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Australia
Asked — Edited

Ping Sensor Problem

The Ping Radar and object detector are on our BOB Robot and it starts working Fine with my Digital Ports - Then the Ping just drops out. The Object dedector sticks at the max distance and there are no red blips coming up on the Radar. I'm also running a servo for the head rotation tied in with the ping. Could this be due to low voltage to the EZ-B board ?

I checked tha battery pack and I'm getting 6.4 volts.


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PRO
USA
#1  
@hazbot you should be using ADC port not Digital if your using a regular.ping sensor. The sensor varies voltage to indicate distance. Sr04 for example and parralax.com adruino sensors. The sensors has to specifically be digital and have an adjustable potentiometer to use it on a Digital port. So just move it to a ADC port and you should be fine.
Australia
#2  
Thanks Jstarne - I'll change it ASAP - Thanks Mate

Hazbot
Australia
#3  
Please hellp jstarne1 - I'm Ok plugging into the adc port but how does that work with the ARC ? The addition of the Ping Distance sensor (Radar Scan) only has D ports - no ADC ports are listed.

Where do I go from here as I'm not big on code and thus relying on the ARC gui for controlling the robot ?

Cheers

Hazbot
Australia
#5  
Yep Glicklik.. I put some freshly charged batteries in and now it seems to work fine on the original digital ports I had it in - I've got the ping sensor on his head (Bobs about 3 feet tall) and its fun watching him do the cha-cha as he does several forwards and backs to turn and avoid obstacles. Jstarne1 suggested using the adc ports. The Ping I have came with the EZ-B kit and DJ does demonstrate using it on the digital ports so I was worried for a while as to why it would just stop working.

Anyway, thanks for your help guys - all appears back to normal

Hazbot
#6  
I believe those ports should be digital. I guess D.J. will have to let us know.
PRO
Synthiam
#7  
Ping sensor uses digital ports. Sharp IR uses ADC.

The ping is a bit strange when low voltage occures. It's less about the voltage (specifically) and more about the required current (watts). The servos/motors and other peripherals require current. The stopping and starting of motors/servos draws more current than when it is steady ON. So the PING sensor and the Servo/Motor may be on/off within the same time and low battery supply current will cause the PING to perform bad.

9 volts with 6 AA is okay for "some" configurations based on physical load of the servos. But don't expect the batteries to last very long. You may need to get into higher amperage batteries for your project if there are many peripherals
Australia
#8  
Thanks for firming that up D.J - a little extra info and insight in these areas is a great help - Cheers

Hazbot
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