Pen Down Crashes Connectivity

[EdmondsLibrarian]

Short version- connection is lost when pen down command is used (manually or in drawing).
Motors jog and move correctly.

Details
Arduino 1.6.9 (I notice firmware was optimized for 1.6.6)
Makelangelo 7.5.0 (I still have to click on the dependencies file to get it going)
Win 7

Birdwalk
uploading the firmware has been a trick. Here’s how I got it to work so that there were no avrdude messages, or uploads that didn’t stop.
Power down the motorshield and make sure there are no libraries in Arduino Libraries folder (Adafruit_MotorShield and AFMotorDrawbot)
I have also been changing the COM port +1 each time so that I know it’s a fresh upload connection. (Advanced propoerties in Device Manager)
Then upload the firmware_ams file.

I’m pretty sure this is a firmware issue, as version 7.3.2 had the same problem. (Though it could also be that I have the dependency file in the incorrect location.)
How can I troubleshoot the pendown crash?

[Dan]

Two different versions of the firmware and two different versions of the software mean they’re probably not the cause.

Crash happens when the servo moves, which draws a lot of power from the board.

avrdude shouldn’t give you grief unless there’s something wrong with the Arduino or the USB cable.

Sounds to me like you have a power supply problem.

[EdmondsLibrarian]

Preliminary testing makes this seem like a good lead.
I moved the laptop that was running 7.5.0 to a station where 6.0 is working, and the movement and pen commands work fine (calibration is different so I’ll work on that).
I moved the laptop running the 6.0 to the 7.5.0 drawbot and the connection didn’t work. Will report again next week.

[EdmondsLibrarian]

Update- I should have thought to just unplug the servo so no electricity would be drawn. As you suggested, there was no problem in drawing “big zig zag” style of pictures. (Aside from calibration issues)
Now I’ll have to examine the power connections…

[Author]

Posts