We bought this robot in late April to use for a robotics competition (as unexperienced coders).
When we plug the robot into the computer and try uploading a basic program, it flashes a green light, but when we take it out to try and run the program, it doesn’t turn on. We also thought had the wrong code, as we don’t know what the sample code to have it move forward should be.
Additionally, we had initially soldered the part that connects to the motor incorrectly, so we had to replace it. We’ve attached images of the pins now as well as the battery holder and we’re wondering if they’re correct. Thank you for any help!
From your pictures, it looks like you have not soldered the battery terminals to the Romi 32U4 Control Board. You will need to solder all four single battery contacts to the Romi 32U4 Control Board (BAT1-, BAT1+, BAT2-, and BAT2+):
Hi, Brandon.
Thank you! We soldered the battery terminals, and now the robot turns on without the aid of the computer, but we have a new problem. Only one of our motors are working some of the time, we tried soldering the golden plates to the left and right of the magnetic disc, but it only helped for one of the motors. Additionally, one of the motors gets really hot when it’s trying to move, but it still doesn’t move. We’re using the motor code that comes in the library for Arduino.
All of the bare electrical connections need to be soldered, including the motor terminals to the encoder board; simply putting the motor terminals into the slots will not make a reliable electrical connection. Additionally, it looks like a lot of your solder joints are probably not making very good connection either. I recommend going through Adafruit’s Guide to Excellent Soldering (particularly the Common Soldering Problems section) and reworking them until they match their examples of good solder joints.
If the motor you soldered is getting hot and not turning, I’m concerned that you soldered the board off-center so it is contacting the back shaft that the encoder disc is connected to, causing it to stall. Could you remove the encoder disc for now and see if that’s the case? Additionally, when you re-install the encoder disc please make sure that it is not pushed too far onto the shaft, which can cause it to contact the components on the board and stall the motor. When properly installed it should be flush with the end of the motor’s back shaft. For reference, you can find instructions for installing the encoder board and magnet onto the motor in step 5 of the Assembling the Romi Chassis section of the Romi Chassis user’s guide. As noted there, you should be careful to avoid prolonged heating of the motor terminals, which could deform the motor case or brushes resulting in permanent damage (which is also a concern with your already soldered motor).
