Baby orangutan B-328 with Arduino Enviroment Motor Error

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1

When I use
motors.setSpeeds(0, 0);
One motor(Lets call it Motor 1) spins at 255 speed while the other(Motor 2) does not.
motors.setSpeeds(255, 0);
Motor 1 now doesn’t spin and motor 2 is now at max.
motors.setSpeeds(-255, -255);
Motor 1 spins at max in the forward direction and motor 2 spins at max in the reverse direction.

I have them wired so that Motor 1 is wired to M1A and M1B and Motor 2 is in M2A and M2B, they are Micro Metal Gear Motors HP(I believe 50:1). I am using the Arduino enviroment and the pololu motor library, is this a software issue or is the hardware faulty?

2

Hello.

This does not seem like a faulty hardware and is most likely a software issue. However, could you post a picture of your entire setup to check for a faulty connection? Also, could you post the simplest possible sketch where you are setting the motor speeds to 0 and not getting the expected result? Finally, could you try loading the following sketch and tell me what the motors do?

void setup()
{
}
void loop()
{
}

- Jeremy

3

I have it dissasembled right now, but here it is in a rough form, the Red and Black dictate the red and black wires I soldered to the motor leads.

Here is a link since the image doesn’t seem to be working.
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/g788a
Here is the most basic code,

#include <OrangutanMotors.h>
OrangutanMotors m;
void setup(){

}
void loop(){
motors.setSpeeds(255, 255);
delay(1000);
motors.setSpeeds(0, 0);
delay(1000);
motors.setSpeeds(-255, -255);
delay(1000);
}

One motor spins forward for one second, then the other spins for a second, then one spins forward(The spinning when they should be stopped) and the other spins backward.

4

We tried to reproduce the problem here but could not. We got the following code to work properly with a Baby Orangutan B-328 with the Arduino 1.0.2.

#include <OrangutanMotors.h>
OrangutanMotors m;

void setup()
{

}

void loop()
{
  m.setSpeeds(255, 255);
  delay(1000);
  m.setSpeeds(0, 0);
  delay(1000);
  m.setSpeeds(-255, -255);
  delay(1000);
}

If you have further trouble, could you post a photo of your setup? Could you tell us which version of the Arduino software you are using?

- Jeremy

5


I have now also tried using atmel studio(to compile, had to upload with an avr command line because atmel won’t upload to the orangutan) and I am using the 1.0.3 arduino environment.

6

Hello.

It’s seeming more like this is a hardware issue, in which case there probably isn’t much that can be done to salvage the board. Have the Baby Orangutan motor drivers ever worked properly for you? If you look closely at the AVR, do you see any shorts between the leads? Please email us with your order information and we’ll see what we can do to help you get started with a new board.

- Ben