ryates
Hey all. I just received my EZB kit. All of my microcontroller/robot control projects to date have been Arduino based or simple RC receivers with motor controllers and I wanted to try something a bit different. I'm currently building a 1:1 scale R2D2 droid and someone in the R2 builders group had mentioned DJ Shure's EZ-B so here I am.
Unfortunately, I haven't gotten very far with connectivity. I have tried two different laptops (Windows XP Pro and Windows 7) with built-in bluetooth as well as an external IOGear v2.1 adapter that I picked up at a discount computer store. In all cases, I'm able to find and pair with EZ-B with no problems, but ARC can't connect. When it tries to connect, the BT module status light goes solid for a few seconds, but then goes back to a fast blink and I receive a message in ARC.
I have tried several power sources including 9V alkaline, 6 AA alkaline, 7.2v LiPo, and 11.1v LiPo (around 1Ah and 2.3Ah respectively) and no luck there. I don't have a bench power supply capable of 6v so I can't test that just yet (I could try 12v from a power supply and see if that helps). I searched the forum and never could find an official spec on input voltage range.
I have also un-paired, re-paired, rebooted, restarted, stood on my head, etc. and no luck from any of it. In full disclosure, I originally had the BT module misaligned on the pin header and powered up the board. When I saw the BT status light didn't come on, I knew something was wrong. Could I have killed it?
Here is the message from the debug console in ARC. The message is always the same, but the COM port changes obviously depending on where the virtual COM port landed after re-pairing:
Attempting connection to COM4 Comm Err: The operation has timed out. BbytesToExpect: 1
Received: Disconnected Connection Failed: System.Exception: Controller Not Responding at EZ_B.EZB.Connect(String portName) Disconnected
Sorry for the long first post and thanks for any help or troubleshooting advice you can provide.
Oh, and DJ Sures, thanks for a really neat project. Nice work, sir.
-Rob
I contact you guys last Wednesday, but still haven't heard back
. I know you're busy, but I'm really anxious to get this thing up and running.
-Rob
They are all at the Maker Fair.
Hi ryates
Open up control panel and type Bluetooth into the right hand search box
Then click on change Bluetooth settings. You should be able to see all the Bluetooth hardware and more detailed com port settings
This should help determine what com ports EZ-B is using and what the various settings are
Worth a shot?
I'm not trying to complain, but am anxious.
@MovieMaker - Ahh - I didn't connect the dots on them being at the Maker Faire - makes sense.
@winstn60 - Yeah, I know exactly what virtual COM ports the EZ-B should be listening on and the BT module clearly is listening on that port since the status light changes status on a connection attempt. Unfortunately, the EZ-B board itself isn't picking up the connection attempt so it appears to be a fault on the actual EZ-B.
-Rob
Rob just noticed that your board has D1, R1 and c1 fitted mine doesn't and has a diode fitted between D1 R1
Looks like a IN4001 if you want to change it yourself or get another board
Also chech the little regulator VR3 is a L4931 33 (for 3.3 volts)
Cheers neil
opps pic upside down anyway you get the idea
Neil, Wow - good eye! I happen to have IN4001s laying around, but not sure if the EZB folks want me messing with the board if they're going to swap it out. I'll also check out that voltage regulator - thanks for the tip.
-Rob
Rob,
ok good luck with it
Neil
Sadly I still haven't heard anything . . . I have a brand new EZ-B, a Wall-E, and a brand new laptop, but alas still no love from the EZ-Robot team. I'm starting to feel neglected
.
-Rob