Ultimate Robot 1.0: M1 and M2 same as wheels?

#1

We’ve built the robotic arm tank, but the two motors meant to control the gripper and the height of the arm will never spin. They are connected to the M1 and M2 ports on the board, but when I activate M1 and/or M2 the motors connected to the wheels will start spinning instead! Just like when I attempt to drive forward.

So, in mBlock software, using “set motor M1” and “set motor M2” will have the exact same effect as “run forward”.

How is this? We are seeing the exact same behaviour in the iOS app.

#2

Hi MungoBBQ,

The two motors meant to control the gripper and the height of the arm are not connected to M1 and M2 ports. They are connected to Port 1 and Port 2 of the Orion board. Please double check refer to User Guide. Here I attach the picture for wire connections:

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#3

Thanks, but actually the manual that came with my kit doesn’t look exactly the same. See attached photo. And in any case, I’ve wired exactly like the photo shows.

If the two motor slots are actually M1 and M2, how do I control the other two motors (attached to the Me Dual Motor Driver) from the mBlock app?

IMG_0389 kopia.jpg1200x900 203 KB

#4

Oh, I see now - you added the M1/M2 arrows on your photo. :slight_smile:

Anyway, how do I then control the other motors in the app?

#5

Hi MungoBBQ,，

As you can see, actually the gripper is connected to Port 1 on Orion board through the slot1 on Me Dual Motor Driver. So you can just think that it is connected to Port 1 on Orion board.
And the motor for Arm is connected to Port 2 on Orion board through the slot2 on Me Dual Motor Driver. So you can just think that it is connected to Port 2 on Orion board.
Then see program block below, choose the port 1, port 2 to control the gripper and arm.

Pasted image1217x720 226 KB

#6

Thanks, that’s what I was thinking, except I don’t have any Port1 or Port2 in mBlock to choose from, neither in the iOS app!

This is what mBlock (3.3.2) says:

#7

Hi MungoBBQ,

Please make sure you choose the Board as Me Orion instead of mBot.

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#8

Aha! Is this in the instructions anywhere? I couldn’t find anything. I will try that then. :slight_smile:

#9

Hi MungoBBQ,

This is mentioned in one of the FAQ for Ultimate in this link:http://learn.makeblock.com/en/ultimate-robot-kit/#Programming
Since the main Board for Ultimate is Orion, so you need choose Orion under Board. The mBot is a another robot kit different with the Ultimate.

#10

Well, changing the board type almost helped for one motor (the one for the claw) but not the other.

So, the problem now is as follows:

Using “Port2” in mBlock does nothing.

Using “Port1” in mBlock will trigger the motor for the claw, but with certain problems. First of all, I have to set the value at +255 or -255 for it to trigger at all, and regardless of positive or negative values, the motor always spins the same way, so I can’t use it to close/open the claw.

Any insight?

#11

Hi MungoBBQ,

You may check the battery for the robot, the battery must provide enough power to the Ultimate robot to drive the motors.
Please check if you can use the APP to control the robot arm and claw after you Upgrade Firmware (the same thing with reset default program) for the Ultimate. Here is the instruction to guide upgrade firmware.4. How to upgrade firmware for Orion Board.docx.zip (393.9 KB)

If the robot arm and claw can be controlled by the Makeblock APP HD properly but doesn’t work when you program yourself, please kindly paste your program here.

#12