I have been working with my roboclaw 2x7A. I am using hardware serial on Arduino Mega, as I was having issues with software serial. I am able to get my motor to move no problem on BasicMicro Motion studio. I also have got my motor to move using arduino but ONLY through the DutyM1 command. I have not been able to get it to move with the ForwardM1 or BackwardM1 or any similar functions.
I know my baud rate and address both match in arduino and basicMicro, and I know I have packet serial selected. Please let me know what the issue could be.
I recommend simplifying your setup as much as possible and then following the procedure in this “Simple Arduino Control of the RoboClaw” application note written by the manufacturer, Basicmicro:
I have tried many of their example codes, and none of them move my motor unless I change the Forward/BackwardM1 commands to be Duty commands. I know my wiring is correct as I have tested it in many ways. I have done very basic code to check my problem where I simply tell the motor to turn on in three different ways: using the ForwardM1 command, BackwardM1 command, and DutyM1 command, and the motor doesn’t do anything until the DutyM1 command.
It is not immediately obvious to us what might be going wrong, and it is rare for us to hear reports of the RoboClaws behaving like this. So, I recommend reaching out to the manufacturer, Basicmicro, for support directly. From our experience Basicmicro is good about replying and resolving issues with their products quickly, but please contact us with your order information and a reference to this thread if they do not get back to you within a few days.
When you contact them, I suggest including some pictures of your setup that show all of your connections, a copy of your Basicmicro Motion Studio settings file, and a copy of the simplest program that demonstrates the problem.
