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This topic is intended as a basic info-guide to R2-D2 Troubleshooting.
More complex matters not covered by this topic should be posted into the R2-D2 Discussion area as individual matters.
https://forum.model-spac...aspx?g=topics&f=448
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R2-D2 Troubleshooting
*Have you download the full user guide?
https://www.model-space.com/gb/a...mv=-&__utmk=40954337
* Battery Specification
3.6/3.7v nominal
Button Top
Over 2000 mAh capacity (recommended 2600-2800 mAh but can be over).
Over 3 Amps discharge output
Unprotected type
All five factors are a must have.
*Have you initiated the battery pack?
The batteries must be charged using the charger supplied.
It is very important to charge/prepare the batteries before placing them
into the battery box and R2.
The batteries will take around 4 hours each to charge.
The charge rate will slow down towards the end and when fully charged the unit will say “full”
You must not fit batteries into the battery box without having first fully charged
them using the check charger supplied in 92.
*Make sure that your batteries make contact with the battery box
terminals at each end of each battery.
*Check all the connections, all cables to the correct terminals, have
they been connected correctly?
*Plug the mains adapter into R2-D2 and plug the other end into the mains
and turn it on. Leave it for a couple of seconds, then turn off and
unplug both ends. (This is a protection procedure to activate the
battery, and without doing this, R2-D2 won’t turn on.) You do not
need to repeat this process, and in future the adapter is only used to
recharge the batteries.
*Does R2 turn on?
Turn on the main power switch under R2’s body and press the 6th bottom
button (Power On/Off) on his front panel. He will jerk forward about 2cm
to calibrate his motors.
*Does R2 perform self-checks? R2 moves a little, then rotates head right,
then rotates head left
*Are the R2 status lights showing correctly
*Turn on Patrol mode with button 1.
R2-D2 will start to explore his surroundings, robotically avoiding
obstacles.
*Please Note:
R2-D2 needs to be connected to a smartphone to get R2 to perform all of
its functions.
The Issue 6 LCD screen and the Issue 22 logic function display LCD are
only functional/switched on in App mode. They are not functional in
manual mode.
*Starting R2-D2 with main adapter plugged in.
His front red/blue light will change colour in a flashing sequence to
indicate the charge level.
R2-D2 Google Play/Android App link
https://play.google.com/store/ap...etails?id=com.bullb.r2d2
*Make sure that your mobile device actually supports Google Play/Android or iOS
* Make sure your App is up to date with the latest version.
Devices such as Amazon Fire operating system is based on Android, but it doesn’t have any of Google’s apps or services.
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Component Troubleshooting
Inverted Connections
An “Inverted connection” seems to be the most common cause of malfunction with R2-D2.
An inverted connection means that the connector is plugged into the correct socket but the wrong way round.
One of the previous examples that the connection between the leg motor and the MCU board was inverted caused no movement of the R2-D2 and damaged the MCU and encoder of both motors on the left and right legs. This required replacement of the MCU board and motors of both left and right legs.
See the photos at the end for illustration.
This type of inverted connection can happen to many connections on the MCU and CPU boards.
An inverted connection between the MCU and the CPU will result in R2-D2 being unable to start up when the start up button is pressed, (a brief light up of one of the LCD screens will happen). Continually trying to start R2-D2 will result in damaging components. If however, the cable was corrected without constantly starting up, then the likelihood of any damage will be minimized and R2 will function correctly.
An inverted connection between the MCU and the head motor will result in R2-D2’s dome failing to turn during the start up process. Unfortunately, this will also damage the encoder on the head motor. As a result, even when the connection has been corrected, the dome will turn at a higher speed and slam to the extreme left and right during start up. The precise rotation of the dome is not possible since the MCU can no longer determine the position of the dome. This will require the replacement of the head motor and its possible the MCU board may also be damaged in this case.
An inverted connection between the MCU and the leg motor will cause R2-D2 not to perform any movement on one of the legs, or both depending on whether both left and right leg connections have been inverted. We believe that in this case the MCU board will also be damaged which will require replacement.
Notes on Voice commands
It has been noted that the microphone on R2-D2 picks up back ground noise as well as internal noise generated from motors and circuitry, especially during the start up period. This can sometimes cause the R2-D2 to react to these noises and can activate some of the voice command functions. This kind of response actually gives R2-D2 its unique “personality” in that it does sometimes act like it has its own mind.
The performance of voice command depends upon different factors such as back ground noise levels, the command sound level, the distance and direction between the source of sound and the microphone.
However, we found that by either making more holes, or by making the single hole larger on the transparent plate, (which covers the microphone) will reduce the amount of back ground/internal noise picked up and also increase the accuracy of the voice command feature.
Notes on Face recognition
Once the users face is picked up by R2-D2, it will follow the user by rotating his head as necessary. However, R2-D2’s vision will be in portrait mode which means the field of vision will be quite narrow and could be mistaken that this function is not working.
Notes on Patrol mode
When this feature was originally designed, R2-D2 was to have more sensors in place so that it could better avoid obstacles. However, the adding of more sensors would have significantly changed the overall look of R2-D2. As a result, we only included three ultra sound sensors (one at each shoulder and one in the centre) and one touch sensor on the R2-D2 to keep its look as original as possible.
This sensor configuration has its blind spots and limitations. Based on test results, it performs reasonably well in more open area’s with less furniture. However, its limitation starts to be more apparent in crowded area’s (more furniture and accessories on the floor such as cables).
The shoulder sensor has an effective range of more than 30 cm and the centre sensor has an effective range as close as 5cm. This means that the shoulder sensor won’t be able to detect anything which is less than about 30cm from it. If the R2-D2 starts patrol mode when one of its shoulders is already quite close to a wall (i.e. less than 30 cm from it), there is a good chance that it will not see the obstacle.
The ultrasound relies on sound waves being bounce back to the receiver. When the approaching surface is at an angle of more than 45 degree, it may not detect it as the sound wave will be bounced in a different direction instead of back to the receiver.
Notes on Camera image
Video compression is a process that requires a lot of processing power and can generate a lot of heat. Unlike a webcam which sole function is to stream video, R2’s system is also handling lots of other functions from the various sensors and driving three motors to move itself. There were factors that needed to be considered, like heat dissipation from the CPU, power consumption of the complete system and complete system performance etc. Based on this fact we were unable to give lots of processing power to the video compression which resulted in lower video quality. As technology advances, we are currently looking at possible solutions to improve video quality without sacrificing other aspect’s of the system.Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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