Release 2012.04.11.00 (HiFive Fix)

(Autonomous Robot Control Software)
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We hacked away at the EZ-B Firmware over the past 48 hours to resolve the servo jitter issue. This has been a crazy past few days. The release 15.3 seemed to cause issues with some controllers, and that's because there are a few differences between EZ-B versions. They were tested in-house, but clearly not good enough. We setup a new testing environment with a pile of servos and sensors to verify older boards.

The only downfall to the latest firmware is the servo position resolution is now 100 vs 130. Not a dramatic difference, but the lower resolution is required for the servo speed.

  • bug fix random ports going high
  • bug fix servo jitter
  • enhancements to PWM duty cycle
  • enhancements to ez-b bootup speed
  • camera tracking enhancement for slower cpu's

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Netherlands
#2  

Camera tracking enhancement for slower cpu's? That would be perfect for my omnibot :D

Canada
#3  

Woohoo Glad to hear you got it figured it out DJ!

United Kingdom
#4  

Hi I upgraded and then added 1 vertical servo it has good precision now however press release on the servo control and the servo moves to some random position??

However much more noticeable is the when selecting a low value servo position under 3 or 4 my servo buzzes very noticeably I tried 2 types of servo and one is much worse than the other sounds like a cricket!

When you press release it seems to settle in between a step and buzzes if thats a help

PRO
Synthiam
#5  

That's because your servo doesn't have that mich range. Every servo is different. Use the confit button on any servo control to specify the min and max values so you don't damage your servo.

United Kingdom
#6  

Ok understood will try it good to know

This hasn't solved the press release random position feature 'sorry to rain on your parade' I'm now wiring up another EZ-B to check it on that one

United Kingdom
#7  

Yep its the same

Awesome camera colour tracking now... ;)

Netherlands
#8  

Awesome! I'm downloading it right now! Thanks for your hard work DJ, may you have long hours of good rest lol

Kristian.

Netherlands
#9  

It's working perfectly for me, awesome work! I do not notice any random positioning with press release either, it is solid for me. I'm happy with this one! :D

#10  

@DJ - Love that pic at the top of this post showing the EZ-B going through it's paces! When I see something like that I always think, "If it's not a rat's nest of wires, you're not really doing SCIENCE!" thumbs up! :D

#11  

Oh bother.

Firmare update seemed to go fine - saw the last message about rebooting ez-b ...

But now on power up the board led remains dark even though the bluetooth flashes red as it should.

And of course nothing works.

Trying to connect with the Firmware update software says -

Attempting connection to COM5 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

Attempting connection to COM6 Connection Failed: System.TimeoutException: The write timed out. at System.IO.Ports.SerialStream.Write(Byte[] array, Int32 offset, Int32 count, Int32 timeout) at System.IO.Ports.SerialPort.Write(Byte[] buffer, Int32 offset, Int32 count) at EZ_B.EZB.Connect(String portName) Disconnected

This is return to base isn't it?

Good thing I ordered a second board yesterday ...

JOC

United Kingdom
#12  

JOC I think you need to restart the firmware updater and give the EZB sometime to reboot itself. I had to wait a little while last night for one of my boards to start up which it has never done before

Netherlands
#13  

@winstn60

Actually, you are right about the random positioning of ports when they are released. I do not notice it when I manually press a release button. But when animating a led and quickly releasing and turning on a port, to create a pulsing or flickering effect, introduces what seems like a spike in the ports position. and so those leds first light up bright before turning off.

Also, I have this one servo set up with two RC hydraulic car damper springs to have it settle in a centered position when its released. The port seems to also overshoot when it is released, espescialy when it is driven and then released with a moderate-high pace. Sometimes the port goes high making it over shoot, sometimes it goes lower and sometimes it seems to stick in its current position, but generally it never realy seems to go exactly where I would like it to go.

Not sure, but is this what you mean? If so then I am noticing the same.

Canada
#14  

Great Work DJ! I also found a little issue, the radar scan seems to still be calibrated to your previous 130 position servo control. I'm guessing center should be 50 now and it looks like 70 is what it's set too.

User-inserted image

not really raining on your parade too much I hope (or snow, being from AB)

Netherlands
#15  

I've just upgraded to HiFive and now i have a problem.

I can't connect while using my usb->ttl adapter, but when i swap it with the original bluetooth adapter, it works just fine. Now all of the sudden, the LED won't turn on, but the LED on the bluetooth module will. It also won't connect anymore:(

Netherlands
#16  

:D

Just waited like @winstn60 and now it works again!

Edit: aaaaand the connection keeps dropping:(

United Kingdom
#17  

Brilliant 2012.04.15.00 and Firmware 15.7 fixed my random position on pressing release issue. Like the way this release kinda snuck in there))

Now trying to think what I could use a Twitter control for??

How's it for you guys now

Thanks DJ