Farmbot moving to random positions without command

[RobN]

Hi everyone,

Our Farmbot keeps randomly moving to positions without any instruction to do so, and it will move to locations beyond the max length of the axis. The Farmbot goes to the max length and then attempts to continue on making a horrible grinding noise. I end up E-stopping it and moving it back to home but after 5-10 minutes it just starts doing it again. I am connected to Ethernet.

Any suggestions?

[jsimmonds]

@RobN

Farmbot keeps randomly moving to positions without any instruction to do so

Hi @RobN and Welcome !

Tried taking the bot off-line ? ( e.g. un-plug Ethernet and clear all Wi-Fi settings ) Possibly someone has gained credentials to remotely operate your bot.

Has the bot been operating predictably until now ? What model ? What FBOS version ?

[RobN]

Hi @jsimmonds,

Thanks for the response. We used to have an Express v1.0 on wifi, but our wifi didn’t extend enough to the whole garden (we were having similar issues because the wifi kept dropping out), so we moved to Ethernet. Farmbot sent us a new Express v1.1 as it had a direct Ethernet connection port and plugged it all in last week. We are using the latest Farmbot OS (installed today vs 15.3.2). I also tried unplugging Ethernet, reflashing the SD card and rebooting Farmbot…no joy

I don’t think anyone else is using it, how would I find that out?

I don’t think it is connected to wifi at all (never set it up to do so) but how would I check that it the wifi settings are all cleared?

[Marc]

@RobN This may be due to the firmware you have installed on the FarmBot. You may have installed the older Express v1.0 firmware and this is the likely source of the random movements. You currently physically have the new Express v1.1 electronics and so you need to ensure that you have selected Express v1.1 as your firmware.

Under Settings > Firmware > Farmduino (Express v1.1) [FLASH]

Try that and see if it corrects the issues that you were having.

[RobN]

Hi Marc,

Thanks for this. I tried that but no luck. Still randomly loses connectivity (it does appear to be quite random) and then reconnecting. When it reconnects it goes to random places (generally the Z axis is the one that moves). I tried to calibrate the camera and it kept disconnecting in the middle of the process.

See pictures below of connectivity issue and then the correct connectivity that it keeps bouncing back to (and then starts moving the Farmbot to random places)

[RobN]

[RobN]

It just keeps oscillating between these two pictures at random times.

Flashed the card twice with latest Firmware.

[jsimmonds]

@RobN from your latest evidence, I’d guess that the Farmduino Express has a fault and I would contact FarmBot Inc. to discuss hardware replacement options.