will be accessible with further information on the nature of the error accessible at 192.168.4.1.
5. If the indicator does not flash past this point and remains unlit, the RoboPad should be operating nominally and be ready to use.