I’ve recently upgraded from V1.2 (RAMPS + Arduino Mega) + V1.3 Motor kit.
to
V1.4 hardware (Farmduino 1.7A) (FarmOS 7.0.1) plus new power supply / peripherals / mounting plates / etc., believe me, for the time poor, it has been no small task!
The motor/encoders/cables are all reused and were purchased as a branded V1.3 motor kit.
The problem is there is currently no raw encoder output, whereas I used to see encoder output in the web app with my RAMPS/Mega setup.
I’ve tried device control manual movements, hand turning etc. all the same, all axis, the web app shows no encoder output.
I can only get my motors moving (somewhat reliably - z axis is another story) if I switch off the encoders, but I see a decent amount of axis creep after only 1 full movement and return to 0. (about 2 cm on my X axis, and several mm on my Y axis) which tells me two things, I will have a heck of a time trying to operate without the encoders, and that I need to tighten up sources of slack, which I am working on, but harder/slower to ascertain without encoders.
It would be unusual for all 4 encoders and cables to independently fail, so unless I’ve missed an incompatibility note between V1.3 motors and cables and V1.4 Hardware, I’m inclined to think perhaps the new farmduino might have an issue?
I’m open to any suggestions, and very appreciative of any help or info that might help.
I have this setup i.e. v1.3 encoder cables and v1.4 Farmduino and it works for me. Have you tried inverting encoders? Could you screenshot and post your device settings please.
Yes, I’ve tried inverting the encoders in the device settings, still no encoder output, all axis.
I have tried just about all ‘sensible’ combinations of settings in the farmbot web app and reverting back to defaults, but it really looks to me like whatever should be processing the encoder signals, just isn’t working.
I’m still open to suggestions of things to try, perhaps @Ascend or someone from
the Farmbot Team could help point me in the direction of troubleshooting this issue
from the hardware/linux side?
What would be a prime indicator of a encoder processing related hardware
malfunction that could possibly be verified from a linux shell?
As an aside, now I’m asking for the FarmBot teams help direct, when I purchased
the V1.4 Electronics Box (Fully assembled - minus the Rasp Pi), it came without
the custom header PCB for the buttons on top of the box, which I cannot purchase
separately from the shop, and no heat sinks for the driver chips, however knowing
these are less of an optional extra, I did purchase these locally and installed them before using it.
I should also update you that I’m currently running FarmBot OS 8.0.2.
Hey @Sharky
sadly I’m not well informed how exactly the farmduino reads the encoder signals. There might be something wrong with the STM32 or with the communication between the mega and the STM32.
Maybe @Gabriel got some time to share some thoughts with us?
As for your issue with the Rpi PCB board, I’d refer to @roryaronson directly, he might know where to get this one.
I’d start with ensuring the pinout for the encoder cable is absolutely correct. I inherited my farmbot kit from my son, where he purchased aftermarket (non-farmbot) gear and the encoder cable wiring was different than the farmbot encoder/motor. I struggled with this for weeks and finally created a wiring diagram from the specifications, busted out the connector crimp tool and re “plumbed” my wires. Been fine ever since. So, recommendation is to check the pin-out all the way from the encoder to the driver. . .cd
Hey @Sharky, I’m going to reiterate what I wrote to you in an email here, so others can see in case they run into a similar issue.
In upgrading from the v1.2 to v1.4 electronics boards, you also need to select the appropriate firmware for the new board from the Device widget on the Device page of the web app. Because the v1.4 Farmduino includes a co-processor dedicated to reading the encoder values, it requires a different firmware to be flashed. If you have the old firmware flashed, I would expect the results you’ve described (most things work, but no encoder output).
Give that a go and let me know if it works out. If not, I think we’ll need to send a replacement Farmduino as there must be something faulty with it.
Regarding the Pi Adapter Board, we’re all out of stock, and its noted on the product page that if purchasing an electronics box without the Pi, it also doesn’t come with the adapter board. But good news: I have a v1.5 prototype I can send you that will work just fine. And we’ll work out those details in our email thread.
I wish it were as simple as selecting the firmware profile. I’m sure I’ve selected the appropriate v1.4 firmware profile, both when the O.S. updated to 6.4.2 and 7.x. It is currently running v8.0.2, which I thought included a feature for automatically selecting the firmware profile. At any rate, I’ve always selected the V1.4 firmware option from the setup app after the first power on, either after the upgrade or the OS upgrade.
@Sharky
Looks like the bot is offline in this picture. You can reflash the firmware by clicking on the yellow question mark next to the FIRMWARE input field -> FLASH FIRMWARE. If the bot is online and the correct firmware is flashed, the yellow question mark changes to a green ✓.
Okay, I think it will be best to send you a replacement Farmduino. Please send an email to support@farm.bot and reference this forum thread and your order number and we can get that out to you.
