Why won't my batteries connect?

Question

I'm sorry if this question sounds really stupid, but I am so lost it's not even funny.

The tutorials recommend that rechargeable batteries be used to power the EZ-B, but because I didn't have any on hand, I thought that using some cheap $1 batteries would be alright, so long as the voltage added up to a combined 9V between the 6 AAs in use. This was not the case, and 6 new batteries fresh out of the package would lead to the EZ-B telling me "My battery is low" after less than a minute after connecting them. I FINALLY got my hands on some rechargeable batteries, I made sure they were fully charged before resuming my tinkering... but now I can't even get them to connect. No blue light, no little start-up sound, no nothing.

Please help. It's getting really frustrating seeing all of these amazing projects being accomplished with this platform, and I can't even do the simplest of tasks. What am I doing wrong here?

DJ Sures · Answer

Turn the voltage monitor off for the EZ-Robot EZ-B v4. Their product is designed for a lipo battery - not sure why they ship the product with AA battery holder, but they do.  I don't know what tutorial they have that suggests to use AA batteries, but i'd probably email them and ask them to fix it lol Also, the AA batteries doesn't give much power to do much - specially servos. AA batteries are good for TV remote controls. Disable the voltage battery monitor. You can do that in the connection control of ARC and the web server of the ez-b v4 . Best to do it in both places Also, invest in a volt meter so you can check voltages. Keep an eye on things. Amazon has them for a few bucks

Bobsheaux · Answer

Follow-up questions: How do I turn off the voltage monitor? Who are "they", exactly? I thought that you made this product. If anyone would know why this comes with a AA battery holder, wouldn't it be you? And the tutorial showing the EZ-B being connected to the AA holder (which is being demonstrated by DJ Sures) is right here.  https://synthiam.com/Community/Tutorials/13?courseId=4  "...the EZ-Robot Servos do not like power above 7.4 volts - which is why we recommend using Rechargeable AA batteries in the provided holder." If the lipo battery is the superior method of powering the EZ-B, why is the AA holder even an option? Shouldn't the lipo be standard issue in every developer's kit? Why are the lipo battery, the charger, and the battery harness all sold separately? Since all of these components are needed to perform one function, what's the point in selling them as such instead of putting them into a single, more convenient bundle?

DJ Sures · Answer

EZ-Robot was sold to National Robotics/EZ-Education Solutions in early 2019. This website is Synthiam Inc, which is a different company. At Synthiam, we develop software used for EZ-Robot, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, Robotis, and more products. I cannot answer any of your EZ-Robot product/store/shipping/warranty/etc related questions because no one at Synthiam works for EZ-Robot  See the hardware supported by Synthiam ARC here: https://synthiam.com/Products/ARC#choose Read about Synthiam and our products here: https://synthiam.com/About/News Know how your computer is made by Dell? But you're using Microsoft Windows? It's like that. Microsoft can't help you with a broken L key on the Dell computer. EZ-Robot support can be reached at www.ez-robot.com and they have a contact us page - and a great learn section that i helped build back in the day.

DJ Sures · Answer

Oh - and PS in ARC the battery monitor can be disabled in the connection control. There's a bit of info in the Getting Started of the docs section for building a robot with ARC. The power section has some info that will help you here: https://synthiam.com/Docs/Get-Started/power

Bobsheaux · Answer

I disabled the battery monitor through the connection control, but it didn't do anything. I'm still not getting any kind of activity in the EZ-B.

DJ Sures · Answer

Does it ding or light up when it’s powered on? Is there voltage on between the red and black pins on the digital ports? the more information you can tell me the better I can help - otherwise all I got are guesses

Bobsheaux · Answer

It doesn't ding or light up (it WAS powering on just fine with the other batteries, if only for a moment), and I don't know what you mean by voltage between the red and black pins on the digital ports.

Nomad 6R · Answer

hi Bobsheaux are you using the jack plug ? and have you power on these screws?  a little video off your set up ezbv4 would be very usefull.

Nomad 6R · Answer

Bobsheaux

quote " recoment rechargble batteries " ? they only give 1.2 volts .a none chargeble batt give 1.5 volts. 6x1.2=7.2 volts / 6x1.5=9 volts its best to use the lipo batt from ez robot.

you also can use batteries with higher MaH see link.

big batt

charger

you can charge the batt from banggood with the ez robot charger.

Bobsheaux

Why Won't My Batteries Connect?

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