@Jeremie Most of my testing has been with 1 servo attached.  Since I have 5V servos, I didn't want to risk frying them with a 6V power supply. ........but it seems that's where most of my problem is.  If the EZBv4 doesn't like 6V power, I don't think this is going to work.  Looking at the specs, I'll need to check to see if the battery low voltage warning has been disabled.

I'm going off of memory of a project and research from several years ago, but as I recall, the servos are 5V, and you can push them to 6V, but you're not supposed to use 7V or 7.4V as that could damage them.  Which is why it makes it hard to find a battery online because searching for 6V gets your 3.6V batteries.

@rz90208 I can try that, but as it is now, the speaker has been disconnected.  When I mounted it on my custom plate, I didn't carry the speaker from the plastic chassis over.  Like I said before, I can connect and communicate with it.  I think Jeremie hit the nail on the head that I probably need to turn off the low voltage alarm condition.

The 35w power is a wall wart from radio shack? Is it the one with the switch that selects between 3,6,9,12 volts? If so, that won’t power even one servo.

also thanks for your very thorough response to everyone. That was useful. I’m glad you saw my question as genuine because it was. What I meant about what do you want the robot to do, is do you want it walk or use cameras or etc... it was more of a specific what features are you aiming at

the very first thing I would recommend is an adequate power supply... then your life will change because the servos will move and that’s a good thing hehehe. The power is 100% of the challenge

I'll see about getting specific on the power supply and post them when I can.  Probably tomorrow.  I have lots of different power supplies, but not so many high amperage ones in the 5-6V range.  I guess I'll look into buying one just for this project.

Long term, I'd like to add sensors and cameras to the robot.  I bought the accelerometer that is supposed to be already have a software module, and I'd like to pursue the (inverse) kinematic algorithm that can figure out how to walk.

Excellent to hear about the power supply. Look into a digital switching power supply that’s at least 5 amps. Better yet, if you’re pursuing this as a hobby/career, I recommend getting an adjustable power supply. A bunch of us on here purchased this one on eBay:  https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ca%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F333358703404

as for the inverse kinematic, the robophilo servos aren’t compatible with that feature without modification. Let’s first get you up and running with servos moving with adequate power supply. Once you get that, we’ll start you off on making a walking gait using the auto position. Following that, we can connect the camera. And then I’ll show you a tutorial video I did on modifying those servos for inverse kinematic

@allanonmage thanks for the reply!

The EZ-Bv4 can work down to 4.5V.

6V is fine.

Definitely look to see what your battery monitor voltage is set to inside the connection control settings.

@allanonmage,  Where are you located?   Although from reading through this I am convinced that your primary issues are related to power (it is always the amps, not the volts - and a wall wart power supply never has enough amps), if you are near another EZ-B user, we could quickly rule out hardware by bringing one of our EZ-B's to you or a good meeting place.

I personally am in the Maryland suburbs of DC, but I can travel for free on Amtrak anywhere in the Northeast, and would be happy to arrange something (although finding an opening on my calendar can be difficult).

Alan

@thetechguru I'm north of Atlanta in the metro area.  Complete opposite direction of the NE lol

The power supply is adjustable from 6 - 24V, and supports 3A/35W max.  It's a RadioShack 273-1685, which The Internets seem to have forgotten.  Seems strange that a 6v 3A power supply can't power the EZB and a single servo.  The little battery packs that came with the RoboPhilo are the cut down AAA cells in a 5 pack to get 6V, and have ~600mAh (as a pack) IIRC.  There's no way they can sustain much more than 3A.

I'll probably order that PSU DJ Shures recommended since it's like $20-$30

What about using the 5V rail from a PC power supply?  That can usually source 20A - 50A depending.

I used it to power up a yard sale find, which is why it's on 9V in the picture.  I scored a Win CE tablet thingey for $10, but that's another problem for another forum.

Lol! @allanonmage I was thinking about that this morning and was going to suggest that exact solution.

Yes, you can use an ATX power supply to power robots, the 5V 20A+ rail is more than sufficient.

The radio shack supply should definitely be able to power up the EZ-B and a few servos, unless it is faulty.

Did you have a chance to change your battery monitor voltage?