Next, when we turn on the robot, with the default cmucode, the terminal windo just says >ifi when reset/turned on and nothing else; even with debugging mode turned on in the code. Kevin Watson, who wrote the default code, states in his FAQ that if nothing is returned, the main board is bad. Is this our case, or are we doing something wrong with the camera. We have all the connections (ttl, servos, power, etc.) made properly and the code is default, and the servos seem to not be getting any power, since the rotate freely(thus the need for the diagrams to trace where power is lost).
If the servos are turning freely, they are probably not connected to the RC at all (if they are connected to the right PWMs, they should be trying to track the target. If they were connected to an unused PWM output, the combination of power and a neutral - 127 - signal wouldn’t allow them to be easily turned.)
We get the symptoms you describe (nothing pops up at the terminal) when the battery is dead, or when the camera has been turned on after the robot. A fresh backup battery in the first case or a reset in the second case should do it.
If that doesn’t help, then you probably have a bigger problem.
Free-turning servos can indicate no power getting from the backup battery to the pwm port pins, but they are also a symptom of the RC being disabled. That’ll happen automatically if there’s no communication with the OI. Make sure you have either a red tether cable between the OI and the RC or a pair of functioning radio modems connected. If you’re using a competition port dongle, make sure it’s not disabling the robot (the yellow light on the OI should be off).
I have triple checked our connections
I was thinking that the backup battery might be the problem, so I will change it tommorow.
No, the radio was not plugged in, so we will try that manana tambien.
Thanks everybody
for the awesome help
