We were updating CANcoders when that happened, we unplugged everything immediately and tried later, turns out my usb port still works. However is it still safe to plug anything into the port? Do I need a new laptop maybe?
Edit: these are photos of the damaged ports. It seems that the usb wire started burning first.
Do CANcoders plug into a USB port? What was plugged in?
The biggest concern is what on your robot was sending that much power out to the USB port…
Were you connected to the roboRio, a Canivore or something else?
I’m guessing RoboRio if so:
It seems like you have a line powering up that bus in general like a non signal line (motor or servo power possibly) going into the 5v bus. Double check any Digital or PWM sensor spots for mismatched wires. Those lines and the USB on the roboRio all share common 5v power and ground.
As far as is it safe to use it, you kind of already tried that out yourself it sounds like. If the port is functioning and you don’t see other external damage the only other place to check is internally on the motherboard. I DONT recommend trying that yourself. If it’s working it’s probably okay. If you are worried have it checked out by a professional. They can likely replace the USB bus (it’s usually a module of several USB ports, HDMI, headphones etc on a laptop) just as a precaution.
Can you post a photo of your setup? It would be safer if everything is powered off.
Was the smoke coming from the USB port in the laptop or the CANcoder?
My laptop was plugged into the roboRio, and the laptop end burned
This is definitely a RoboRIO issue or laptop issue then. Nothing else in the setup should affect this. You can go contact NI support via their forum to get this replaced. You should try it on another laptop to see if it sticks smokes, but that might risky given what you’re said so far. Maybe just plug it into a cheap wall wart 5v supply and see if the supply suffers the same fate.
thanks for the reply. we’re also suspecting it’s a laptop problem, we’ll try with other laptops and see.
My laptop was plugged into the roboRio, and the laptop end burned. How do we know if it’s a laptop problem or a roboRio problem?
Definitely let’s start by checking the wiring on the RoboRio with it powered off, pictures definitely help. The first places to look are for where the power and ground rails are in each area. (Marked in red, bad drawing I’m sorry, but the v and gnd symbol lines)
Then look for any damage in the USB connector itself (blue). There’s 4 pins there seperated by some plastic, if that is messed up or missing entirely (Ive seen that before) those pins can bend, short out and cause all sorts of not good things
Imagine that little seperator goes missing and the 5v and gnd make contact.
That seems like a potentially expensive and/or dangerous way to find out. I wouldn’t recommend it before further investigation.
Most, if not all, laptops have USB over current protection and will shut down the affected port to prevent something like this from happening. The computer sources power to the downstream device.
I would also wonder if the cable might be a culprit.
Yes. Chips that will cut off the external load or limit the output current are pretty inexpensive.
The last board I designed would pull the 5V supply on the USB connector down to around 3.5V, proving that we need an auxiliary supply when programming the microcontroller.
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
