Hexy Not Obeying

Hexy Questions, Problems and Suggestions
#1

If anyone has any recommendations I am open to them.
After that I was initially able to get my upload the new firmware for the board and do basic commands in the Arduino software. I even got to use PoCoMo for a while and figured out all the base calibration for my servos (I did pretty well overall but a couple we WAY off somehow). After about 30min though it seemed like it had a seizure. Now no love. PoCoMo never connects. Arduino does and can send the version command but nothing else seems to work and I cannot get it to upload the firmware again.
I also tried connecting by Bluetooth. My laptop paired readily but always displays the Hexy as offline. My Android phone also paired readily and it appeared that the app was going to run it (it made a noise) but nothing after that.
I was initially running it with a 5v DC wall wart and connected to my laptop with USB. That seemed to be the best combination (and I had no rechargeables on hand initially). Using batteries has not done any better though.
Kindof frustrated now and taking a break from it (also disappointed I could not show my daughter it working) but if anyone can help I can get right back to it.

Any ideas?

#2

What kind of wall wart were you using? Anything more specific? If it wasn’t rated for enough current, you might have damaged it somehow. Perhaps you were doing a move that drew too much current, or it just plain overheated it. It sounds like the control board is fine, just the servos are not receiving power. Can you try with 4 or 5 NiMH batteries?

#3

roboalchemist:
The wall wart I originally used was rated for 2.5A. I also tried it with fully charged NiMH batteries, 2400mAH each.

#4

Yup, that’s probably why then. Hexy can easily draw 5amps on more complex moves.

#5

Very interesting. I will definitely be trying it with a much more beefy power supply. I just rechecked and saw the example power supply (the meanwell) you have listed in the Powering Hexy page. I think I have something that will do the job. If I get a chance I will try to check that over the weekend and post how it worked out.

#6

I am no expert, but I can share my experiences.

Software:
I have had to reinstall ServoTor32 multiple times. Not sure why, but some times I cannot connect, I reinstall ServoTor and everything is fine.

Power:
I connected the 5 Battery pack to the underside of Hexy, and still use the 4 pack in the tray. The 4 run the Servos and the 5 powers Logic. This makes sure you will not brown out the logic if the servos surge the power! I use the Eneloop XX 2500mAh batteries, I have to change out the servo batteries after about 20 minutes of use. The Logic batteries last quite awhile, and they are also powering a Parallax Propeller board.

I hope this information is useful to you. From reading the forums, it appears most of the problems with Hexy are power related.