Hello,
I am currently experiencing a technical issue with my Pololu Micro Maestro and would appreciate assistance in resolving it. I have assembled a system comprising an Arduino UNO, a Pololu Micro Maestro, a joystick, and multiple servo motors. While the system initially functioned as expected, the servo motors have inexplicably ceased responding to commands.
The Pololu Micro Maestro is connected to the Arduino UNO via SoftwareSerial, using pins RX (10) and TX (11). The joystick is wired to the analog pins A0 (X-axis) and A1 (Y-axis) of the Arduino, while the servo motors are connected to the channels of the Micro Maestro and powered by an external power supply suitable for their operation. The Arduino code is designed to read the joystick values, map them to servo position values, and send these values to the Micro Maestro for execution. The complete code is provided below:
cpp
#include <PololuMaestro.h>
#ifdef SERIAL_PORT_HARDWARE_OPEN
#define maestroSerial SERIAL_PORT_HARDWARE_OPEN
#else
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial maestroSerial(10, 11); // RX, TX
#endif
MicroMaestro maestro(maestroSerial);
// Joystick pins
const int joyXPin = A0;
const int joyYPin = A1;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600); // Standard serial for debugging
maestroSerial.begin(9600); // Serial for Maestro
pinMode(joyXPin, INPUT);
pinMode(joyYPin, INPUT);
}
void loop() {
int joyXVal = analogRead(joyXPin);
int joyYVal = analogRead(joyYPin);
Serial.print("joyXVal: ");
Serial.print(joyXVal);
Serial.print("\tjoyYVal: ");
Serial.println(joyYVal);
maestro.setTarget(0, map(joyXVal, 0, 1023, 4000, 8000));
maestro.setTarget(1, map(joyXVal, 0, 1023, 4000, 8000));
maestro.setTarget(2, map(joyYVal, 0, 1023, 4000, 8000));
maestro.setTarget(3, map(joyYVal, 0, 1023, 8000, 4000));
delay(50);
}
The Arduino successfully executes the code and sends the expected debug messages via the Serial Monitor, confirming that the program is functioning. However, the servo motors remain unresponsive.
To troubleshoot, I have verified all physical connections, including those for power and signals. I tested the servo motors directly with the Pololu Micro Maestro, and they functioned correctly in isolation. I also tested the joystick, Arduino, and Micro Maestro independently, with each component performing as expected. Additionally, I reconfigured and restarted the Pololu Micro Maestro using the Pololu Maestro Control Center. During this process, I ensured that all channels were set to “Servo,” the device was set to UART mode with a baud rate of 9600 to match the Arduino UNO, and CRC was disabled. I also updated the firmware of the Pololu Micro Maestro to the latest version 1.04.
Despite these efforts, the servo motors still fail to respond when all components are integrated into the system. I kindly request assistance in identifying the cause of this issue and resolving it. Any guidance or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Nikolle Lima.
