Makeblock BT Orion problems

#1

Me and my son just built the tank starter robot that came with our Makeblock blouetooth kit. Everything looks like it is assembled correctly and we did this very cautiously and carefully. I noticed the build instructions seemed off a bit (the motor brackets, etc.) but these are minor issues. Of major concern is the lack of instructions at all beyond downloading the app. We downloaded the app onto our ipad mini, and I was able to connect to our robot tank when the tank is powered up. The bluetooth module lights, the sensor module lights, and there are lights on the main Orion board, but I cannot control anything or get the sensor to record any distance data. It seems DOA. I’ve checked my ports (bt is on 5 and sensor is on 3) and I’ve tried other ports and adjusted the settings on the Makeblock HD app but I get no control.

When I try to engage the motors using the tank example provided with the Makeblock HD app, I can get a flicker of light to occur on the Orion board, but no motors engage.

Help!

I noticed the usb cable, but no instructions were provided. Do I need to dl a driver and set something up before bluetooth will work? I’m not a novice but this is not an easy kit to interact with.

Suggestions?

Thanks
Chris

#2

Update: I downloaded the mblock program and as I saw suggested, updated the firmware via COM 4/USB. The motors now work via bluetooth control but the ultrsonic sensor does not appear to do anything. I have it on port 3 (as per the build instructions for the tank) and the LEDs light up when it powers on, bit through the app it always indicates 0 cm. I’d love to explore the programming of this robot but I want to make sure everything works before I get too far into it. Any suggestions for how to test the ultrasonic sensor?

#3

in mblock examples are a program that you can use to test the ultrasonic sensor. Load it from de folder instalacion of mblock. The folder name is examples. Yo must first connect mblock with the com port, and load the firmware of your base, to run the program from mblock direct. The example is make to mbot but you caa change the base on the program a run perfect.

#4