The two photos we need are a close up of the EZ-B connections and a close up of the H-Bridge connections. We can then verify if it has been assembled correctly.

Does your EZ-B still power up? Smoke is a scary thing, but could just be that the fuse blew. If you look in the thread you left, we identified that the power connections were wrong on @stephenhoey's H-bridge. When you open up the case, there is also a fuse holder. If EZ-B no longer powers up, check that fuse.

In your post, you mention "no mention of "red and black" wires left dangling".

Are these the wires with the little plug on the bottom of Roli? (those are for the battery). there should be no dangling wires inside once you properly connect the H-Bridge. The red and black wires for the H-Bridge go on the red and black pins of port D0 to power the H-Bridge as shown in both the tutorial and the assembly instructions video.

Alan

Here are the pics....

1. Does your EZ-B still power up? > Yes, power still comes on and can connect > Fuse still good

2. In your post, you mention "no mention of "red and black" wires left dangling". > These were not mentioned in the "assembly" instructions in the software. found them in the tutorial and plugged them in

not an electronics person, but there seems to be a burn on one of the "chips" in the photo. not sure if normal, but may be cause of smoke?

absolutely nothing from the movement controls now, but still connects and can use camera.

Quote:

not an electronics person, but there seems to be a burn on one of the "chips" in the photo.

Are you talking about the HBridge? If so count yourself lucky as they cost next to nothing to replace ($15.00... I mean if you have to)...

Here is the "chip" in question

It's difficult to see from the direction of the photo but check the red wire is in VCC not +5V and also check that the button is pressed down.

If the other way around and the button wasn't pressed you would have sent >7v in to the +5V of the H-bridge which may explain the smoke.

If that is the case (and I suspect it is from the other photo) it may be a warranty issue as it was incorrectly assembled in China.

as per the support in the other thread, it appears that the power cables are backwards....

Try and correct the cable and see if it works. If it doesn't then contact EZ-Robot through the Contact Us page and provide a link to this topic, it may be covered under warranty if it was incorrectly assembled before delivery (you will need to ask them though as I do not know the warranty terms nor can I speak for EZ-Robot)

i am pretty sure that chip is burnt. i will contact ez and it should be covered since i did not wire that part and followed their instructions.

i changed the wire as per the other thread and still absolutely nothing for movement.

thanks for all the help

was not sure who to give credit to.

thanks you all for your help.

If EZ-Robot says it will take more than 2 or 3 days to replace the H-Bridge, email me (address in my profile). I have a spare one I don't need for a while. I'll mail you mine, you can have EZ-Robot send your replacement to me.

Alan

i'm not sure which is the H-Bridge. is it the one inside the roli (where all the power comes in, with the burnt chip) or the thing in the top that snaps in to the roli?

how much is an H-Bridge normally?

It is the thing inside with the burnt chip. The thing that goes in the top is the EZ-B.

The H-Bridge is just $15 from EZ-Robot, but the shipping is a killer. However since it burned out by being wired wrong, they should replace it for you.

It is not proprietary to them, so if you want to buy one from somewhere instead or waiting on a warranty replacement with lower shipping cost or a Canadian distributor, that is possible.

Note, when I offered to send mine I didn't realize you were in Canada. I might not save any time since it is not the shipping time but the customs hold that usually takes the longest (I am in the US).

Alan

@thetechguru: thanks

which one of these would be an adequate replacement? http://www.active123.com/prodList.asp?strSearch=h-bridge

The first or third would work. The layout is a little different so it won't be a perfect fit inside Roli, but it should work.

I am sure EZ-Robot will consider this a warranty repair though, and you won't be waiting a year like you did for Roli, just might take a few days or a week to get the replacement to you. Reach out through the Contact Us page. I am sure they will get back to you Monday.

I didn't want to start a whole thread about this but I feel I should share. In addition to having the same 5+/VCC issue as others, I had a bad connection on one of my motors as well. I just stripped back the shielding and re soldered it and it worked. I can now go back to re-assembling my Roli. (I took it apart for easier troubleshooting.) Thanks again to everyone for sharing all of this info.

I also have this issue, I turned my roli on and it wouldn't move forward backward etc. I have not checked the little button mentioned above mut mine also smoked for a second before I saw smoke and turned it off, i will be opening the case today to inspect what went wrong. What a pain in the butt though.

@sasquatch if you could take a photo of the h-bridge wiring inside we can help determine if there was an manufacturing issue.