Motor port B+D are not working anymore

BrickPi
1

Hi,

I purchased in January a brickpi. Until 2 hours ago, it worked fine.

Now I’ve problems with the motors at port B+D; there is no function anymore.
Motor ports A+C work still fine. Ultrasonic Sensors on port 3+4 work also fine.

A few minutes before the motor failed everything was ok …
I’ve checks the motors and they are ok (checked on the working ports A+C).
The Raspberry PI is also ok.

I use the latest Raspberry Image from Dexter.
For powering the brickpi I use the delivered battery pack with 8x1.3V eneloop accus, RaspberryPI is powered over 5V USB (original power supply from RS Components)

The brickpi’s life time (running form January) was about 15-20 hours all together. Do you have any idea what went wrong?

Regards,
Martin

2

Hi,

I’ve tested again on an other RaspberryPI; same thing, motors on ports B+D don’t
run anymore :-((((

My BrickPi model is the “Advanced Power” Version, I bought it at
"Generation Robots/France" for about 130 USD; What’s the process for warrenty/repair?

Regards,
Martin

3

Hey Martin,
I’m sorry to hear about the motor ports. It sounds like the board was working fine; since B and D are not working it sounds like both chips were somehow damaged. What happened leading up to the chips getting damaged?

I recommend you contact Generation Robots about the returned device.

4

Hi,

Thank you for response. I’ll contact “Generation Robots” in case of warrenty.

What happened before the chips get damaged? I suggest, the power usage of my project or a brickpi from a Monday’s production -:wink:

I use the Lego 9398 “Crawler” as vehicle for my Brickpi(ok, the body of the car is still missing, my goal was to learn python coding in a fun project)

specification:
2x PF L-Motor, 1x PF Servomotor controlled by the brickpi.
2x Ultrasonic Sensor for front/back collision detection (works fine with the workaround from “Frans”).
http://www.dexterindustries.com/forum/?topic=problem-ultrasonic-sensor
(with the standard ultrasonic sensor implementation I got a lot of wrong measurements, please correct it in the firmware)

Wifi Hotspot on the Raspberry.
RaspberryPI cam with a really smooth video stream on the Tablet.
(from Silvan Melchior with IP cam view app)

Raspberry is powered by a 5V 8400mAh Power Bank, Brickpi is powered by
the 8xAA Battery Pack with 1900mAh eneloop accus.

The vehicle is controlled by motion of the tablet, reading the tablet’s accerlation sensor and using the video stream for navigation, if the car is “out of sight”. Speed/steering depends to the angle of the tablet (max. possible power to the motors is “240”).

My next steps are;
Upgrade the power functions L-motors to XL-motors and replace the differencials of the car with “knob gears”, implement a GPS module for “autonom” navigation and let the vehicle drive 500 m to the children’s playground & back (with gps coordinates from google maps).

Putting the brickpi on a fast vehicle with 4x PF L-motors (each wheel powered by a motor without gears) would also be a fun project;
but at the moment, I’m not sure, if the motor ports won’t get damaged again…

I’ll send you a video, if I ever get my brickpi repaired …

Reading the forums i recognized, some people have problems with the SN Chips;
why don’t you put them on sockets, so replacing is much easier, the chips cost only about 3USD. Or take “more robust” chips/relays.

What will be the “Mouser” part number for the SN chips socket; please send me a link.

Brickpi is really a nice and innovative piece of hardware with very good program examples and a working python library, I like it much, learning python coding is more a fun project than work, but i think, it lacks at (over)powering the motor ports.

Regards,
Martin

5

Hey Martin,
Just a quick response:

  • That’s an awesome beast of a project. Please let us know how it goes. I think GR is a super company and they’ll help you out.
  • The part number for the SN chip: 595-SN754410NE

Link: http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=SN754410NEvirtualkey59500000virtualkey595-SN754410NE

This should be easily carried by mouser as well.

6

Hi,

until now I didn’t get any response from Generation Robots in case of warrenty for my brickpi :frowning:

I’ll make a youtube video (should just be in production …) about my project and a howto documentation as soon as my brickpi is running again; You can speed this up by sending me a new, working brickpi :wink:

Regards,
Martin

7

Hey Martin, I will write them directly and cc you right now to try to get the ball rolling quicker.