This is an easy answer - and you know what the answer is - so i'll help re-enforce your suspicion: The power supply is not providing enough amperage.

It's a very simple equation: Does ez-b reboot when a servo is moved? If yes, then there's not enough power. :)

There's a tutorial on power supplies in the learn section.

Please do not tell me that your power supply is a wallwort style. If it is, throw it away or put it back on the electrical device it came from. Wallworts use transformers which is a linear voltage supply with no regulation. They are not designed for motors. Motors use electricity, but that is absolutely the only characteristic they have in common with anything solid-state.

Also, if you beleive you had a wallwart that was rated for 7.5v, it wasn't. If you took a minute to connect a volt meter to it (specifically while there is load from motors) you would see the voltage was most likely 8 or 10 volts.

Also, only EZ-Robot servos are rated for 7.4v. Check the datasheet on the servos that you are using if they are not ez-robot branded servos.

Solid-state != motors

Never ever ever use one of these:

ever

6v is fine. I ran the ez-b at 5.4v for a little while. Sounds like you've either got a faulty servo, or a bad wiring mistake which grounds out the pins.

Try a different servo. If it causes the same thing it's a brown out probably. If not, the servo was a problem.

And DJ he states he is using a 6v 20A power supply, so that's why I am not concerned much about it.

I just noticed how quick your answers were. Thanks, but I'm pretty sure it was the software as mentioned in my edit. My servos are 4.8-6V Hitec 225MGs so they fit in the wrists. The Torxis is for the Base Plate and the 9380THs are for almost every other tilt and pan segment. I'm gonna make my robots dance Tai Chi instead of Jump kicking. Lower voltage probably means less melted servos. Also less dangerous for impact torque and speed. I don't know what a wallwart power supply is. Mine are Meanwell, Hiled and PowerTechPlus. The image you uploaded required me to get certificates because my Mac thinks its unsafe. I wish I knew what it was.

I can see the image now. I'm not using a small 300mA transformer like that. Mine is 33.3 Amps.

Now the red light comes on after a battery warning every time. I'm definitely getting 6V. Do I need to open my robot and unplug the ezb v4 and then plug it in again every single time it disconnects? I have disabled the battery warning about thirty times now but the program doesn't remember my settings. Now I've downloaded something from the website via RoboScratch and it has overridden essential configurations. I have no idea how to get connected again without going back up to 7.5 Volts, which will melt more of my servos. I need to connect at 6V. Please help. The Red light is now solid after the voice, and the blue light is flashing...

The green writing at the bottom of the software says

Comm Err: System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because host has failed to respond.

This doesn't describe the battery issue, but sometimes the voiceover says 'your batteries are low'. I have lowered the required voltage to 5, disabled the warning and she still does it. I have removed all servos and am supplying the EZBV4 with 33 Amps of 6 Volt constant power.

And you said it is only one servo causing it? Did you try another? Because it very well could be a servo causing it as it acts just like a brownout.

Thanks for your quick replies :)

No, its not a particular servo. I'll test again with 0 servos. I'll describe.

1. Red light solid, blue light flashing on unit. Computer freshly rebooted. No programs open.

2. Pulled out all wires from EZBV4 waited ten seconds, then plugged in the power cable only (6V33A). Startup chime, Blue light flashing.

3. Compaq Presario CQ41 Laptop (not sure if its on the naughty list of WiFi villains but I was using it to control the EZB all day before current errors) running Windows 10. I will connect to the EZB via WiFi. Status already says 'Open', and now I will click the 'Connect' button beside it...Connecting...

4. Around 20 seconds later, status says 'Connected, No internet, Open' next to the EZB on the WiFi list. The EZB blue light is solid - no other lights. Waiting for 60 seconds to see if there are any problems...none.

5. Opening ARC Nightmare, I mean software...The device has started flashing blue immediately after opening the program. This is the title screen with no projects at all. Before I click 'Connect' next to The first one called '0', I will click the little cog beside it and adjust the battery warnings to TRY to avoid problems with battery warnings...Clicking Cog symbol>Settings Tab...Battery Monitor Settings are UNCHECKED and GREYED OUT but I don't trust it. I will leave it alone so there was nothing I did wrong. By default in grey, all settings are 7 volts but the main box is unchecked so this should be irrelevant. Now I'm going to close this window without saving because I haven't changed anything.

6. Now I am clicking the chrome ball next to the cog. Inside this window is hidden a command to switch off the low battery warning. Diagnostics Tab. It says 'Power On Settings Low Battery Warning: Disabled'. That is what I want even though I don't trust it. I have done this 50 times in the past three hours already...closing window.

7. Now I will click the 'Connect' button for '0' (the blue LED on the EZBV4 is flashing) so far... Connect.

8. Some green writing appeared on the screen for a second, the EZB made a connection noise and the EZB blue LED is now solid. The Connect button has become a green Disconnect button in ARC. 'My battery is low' has been repeated incessantly at least thirty times prior to typing this and I want to smash it. What. A. Stupid. Design. Idea. Its waking all the neighbours. I am throwing a blanket over it while I attempt to do something here. I'm sweating from the stress. It has ZERO servos plugged in.

9. I am clicking 'JD' in the program. My God. She finally shut up.

10. I am skipping requests to connect me to tutorials. Oh. There it is. Red light comes on the EZB with blue flashing light after green writing appears at the bottom of the screen. No idea how to ever see what that writing said, wasn't quick enough this time. Status in ARC is a 'Connect' button rather than a 'Disconnect' button. Status in Windows remains unchanged.

Before you try again.

leave EZ-B unplugged for now.

Open ARC.

In the Connection object, click on the gear icon. In the next dialog, click on the settings button on the top left. Under Battery Monitor Settings, click the Enable Battery Monitor Override, then un-check the "enable battery monitor" check box next to EZB #0 (or all 5 of them).

Save. You will see a warning about selecting this can damage LiPos. Click Yes.

Now, up in the top ribbon, go to the options tab. Far left item, select Debug. The debug window will open. If not already checked, check the Always Show checkbox. Now debug won't close after displaying.

Now, plug in the EZ-B and try to connect. Note that the low voltage warning disable is project specific, so save this project (assuming you get working again).

Note: the RALink WiFi issue with some Compaq and HP computers is solved in recently shipped EZ-Bs, so if you bought in the past 6 months, unlikely to be an issue, and since you have connected successfully in the past, definitely not an issue.

Are you running Avast Internet Protection? The Avast firewall will cause EZ-Bs to disconnect. You either need to disable it, make ARC an exception, or make port 23 an exception (other firewalls could also be an issue, but virtually every complaint I have seen so far has been Avast except for one user who when prompted by Windows firewall to make an exception said no, and then needed instructions on how to change their mind).

Alan

Plugging in a different power supply: 12V18A...

Turning off ARC. Powering up EZB. Green flash LED, chimes, Blue Flash LED.

Connecting to Windows 10 WiFi on Compaq Presario CQ41 (The computer I've been using for messing around with the EZB for months).

Windows says connected but EZB still flashing Blue...

Opening ARC. Clicking Connect on 0...

Clicking Always show on green writing window...

Connect button has become green Disconnect button. Green writing says Battery Monitor Voltage is set to 7 and battery protection is true, setting i2c rate: 100000, Connected.

Clicking the cog to see if the settings actually reflect the green script...

Cog>Settings. Yes, as I suspected, the settings show that battery monitor override is NOT selected. This software is massively flawed. Clicking the checkbox to test green writing...

Enable Battery Monitor Override Now checked. Altering Min Voltage on all EZBs down to 3v from 7v...Save button.

'WARNING! You have selected a battery monitor voltage that is lower than our recommended voltage of 7v. Changing this feature will damage LiPo batteries which may cause an explosion. Are you sure?'

Yes. Idiots. Hobby servos are mainly rated between 4.8 - 6v worldwide. Look it up.

The green script confirms my ignorance with its warning and says they're all set to 3v now.

Clicking project history item 'JD'...

A ton of writing appears in the script area, red light goes on EZB with blue flashing light. Disconnected. Just like that. 12V with no servos connected. The green writing says voltage limit is now 7 and set to true. I didn't change it back. It says it timed out as well. Oh, and it tells me the camera is disabled.

Alan, I did what you said but the EZB cannot connect while the red button is lit. It must be unplugged and plugged back in again every. single. time. I will read the rest of what you wrote now.

PS Saving projects only results in error messages when I try to load them, and voltage is set to a contrary reading to the settings if you follow my methodology. Unless there's been a software update, this program is clearly faulty.

Firewalls can be inspected later, clearly not the reason everything stopped working since this morning. No Avast, No Virus protection. This is a dedicated EZB laptop. My main one is a Macbook Pro (on which I'm typing).

did you read my question about Avast? What did the "green writing" say? Copy and paste it here.

Note: Insulting the design of the software, which works for 10's of thousands of users and has protections built in that prevent safety issue with 7.4v LiPos which are used by the vast majority of users (along with EZ-Robot 7.4v HD servos) , is not going to make you friends here..... Are there flaws, sure, but the CEO of the company and the designer of the software participates in the forum, and fixes things that we point out are broken, so take a chill pill, answer the questions asked of you, and there are a bunch of us who will help troubleshoot. Continue complaining about "idiots" and you will quickly be ignored.

Alan

What kind of pill would you recommend in this situation? This is my business that's on the line. Stress causes premature death. etc. Let me complain, I have a right. I'm the downtrodden in this situation, not the accused. Claiming thousands of customers is not proof of a bug-free product. It needs to be fixed. My foot's caught in a bear trap and you're beating me with a bat for swearing.

EZB 0: 
EZB 1: 
EZB 2: 
EZB 3: 
EZB 4: 
Attempting connection on 192.168.1.1:23
Connected to 192.168.1.1:23
Reports EZB v4 OS With Comm 1
EZ-B v4 ID: 58-54-0-0-48-255-57-56-55-38-38-38
Setting battery monitor voltage: 7
Setting battery protection: True
Setting i2c rate: 100000
Connected
Setting battery monitor voltage: 3
Setting battery protection: True
**WARNING: The low battery warning monitor value is set LOWER than the recommended default of 7v. Your voltage monitor set for 3v. If using the LiPo batteries from a Revolution EZ-Robot, for battery longevity and your safety we highly recommend that you change the low battery monitor back to 7v. This setting can be found in the Connection Control Config Menu.
Setting i2c rate: 100000
Object Recognition Initialized.
Camera Initialized: EZB://192.168.1.1 @ 320x240
Object Recognition loaded.
Setting battery monitor voltage: 7
Setting battery protection: True
Setting i2c rate: 100000
EZ-B v4 Camera Error: System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond. ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Receive(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size, SocketFlags socketFlags)
   at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
   at EZ_B.EZBv4Video.eO4EQE3BZF(Int32  , Object  )
Camera Disabled
Setting battery monitor voltage: 7
Setting battery protection: True
Setting i2c rate: 100000
Comm Err: System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond. ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Receive(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size, SocketFlags socketFlags)
   at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
   at EZ_B.EZB.tx9G6XA9AV(Int32  , Byte[] cmdData)
BbytesToExpect: 2

Received: 0 0 
Disconnected
Attempting connection on 192.168.1.1:23
Comm Err: System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond. ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Receive(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size, SocketFlags socketFlags)
   at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 size)
   at EZ_B.EZB.tx9G6XA9AV(Int32  , Byte[] cmdData)
BbytesToExpect: 1
U
Received: 0 
Disconnected
Connection Failed: System.Exception: Controller Not Responding
   at EZ_B.EZB.nK0GoWWRVJ()
   at EZ_B.EZB.Connect(String hostname, Int32 baudRate)
Disconnected

I sure would appreciate any help despite my bad attitude about the software. I was excited about the product and I was grateful to DJ for all his help, and I know software development is hard - trust me. But I got a business to run, and I need to know if I can trust this product because I was intending to buy hundreds of units if it all works well.

edit: [typed before you followed up posting the debug window. will leave for now, but may edit or delete after I look at your previous message]

I am telling you that the way you are asking for help is going to drive away those who might want to help you. Yes, you are experiencing an issue. It is a complex piece of hardware, and complex software, and built by a startup company with limited time resources, so as a hobbyist product, you may need to work a bit, and have some patience while we try to assist in figuring out what is wrong.

We have ruled out insufficient amps because you are using high quality switching power supplies.

We have ruled out your servos because the issue occurs with none plugged in.

There are dozens to hundreds using the EZ-B on 6volts, so that isn't likley the issue, you do need to do some steps to turn off the LiPo warning (which was put in there, along with the multiple ways to force you to use the tutorials, because many users bought EZ-Robots, started using them without reading anything, and toasted their LiPo batteries or burned out their servos by stressing them beyond their tolerances. Forcing you to take the action to read about the product and turn off the alarm is both a safety issue and reduces arguments about whether abuse to the parts constitute warranty or not).

We haven't yet ruled out a firewall problem, nor have we rules out any other problems since you neither answered my question about your firewall, not pasted in the debug window results (note: use code tags when pasting the results for better readability).

You can also run a diagnostic report and submit it to EZ-B and they may be able to see something else about your computer or software that could help explain the issue you are seeing.

I find Xanax works well for stress.... :)

Alan

To simplify the log, disconnect the camera and try again. It is hard to see what is failing the EZ-B connection when the camera connection is failing too.

I still suspect firewall (or something failed in the EZ-B itself), but there is another test we can do too.

Instead of connecting with ARC, go back to the EZ-B web page (open a browser and connect to 192.168.1.1), and go to the diagnostic page. Try to send tones and move a servo from there and see if it resets its connection.

Alan

Thank you, I will try this before seeing if a firewall has suddenly appeared since this morning (there is no camera attached or any servos and the original power supply no longer works either):

Instead of connecting with ARC, go back to the EZ-B web page (open a browser and connect to 192.168.1.1), and go to the diagnostic page. Try to send tones and move a servo from there and see if it resets its connection.

The address you gave above in my browser takes me to the firmware of my modem. I'll try to find the page you're referring to...

I see, I need Windows to at least be connected to the device before that address works, then I click the Chrome icon next to the Connect button in ARC...

Sound 1 not responding. Attempted a reboot but now its complaining that the page is not correct. Refreshing...No reaction to the refresh button. After several attempts, I need to open up my robot and pull the cord again...start up chime, blue flashes...

192.168.1.1 Diagnostics tab. Sound 1 works. I am using a 7.5V46A power supply. Blue LED still flashing. All sounds work. It could not respond when RED LED was present and required a replug. All ports Servos 90 degrees resulted in a twitch on my 9380TH servo, rated for up to 8V or so.

I will now attempt to run 6V33A power and do the same again...remaining connected...Sound 1 works fine as do all sounds. All Ports Servos 90 Degrees resulted in same twitch as 7.5V power supply. Absolutely zero errors. And yes, I'm handling unsealed, exposed 240V wires as I use a drill to swap cables from one power source to the next. I think the electrocution warning should be louder than the battery explosion warning as a lot of people need to run 24 servos for their robots and need high level deadly current to achieve it. See? The argument has no merit. 6V is the most common hobby servo compatible power level. Warnings and Sirens are crazy when you're dealing with robotics. It's like having the horn permanently pressed down on the front of a car so that people know a deadly machine is rolling towards them at all times.

So the diagnostics all succeeded at both 7.5V and 6V. The firewire guess is pretty farfetched unless some kind of Windows Firewall function was on a timer.

Also I updated ARC a few minutes ago. After the successful diagnostics test I ran ARC only to see the automated shutdown and 'my battery is low' requiring a replug. I have changed the limits all to 3V and unchecked them all and saved. I'll reboot the EZB now. Done. Clicking 'Connect'. Instant override. All my changes have been deleted at the moment of connection and I see its all set back to a 7v limit again :(

Settings page is broken. When connecting through ARC the 3V limit can be enforced with some trickery but the EZB RED LED lights up anyway and is instantly disconnected - this time not for low batteries perhaps. The debug reasons are pasted in my previous debug code above.

Its 3am. I gotta sleep. I'll try to find a needle and stick it in the reset hole for ten seconds or something when I wake up. Thanks for your patience :)

OK, so when connecting to the EZ-B over port 80, functions that require the EZ-B chip and not just the WiFi to be active (tones and servo movements) work. When connecting over port 24, you get an immediate disconnection.

What Anti-virus/firewall software to you run? Just Microsoft, or a 3rd party? Did the 3rd party get an automatic update today? The symptoms you are seeing are indicative of something interfering with the communication between the EZ-B and ARC on port 24.

One other thought, and it is a dumb one since this worked before, so excuse me, but the RALink problem with Compaq's and HP's had a very similar symptom. The solution there was to put the EZ-B on the network in client mode rather than running AP mode. Might be something to try just to see if it will maintain a connection if in client mode, but I am not sure where to go long term if that does work.

I would run the diagnostic report and submit it to EZ-Robot. I could be missing something that they would see.

Last idea, and again fairly unlikely, but since everything seems to indicate the EZ-B itself is working properly is that maybe something in the ARC install has become corrupt. You could try to uninstall, reboot and re-install (often re-installing .NET 4.5 can also resolve issues, but they are usually more obvious, like ARC not running at all).

Quote:

6V is the most common hobby servo compatible power level. Warnings and Sirens are crazy when you're dealing with robotics.

Alan

Again, we were posting at the same time.

I think I see one part of confusion.

There are two places where the battery alarm exists.

In the EZ-B's web page, you can disable the alarm. This is for when the EZ-B is powered up and before connected to ARC, and this will last between reboots, but not through a factory reset.

In ARC (the instructions I gave above in the connection object settings). This over-rides the Web Page setting and takes effect when a connection is made. It is ARC Project specific, so once you make the change, you need to save your project, and always connect with that project, not a freshly opened copy of ARC, which will be set to default, not your custom settings.

Personally, rather than setting the voltage to 3 volts, I would disable the alarm completely as I described several posts up.

Have a good rest and come at it fresh tomorrow. If I am not around to help, someone will be....

Alan

I think @Zxen is doing everything right, he just loaded up a project with I2C communication in it without having an I2C device. This will cause a lock up scenario (Red LED stays lit). He'll either have to plug in a set of RGB LED eyes into his project or remove the RGB LED eyes control from his JD project.

doh... I totally missed that. He did say he loaded the JD project for testing.

Alan

Thanks for all your help, but you appear to have already solved this problem before: https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/9066&page=6

I could not press the reset button at all. It did nothing. So I unscrewed the case and squeezed the two parts together. Looked like nothing happened, but somehow I fixed the reset button, and probably some kind of internal connection.

As you may have read, the battery issue was not the only problem. It would always disconnect for some reason or another. The problem was within the unit itself. No amount of setting tweaks could have helped at all. I tried connecting as a Client to bypass the connection errors and the light continued flashing green instead of remaining steady, so I looked up flashing green on the forum and found your old solution.

Thanks for your kindness. It appears fixed, and even if its now intermittent (I hope not), at least I know the source of the problem. The interior has a professional, solid build, so I was surprised to see that squeezing the two halves together had any effect. I recommend everyone test their reset button as the first course of action for any major erratic behaviour, especially in cases when it worked earlier that day. It must have been bumped by a robot arm and dislodged by a micron.

I would still like to see a patch to ensure I don't need to turn off alarms every time I use ARC - my servos are going to need to run at 6v, and this should not be made difficult. I hope this is changed in the next update, along with some much needed streamlining of the settings. Thanks again for your help.

I give points to everyone who helped, but Alan had already solved this with someone else correctly, and it was due to his diligence that the problem was initially solved. Also he explored the details of my case in great depth. So I have to give credit to Alan. Thanks Alan :)

Glad you are back up and running.

Alan

@Zxen, probably a good time to use this opportunity to learn something new about computer software. If you have ever used software, such as Microsoft Word or Excel, there is a save button. The save button will take the current "work/changes" and save to a file.

This file can be loaded again in the future. You asked for a "patch" to disable the battery monitor, saving the document with the settings/configuration is the "patch" that you are requesting.

*Note: Files are also called Documents in some software. In ARC, files are called a "project".

In the case of ARC, it appears the confusion resides in GUI elements and file saving. EZ-Bulder uses standard controls (buttons/labels/checkbox/etc) and follows the Microsoft Windows standard GUI approach. This means checkboxes used to enable/disable features, buttons, menus, etc.. Since you are new to computers, take your time learning the interface and how "clickable" things work. For example, a clickable thing is something on the screen which you can point the mouse cursor at and press the mouse button. A button is a clickable thing, so are checkboxes.

1. The "battery is low" message will repeat until the battery monitor is disabled. As you have noticed, the battery monitor will also disable i/o to prevent battery damage and burning out servos with under power. An under powered servo/motor from a low battery will burn out because it does not have enough strength to move and will be stuck. It's unusual to realize, but under power and over power are both motor/servo killers.

2. The battery monitor can be disabled by using the checkbox, specifying the ez-b in-which to disable and entering the new voltage level. You mentioned not understanding what a checkbox was in a previous post, or that it's a new feature for you to use on computers. A checkbox is represented as a square, which will either be filled (checked) or empty (unchecked). You will find checkboxes located throughout the ARC software to enable/disable features.

3. Once the settings/configuration of your project has been created, save it to a file by giving it a filename. This is done using the File->Save button. This is a similar approach to Microsoft Word or Excel. When you load ARC again in the future, use the File->Open to reload the project which will include the settings/configuration, including the battery monitor settings.

4. Lastly, there was mention that you opened a JD project for "testing". It's no surprise that all robots are physically different. Loading a project that is not for your robot configuration, or for an empty ez-b with no peripherals, is not recommended. A similar comparison would be testing your microwave by putting the Television Remote Control inside it. Just because the item fits/loads, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Loading JD's project not in a JD will result in unpredictable behavior. Loading any robot project for a non-robot will result in the same unpredictable behavior

Take your time and be patient while learning a new technology. You'll get there! :)

So I take it you'll take my refinement requests on board then, DJ? Like I said, whichever microcontroller I use for my company after my prototype is complete, I will need to buy HUNDREDS of them. Please delete your hate speech. I just did over $3000 R&D work for you without demanding a refund.

@Zxen,

Drop me an email (my address is in my profile). Want to discuss something out of the public eye and we don't have private messaging on this forum (yet).

Alan