Hello,
I’m having the very same problems, so I’ll just join in this thread …
In my case it happened during/after changing batteries: AVRStudio could not
find my 3Pi anymore. I changed cables and tried various programmers:
STK500, AVRDragon, NoName-USB-Prommer. No effect.
I can read the voltage on the 3Pi board but nothing else.
I tried everything I could think of:
- changing ISP frequency to every possible value (in case clock source had changed)
- trying DebugWire (as it might eventually have been switched on)
- trying an external clock source
- and finally - last night - High Voltage Parallel Programming (in case SPI Enable was
switched off or the Reset pin was disabled)
Especially the latter made me despair of life
I looked up all possible connection points for the 20 (!) necessary
connections, had to solder some wires to the 3Pi-Board because
I didn’t find any other way to connect and in the end had to hold
two tiny wires to the motor-driver pins while clicking in AVRStudio
with my third hand … at two a.m. …
Of course nothing …
So now I have said goobye to it and buried it in my deepest drawer …
Let me say something at this point:
Your robot is really nice, very promising and all but there must be a second
edition of it some time … some examples why I think so:
I one day realized that one of the blue lights was missing. After a quick search
with a magnifying glass I saw that the zener diode for making 5V out of 9V was
missing. I was able to replace it but I think that things like that shouldn’t happen
so easily. Maybe on the bottom side there shouldn’t be more components than
are actually necessary (i.e. just the LEDs but not resistors and so on).
The bottom will always be in contact with stuff, even under laboratory conditions …
Also, in my opinion there should be an easy way to connect to each and every pin
of the processor. Even if thoses connectors are distributed across the whole PCB,
no matter.
Unfortunately, the processor’s package You are using is rather unpractical for the amateur.
I think hardly one of us will be able to replace such a processor successfully. Whereas
a chip of the (onyl slightly bigger) TQFP package I could resolder with few problems.
Finally, more freely available pins for expansions would seem to be in order
I will not start talking about the strange phenomenon that Your robots are
twice as expensive as soon as they’ve reached Europe
To wrap my ranting up: it was great fun to have one of Your little robots while
it was alive … but before buying another one I will wait for “Mark II” …
Bye,
Christoph