Unable to Program 3Pi

Support Robots
1

Hi Everyone,

QUESTION: Is there a way to recover a 3pi that has an unrecognizable mcu?

BACKGROUND: I teach a robotics course to middle school kids. Despite the warning on the box, my presentation slide warning them and my constant reminding, I think a student shut the power off on their 3pi while it was being programmed. When I try to program it now, I get this message:

avrdude: Expected signature for ATMEGA328P is 1E 95 0F
         Double check chip, or use -F to override this check.

The robot is a 3pi, using a Pololu USB programmer (PGM03A) and using the Arduino IDE. There are no software configuration problems, the student was able to program a replacement 3pi with their program.

I am guessing it’s zapped for good, but I thought it would just make sense to ask all you smart people before I send it to the bone pile. :slight_smile: Apologies if this was addressed elsewhere - I looked and didn’t find anything.

2

Hello, pscmpf.

I’m sorry you are having trouble with that 3pi.

If you are comfortable with doing surface mount (SMT) soldering, you should be able to replace the ATmega328P processor yourself and that should fix the problem.

If not, we’d be happy to take a look at the 3pi. Please email us directly and refer to this thread.

–David