Hi,
I have recently bought Balboa Robot, unfortunatelly I am not able to connect it to my PC wih Windows 10.
Blue (battery) and Green (VBUS) light are on, when I connect the USB, (tried two cables which work on different devices) but yellow light is off and device does not install after connection to USB.
Unfortunatelly i dont know what to do. Can you give me some tips how to continue?
Thank you,
Best Regards,
Tom
Hello, Tom.
Did you follow the instructions in the “Installing Windows drivers” section of the Balboa User’s Guide? Can you connect your Balboa board to your computer (if it is not already) and post a screenshot of your Device Manager with the “Ports (COM & LPT)” entry expanded? If you plugged the Balboa 32U4 into your computer before installing the drivers for it, you might see a COM port named “USB Serial Device”. You can find more information and details on how to fix the port name under the “COM port details” heading in the “Installing Windows drivers” section of the guide.
- Amanda
Hi Amanda,
I have followed the instructions, and I am able to power up the device, but it does not connect to PC and Yellow LED is OFF whole time. The COM/LPT looks like on the first image. The LED status is on the remaining images.
I am starting to be affraid that I made a mistake during the soldering. I am not yet very good at it, this is my first robot.
Best Regards,
Tomas
I do not think it is likely any of the soldering joints required for assembling the Balboa would affect the USB connection between it and your computer. Also, you should note that the yellow LED is just a user controlled LED and does not indicate the USB connection status. You can find more information on the LED behaviors under the “LEDs” heading in the “User Interface” section of the Balboa user’s guide.
Does the green user LED (near the user pushbutton B) flash at all? If not, can you remove all USB devices connected to your computer and try connecting just the Balboa using a different USB port and a verified USB data cable? You mentioned trying two different USB cables that worked with other devices, but it is not clear if those devices actually communicated over USB with the computer rather than just charging.
If you still get the same results, can you try using a different computer (if you have not already)?
- Amanda
Hi Amanda,
Thank you for reply.
I have bought another data cable (https://www.alza.cz/hama-connecting-usb-a-m-micro-b-m-0-75-m-d2415666.htm), and tried second PC (also with windows 10).
Unfortunatelly this did not helped.
After that I have connected to another PC as you suggested, but it did not worked as well.
Finally I have tried to remove all USB devices and connect (on both PC´s), but the green LED (B) still does not flash.
The led is ON only if I hold the B button, if I let it go, it goes dark again.
Can there be something what I need to connect/solder? Any button combination which needs to be pressed? Any additional step?
Thank you,
Hi Amanda,
I have update, I took the bot to the work and when I connected it to usb there, A/yellow LED started flashing and device was installed, so cause are USB connectors on my PC after all. Is there something what I can do to connect it at home?
Thank you,
BR
Tom
I’m glad your Balboa is working and that you have narrowed down the issue to your home computer. Is there anything different between how you have the Balboa set up with your work computer and home computer? If you are using a USB hub, can you connect the Balboa directly to a USB port (one that you know is working) on your home computer? If you still get the same results, can you select the “Devices by connection” option under the “View” menu in the Device Manager, expand all of the “USB host controller” entries, and post a screen capture of it here? Also, can you post pictures showing how you are connecting the Balboa to your home computer?
- Amanda
Hi Amanda,
Thank you for help!
I made some progress. At friday I have bought powered USB Hub which helped to connect my board to the windows, so I was able to boot it up and load some application to it!
Unfortunatelly, I have one additional issue.
Board only works when it is connected to USB (except for mottors, they did not worked at all, but I think that they should work on batteries only, right?).
On batteries only BLUE LED is on. (B and C are on only when respective buttons are pressed).
I have already tried buying new ones in local store (Energizer NH15 1.2V, NiMH - HR6, 2300V) but the result remains the same.
Is there something additional needed for me to start program on batteries only? Do you have idea, what to try?
Thank you,
Best Regards,
Tomas
I’m glad the Balboa 32U4 is working with your home computer now.
Regarding your first question, yes, the Balboa robot is designed to run on batteries. Just for added clarification, the Balboa 32U4 board can be powered via USB, but not the motors, since they can draw a lot of current. In general, USB cannot supply the large currents drawn by most motors and servos.
I do not understand your question. Can you clarify the issue you are having or what you expect to see?
- Amanda
Hi Amanda,
Thank you, for the reply.
The problem is that robot does not work on the batteries.
Nothing happens after I switch it ON. Only Blue LED is online and nothing else.
What I expect is after uploading and unplugging from PC, when I switch the robot on,
the sketch, which I uploaded will start.
I tested several examples from blink, to balancer and non of them worked after unplugging from PC.
Any ideas, where the catch might be?
Thank you,
BR,
Tom
Can you try measuring the voltage from the battery terminals on the Balboa board using a multimeter? You can measure from the nodes pointed to in step 7 under “Battery contacts and electronics” in the “Assembling the Balboa 32U4 kit” section of the Balboa’s user’s guide.
Do you get any error messages when uploading sketches from the Arduino IDE? You mentioned loading the basic Arduino Blink example onto the Balboa 32U4 board. Does the Blink example run with the Balboa board connected to your computer via USB? If so, can you try loading the MotorTest example in the Arduino library for the Balboa 32U4 and seeing if the motors work while the board is still connected to your computer and the power is switched on?
Also, can you post close-up pictures of your Balboa board?
- Amanda
