BDC-Comm "Gate Fault"

[DesignFlaw06]

We decided to use CAN this year, using the RS-232 to CAN bridge inside the Black Jaguar. Had it working just fine earlier in the season. Of course it gets close to ship date, and now we can't get it working.

Using BDC-Comm, we get a red rectangle that says GATE FAULT in the upper right corner on two of the jags (we've got a total of six, and the other four run perfectly). We've tried each Jaguar individually, different computers, new cables, different configurations, etc and can't get anything to work consistently.

On Jag #2, we get the gate fault only when trying to drive the motor with a positive voltage value, it'll go the opposite way all day, but as soon as we try to go the other direction, it stops and we get a gate fault. Jag #5 gives the gate fault error as soon as we choose that Jag from the drop down list, although the error will occasionally timeout long enough for the wheel to spin for a second or two.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[kamocat]

That fault means there's a hardware issue: your "gate" is bad.
I don't know if this refers to your MOSFET driver, or the MOSFETs themselves.

I do know that you can RMA that Jaguar and get a replacement. Hopefully your competition is not week 1.

[dyanoshak]

Are gate faulting ones Grey Jags, Black Jags or both?

[jason701802]

We had the exact same problem with both of our black jags from the KOP, except that the first one that had a 'gate fault' completely failed shortly after and our other one doesn't go in either direction. Fortunately the serial to CAN bridge still works, otherwise we wouldn't be able to do anything. It sounds like NI had a batch of faulty MOSFETs that they put in our jags.

[rarzone]

We have also had a Gate Fault and were not using the CAN bus. After RMA, TI has had us confirming fault and is at the point of stating that a "user fault" is responsible...becoming frustrated, also.

[jason701802]

Have you tried resetting the jaguar? That fixed one of our jaguars. You can reset it by holding down the User button as you power on the jaguar.