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Asked — Edited

Rover 5 Chassis Help

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a new EZ-Robot kit with the Rover 5 chassis and the 2.5 Amp Motor Controller. I need some help hooking up the Rover 5 chassis to my EZ-B. I've read the docs and watched DJ's video tutorial and studied the diagram found here numerous times - www.ez-robot.com/Tutorials/Hardware.aspx?id=25.

The video does the setup somewhat differently than the diagram. I started with the way the video does it, but when that didn't work for me I tried the setup as shown in the diagram. I have tripled checked everything and I still can't seem to get this working. I have power to the HBridge and to the EZ-B via the 6 AA battery adapter provided with the Rover. I've even tried using the adapter from the EZ-Robot kit. When I connect to EZ-B via ARC and add an HBridge controller nothing happens. I get no movement. Beginning to wonder if the Rover motors are bad, I doubt it, but not sure how I can test that at the moment. I put a standard servo on one of the other digital ports at the same time and that moves just fine.

I am attaching a few pictures from my setup as it stands right now. Wondering if anyone here can take a look and see if they notice something I've messed up any/or offer some suggestions. I'm stumped. Thanks in advance!

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PRO
USA
#1  
Hello! Welcome to EZ Robot , we will help get you going. First off where did you get your h bridge? I ask because lately I have ordered direct from China ( not through ez robot) and consistently had something wrong , three h bridges in a row. You will want to make sure your signal wire (the white one) is not accidentally plugged in backwards. In a event like this its best to check one piece at a time. Try each motor with direct power....do they work yes/no , if yes then using a meter will be helpful the check the continuity of your connections. I myself used LEDs as indicators to see when each channel was activated. Just as a test. Try those and report back. Remember have fun , I forget to do this when things aren't easy;) - Josh S
#2  
Hey Josh,

Thanks for the reply. I bought the H bridge from the ez-robot store. I'll probably order a few more to have as spare, but for now this is the only one I've got. I doubled checked all the wires again. They all appear to be properly placed. I attempted to go back to the setup done in the video again. Still isn't working.

In ARC and have H Bridge & PWM controls. The H Bridge control appears to do nothing and when I move the PWM slider it appears to think it isn't connected. Even though I am connected to EZ-B over COM7. Here is the debug output...

Attempting connection on COM7
Connected to COM7 at 9600
EZ-B reports EZ-B Firmware V16
Connected

Now as soon as I move the PWM slider...
Comm Err: Not Connected
BbytesToExpect: 0

Received:
Disconnected
Comm Err: Not Connected
BbytesToExpect: 0

I'm pretty new to the hardware side so sorry if this is a dumb question... how would I test each motor with direct power? The Rover 5 chassis motor wires originally had white plugs on the ends. I cut those off to get at the red & black wires to run into the motor 1 & 2 inputs on the H bridge. What would I wire those to just to test the motors? I am going to stop by the store in a bit to grab a meter so that I can check the continuity of the connections.
PRO
USA
#3  
The wires coming from the outputs of the bridge are the power wires to the motor. Apply power directly and that will ensure those are functioning. Also using AA batteries may not be enough power to run the motors and ezb at the same time. I tested a rover once and they can draw 1 to 1.5 amps current on each motor so you may want to consider testing with a better battery or a desktop power supply rated for 5 amps @ 7 to 12v.
#4  
Hey Josh,

OK so I hooked up both Rover motors to direct power 1 by 1 and they both worked. So we know the motors are good. I also thought perhaps limited power could be an issue. I did have the Rover and EZ-B sharing the same 6 AA battery pack. I bought the Bench Power Supply from the EZ-Robot store as well. Unfortunately, the plug isn't made for US outlets. I check Radioshack and they didn't have an adapter that would work. I ordered one online yesterday, but it might not come for a few more days. However, I do have a 2nd 6 AA battery pack. Can I put the Rover on this and keep EZ-B on the other? Would that provide enough juice? I tried to do this by running the H Bridge VCC to the 2nd packs positive and the H Bridge GND to the 2nd packs negative. I kept the H Bridge +5V wired to D0 on the EZ-B as shown in the diagram. I had to push the white button on the H Bridge after everything was plugged in to get the H Bridge power light to come on, but I do have power to EZ-B and the H Bridge now. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to have worked either. Attaching another picture of this double battery pack setup. I definitely want to have a portable power source like what the AA packs provide so if this setup will not work what other options do I have?

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#5  
Also, I forgot to mention I got a multimeter and tested the connectivity of my connections. They seem to be ok.
PRO
USA
#6  
Do you have a old PC power supply hanging around? If you ground the green wire to black from the power supply it powers on and gibes your regulated 12 volts and 5 volts. That could be a easy way to get a bench power supply. Its listed under one of my projects as a how to.. To answer your question about the battery. Lithium battery packs like a 2s or 3s are under 20 dollars and can support high current and a very long run time for your project.
#7  
Unfortunately, we recently moved and I got rid of a lot of my older hardware so no extra power supply laying around. The Lithium battery pack sounds like a good solution. Can you recommend a pack/charger setup that would well for this? Got a link? Thanks!
United Kingdom
#9  
I cannot recommend a LiPo battery enough. My 2S 5000mAh pack still hasn't needed charging since I put it in. It's only been testing and writing scripts but it's been a lot of hours.

If you have the space and can afford the battery and a good charger go for LiPo. I'd guess the problem is the power and the EZ-B browning out.
PRO
USA
#10  
Your right rich , the Bluetooth module will disconnect the moment the voltage drops when a motor pulls current on those AA batteries. I really like turnigy , cheap and reliable. Now 2s means the amount of cells @ 3.7 volts. So that's 7.4 volts. The slightly higher voltage gives your equipment a buffer to make sure the ezb never drops below the minimum 5 volts and disconnect. I've tested the rover motors with 13.8 volts and it ran like a champ all day. So no worries about over voltage on the 7.4.:)
#11  
Thanks guys! Really appreciate the help.

Looking at the Turnigy Lipo image now and I have a series of questions. Sorry if this super basic, just want to be sure I get this right.

I see 2 sets of plugs. Are these just two different adapters for connecting to different types of inputs? I assume I'd need to use the smaller connections to wire this up to the EZ-B power adapter I have. Is that correct? I'd cut off the small white adapter and hook up the red/black wires, but then what is the yellow?

Or is it even easier... do they make an adapter that I can connect to this with that I would in turn wire to the EZ-B power adapter. This would seem to make more sense since I could them probably still hook this up to a charger. If I cut the wires I'm not sure how I'd charge it.

Can you recommend a charger for this as well? I found this one that looks like it might work -
www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7637__Turnigy_balancer_Charger_2S_3S.html, but it appears to be on backorder. I guess with this I would just take off the EZ-B power adapter and put these clips on when it needed to charge?
PRO
USA
#12  
That charger works great but its a slow charger that take 4 or more hours to charge fully. You could always extend the balance charger wires and mount the charger plug somewhere practical. The battery can be charged through the power leads but you must be careful to not charge at a rate higher than recommended for the battery.

Oh those yellow connectors are called turnigy xt60 gold plate connectors rated at 60 amps. The little white plug is the balance plug. Its wired with common ground and individual positive for each cell.
#13  
Guys,

I'm happy to report the Rover is now functioning. I was too eager to wait for an shipment so I ran out to the local hobby store. They didn't have the exact battery you recommended, but they do enough RC car stuff that they had some very similar alternatives. I grabbed a couple LiPo batteries and a charger. I just tested it out and things appear to be working great. I've got forward and reverse and the PWM slider is correctly adjusting the speed. Time to play.

Thanks again for all your help! I'd have been stuck without you.
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