Hello,
We have been having issues with servo burnout over the last year with our original v4 EZB Robots. I have been spending a lot of my time researching and learning about why this could be as I feel many cases are not from abuse (though some are).
Lately, I have been pulling out my multimeter and testing the board and motor trying to pinpoint the common point of failure. The following image shows the point of failure I found most common in my servos.
I believe this is the 555 timer chip (please correct me if I am wrong as I am still learning). After the most recent case, I decided to test the power pin voltage, which was between 8.6v to 9v. I tested this on 6 of our robots with similar results. This seems high considering we use the stock 2 cell 7.4v battery (though each battery was freshly charged). I have referenced the EZ-Bv4 Datasheet and it says the max voltage for the power pin is 16v, so I was not too worried. Though, I do remember reading - somewhere - that you recommend the power supply be between 5 and 8 volts.
Could this increased voltage be the cause of my servo burnouts?
I also noticed that the original EZBv4 (Sorry, I do not know its designation) cannot update its firmware and there has been some improvements to the hardware/firmware since it was originally released.
Is there a history of servo burnout with the original EZBv4s?
Is there any other reasons that would cause servo burnout beyond abuse?
Sorry if this seems a little convoluted, I have been troubleshooting this issue myself for months. If someone can chime in and correct me or give me some insight I would be greatly appreciative. I will say I have had a blast learning about servos and PWM in my quest to solve this issue.
Thank you in advance.
That's not terrible distance for a class field trip - Our new facility that we are having built has a class room in it. EZ-Robot will be offering in-house classes for schools. Things like tours of the facility on how the robots get invented, and also the classroom sessions on how to use them. But not just for students, also teacher education sessions. Which will introduce classes on how to create auto positions and use the robots. There's also a new Content and Activity product we're launching in May that we're filming for. It's all content and activities for your robots. Things like "How to teach your robot to sing happy birthday" or "how to have your robot wake you up in the morning" etc... It's also going to contain a questions and answer piece where people can submit questions and i'll answer on video.
The focus moving forward is to push hard on activities and content - so people have lots of activities for their robot, and in turn, learn a lot.
I did not know this was possible. I know our administration would be on-board as he is very STEM focused. What would be the recommended ages? I teach everyone from grade 4 to grade 12 robotics. I assume I should just contact our school l liaison to book such a tour?
Do you have a contact with one of our education suppliers? Ezeducation or stem learning labs are local that I know of. They would be the two locally that you can arrange with. They'll be sending out info when it's all been identified.
We are in contact with a man named Dennis (I believe he is your marketer), though I am not sure if we are in contact with EzEducation or STEM Learning Labs, but I can find out. I will see if I can get the ball rolling tomorrow. Thank you again for all the help.
Dennis is EZ-Education. If that's your man, he's gonna be the one to provide the info
. You are in good hands!