problem with dagu mini driver stopped working

[Alan]

Gah,

That's not great, it looks like the bootloader is corrupted. This can be fixed if you have a programmer, or another Arduino lying around, but I take it that you probably don't? If not then can you please email your order number and address to sales@dawnrobotics.co.uk and I'll send you a replacement Mini Driver.

Regards

Alan

[peckerdunne]

I've got the same problem with similar log messages and get the 'not in sync' message on the Arduino IDE.
I've got a TinyUSBISP programmer but I'm not sure how to attach it to the Dagu board. It doesn't have a USB socket (except the power/data one from the computuer.

[Alan]

Hi there,

Does your TinyUSBISP programmer have a able to attach to the 3x2 programming header on the mini driver? The mini driver has the pin names on the back (MI, SCK, RST etc) and so if you can connect it up, you should just be able to reprogram it using the Arduino IDE.

Regards

Alan

[peckerdunne]

Hi Alan,
Yep. All sorted now. I spotted a post on Instructables that I followed. Worked fine. Robot now running like a champ.

[Alan]

Fantastic news, glad your robot is back up and running.

[pageauc]

If you have an older pi-bot then you may have a similar problem per post below. Seems similar although mine did allow for control of wheels and camera nut not pan/tilt. The ino file was too big so I trimmed out the encoder and sensor code so it would compile and run OK. This error does not stop the code from running even though it cannot be completely uploaded to the dagu mini driver board.
http://forum.dawnrobotics.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1332

[relast]

Hello Alan

I seem to be having the same trouble as that outlined in this thread. I have used your latest SD card image (Feb) and expanded it. I can connect and view the web page and I can see the camera view, but neither joystick control works, which makes me think the mini driver is the issue. This has the solid red and intermittent flashing blue LEDs working. Here's what I've done so far.

First, here is logs.html:

Main Log

DEBUG:tornado.general:sockjs.tornado will use json module INFO:root:Starting web server... INFO:root:Read 0X0 0.0 INFO:root:Expected 0XACED 0.38 INFO:root:Unable to connect to correct firmware, uploading... INFO:root:No file copy needed DEBUG:root:Building sketch in dir /root/.ino_uploader/mini_driver_firmware DEBUG:root:Trying to upload /root/.ino_uploader/mini_driver_firmware/.build/atmega8/firmware.hex DEBUG:root:uploadResult = 0 INFO:root:Read 0X0 0.0 INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 17.07ms INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 10.23ms INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 8.90ms INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 8.79ms INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 11.23ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET / (192.168.42.13) 110.51ms INFO:root:SockJS connection closed INFO:root:SockJS connection closed INFO:root:SockJS connection closed INFO:root:SockJS connection closed INFO:root:SockJS connection closed INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /js/sockjs-0.3.min.js (192.168.42.13) 157.24ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /css/style.css (192.168.42.13) 17.61ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /css/modal.css (192.168.42.13) 13.85ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /js/jquery.js (192.168.42.13) 43.27ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /images/ajax-loader.gif (192.168.42.13) 15.84ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /js/jquery.joystick.js (192.168.42.13) 14.08ms INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 9.30ms INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 10.93ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /logs.html (192.168.42.13) 15.69ms INFO:root:SockJS connection closed INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /js/jquery.js (192.168.42.13) 10.65ms INFO:tornado.access:304 GET /js/sockjs-0.3.min.js (192.168.42.13) 15.78ms INFO:tornado.access:200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.13) 9.19ms

Ino Build Log

Second, I tried to burn the bootloader of the mini driver using an Arduino UNO - this kept giving me an error saying that it could not connect.

Third, I read that I needed to use a 10uF cap to disable the autoreset on the UNO, so I used Nick Gammon's ATMEL programmer sketch from here http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11635 (which circumvents the autoreset I believe) which completed and verified the bootloader succesfully. However, I was still unable to load the Blink sketch on to the mini driver, truncated error message log:

Arduino: 1.6.4 (Windows 7), Board: "Arduino NG or older, ATmega8"

Build options changed, rebuilding all



Sketch uses 830 bytes (11%) of program storage space. Maximum is 7,168 bytes.

Global variables use 9 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 1,015 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 1,024 bytes.

avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x02

avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 2 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x02

avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding

Finally, as it looked like my logs.html was incomplete, I connected via Putty, stopped and restarted the web service, here is the output:
pi@raspberrypi ~/raspberry_pi_camera_bot $ sudo ./robot_web_server.py
sockjs.tornado will use json module
Starting web server...
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 19.75ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 20.31ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 9.93ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 9.99ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 10.13ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 29.54ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 13.26ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 18.24ms
Read 0X0 0.0
Expected 0XACED 0.38
Unable to connect to correct firmware, uploading...
No file copy needed
Building sketch in dir /root/.ino_uploader/mini_driver_firmware
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 18.01ms
200 GET /robot_control/info (192.168.42.15) 18.64ms
Image encoder buffer num 3, buffer size 81920
Image encoder buffer num 3, buffer size 81920
Trying to upload /root/.ino_uploader/mini_driver_firmware/.build/atmega8/firmware.hex
done with autoreset
avrdude-original: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
uploadResult = 0
Read 0X0 0.0
Exception in thread Thread-1:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 552, in __bootstrap_inner
self.run()
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 505, in run
self.__target(*self.__args, **self.__kwargs)
File "./robot_web_server.py", line 71, in createRobot
r = robot_controller.RobotController( robotConfig )
File "/home/pi/raspberry_pi_camera_bot/robot_controller.py", line 61, in __init__
raise Exception( "Unable to connect to the mini driver" )
Exception: Unable to connect to the mini driver

So, I'm not sure what to do next, I'm hoping I've missed something obvious with getting the mini driver working.

Thanks for any help

Regards

Ray

PS I first encountered this problem at the weekend and posted most of this message then (from a Chromebook), but it never appeared on the thread. I've been saving drafts this time..

[Alan]

Hi Ray,

Welcome to the forums. Apologies for the delayed reply, the board settings mean I need to approve initial posts and I totally missed this.

It sounds like the bootloader on your mini driver has become corrupted. How long have you had the kit? Has it ever worked for you?

If you have some wires that you can use to connect the mini driver to your Arduino Uno then it's possible to use the Uno as an ISP to reflash the bootloader on the mini driver. Instructions for using the Uno as an ISP can be found here. The instructions talk about using one Uno to program another Uno, but the Mini Driver can be flashed too through its ISP header (the 3x2 connector). If you turn the Mini Driver over then you can see the names of the pins on the reverse.

In the Arduino IDE if you open up File > Examples > ArduinoISP then you should see the pin assignments in comments at the top of the file. For the mini driver the connections to make are

Arduino Mini Driver

pin 10 RST
pin 11 MO
pin 12 MI
pin 13 SCK
5V VCC // Take extra care with these last two.
GND GND

The instructions can be a bit confusing because they tell you to wire pin 11 to pin 11 etc. This is because pin 11 and MO (MOSI) are the same pin, just with multiple outputs on the board.

Hope that helps, and makes a bit of sense. Please let me know if you have any problems.

Regards

Alan

[relast]

Hi Alan

Thanks for the reply. In answer to your first question, I have not yet had the robot working - this is straight out of the box. The mini driver does seem to be the issue.

As I mentioned before, I had already burned the bootloader, but I had to use a different method with my Uno as I couldn't get the IDE to work. However, I gave it another go tonight and my workaround for the "ATMega8 efuse not defined" issue (http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=188890.0) was to download the Arduino IDE 1.0.1. This worked and I got the message that the bootloader had burned successfully. But... I still cannot download the Blink sketch to the mini driver. Here is the error message:

Binary sketch size: 890 bytes (of a 7,168 byte maximum)
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00

The mini driver has a solid red LED and blinks the blue one every few seconds - it looks like it is waiting for a sketch. Maybe the USB chip/connector is faulty? I can't see a solder issue...

Regards

Ray

PS I might just try and program the sketch via the programming connector

[relast]

Hi Alan

I have the Blink LED sketch working on the mini driver after using the Uno as the programmer (so not using the USB connection). So then I tried to upload the mini driver sketch from the Dawn Robotics source code and I get the message that the sketch is too big! I am using the Arduino IDE 1.0.1:

Binary sketch size: 7,954 bytes (of a 7,168 byte maximum)
processing.app.debug.RunnerException: Sketch too big; see http://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Troubleshooting#size for tips on reducing it.
at processing.app.Sketch.size(Sketch.java:1693)
at processing.app.Sketch.build(Sketch.java:1626)
at processing.app.Sketch.exportApplet(Sketch.java:1648)
at processing.app.Sketch.exportApplet(Sketch.java:1634)
at processing.app.Editor$DefaultExportHandler.run(Editor.java:2346)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)

One step forward...

Ray