Motor sound and vibration but no movement

[Julio Hornos]

Good night,

I have connected the pcb to the motor.
I have programmed the arduino without issues.
When I connect the arduino to the pc and press to move +1R, the motor
vibrates and gets sound but no clear movement.
The motor is 14HM11-0404S
I have checked the motor connections and changed it to match with the
driver. I have obtained:
2B - 4 Blue
1B - 2 Green
1A - 1 Black
2A - 3 Red
I don't know what I am doing wrong. Any Help?
[image: image.png]
[image: 20241118_225133.jpg]
[image: 20241119_000813.jpg][image: 20241118_235941.jpg]
Regards,

[Julio Hornos]

As I have ordered more than one pcb, I am mounting all from zero to correct errors.
One question, It is necessary to adjust the Vref?
In my case Vref=curren limit/2=0,4/2=0,2 V

[brownrb]

Yes, it must be adjusted
See this video
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PwB-Fc0h8xVm0SKkfcNUSXUq2ZtLhYw-/view?usp=drive_link

[Julio Hornos]

Thanks,
I can't access to the video. I need access

[Julio Hornos]

Now is moving and seems to work ok,
Thanks for your help
I have tested the ASCOM driver with Nina and works ok
The only I have tested with the app and is not working is the home sensor. When I press the Value text in the Home sensor label and always shows False.
My firmware is myRotator_Firmware-2024-09 and with DRVBRD_DRV8825 v103 PCB
How can I measure the state of home sensor change when the magnet pass by the sensor?

[brownrb]

You can test this.
Run Windows app 2408
Connect to rotator
On settings menu
Check Enabled for Home Sensor then click SET

Loop repeat these steps
Now click the Get button top right of Settings tab
Home Sensor value shows status of Home Sensor
Manually rotator the rotator so that the home position sensor is near the magnet
Now click the Get button top right of Settings tab
go back to loop

So u move the rotator a bit by hand (towards magnet)
Click get to see if state has changed
move the rotator a bit by hand

and so on.

When at 0 degree the magnet should be under the sensor.
and check the sensor value

Possible issues
If magnet is not detected, could be gap is too much and needs to be closer
Could be the wrong magnet. Could be wrong orientation of magnet (flip upside down)

Best way to test just have sensor loose and hold magnet in other hand.
bring magnet close to sensor, and check status on windows Settings tab

Regards
Robert

[Julio Hornos]

Thanks Robert,

Yes, the sensor was the only element with no revision and it is in a very bad position, with a not clear visibility. It is not easy so see if the magnet passes close enough and the connection was not very stable.
I have changed the location and for a better connection, I have made a small pcb for welding the element with more stability. I hope to solve the problem with these changes.

I attach a picture with the new location:

Regards,

[Julio Hornos]

Good night,

Now, with the change, the Windows app detects the home sensor.
The problem is that only works the first time the home button is pressed the rest of time nothing happens
I don't know if I have the last version of the firmware. Is there another one?

Regards,

[brownrb]

Firmware -2024-09 is the latest here

The issue of the home sensor working ok for the 1st time. and then motor only moves 1 step for other home commands.

I think this is connected to the home sensor detection. I believe that the Home Sensor, once detected, stays ON when found at Home, and stays on when the rotator moves away from Home. so next time a HOME command occurs, the firmware thinks the focuser is still Home.

This can be tested in the following way.

1
With everything turned off
connect cable and turn on

2
Use Windows app 24-08.
Check the box "Enable Logging"
Click Connect to connect to the Controller,

3
Once connected, Click Settings tab, In the Home Sensor group check the box named Enabled.
Click the Set button (top right of tab).

4
Next Click the Get button (top right of tab). The Home Sensor value should be shown in the Home Sensor group.

5
On the Rotator tab enter 10 as the target angle then click MOVE.

6
After rotator stops at degree 10, click the HOME button

7
The rotator should move to Home.
When stopped at 0, go to the Settings tab.
Click the Get button (top right of tab) and note the Home Sensor value.

8
On the Rotator tab, enter a degree of 10, then click the Move button.
After the move has ened, goto the Settings tab and click the Get button.
What is the value of the Home Sensor now?

You can now exit windows and post the log file generated by the Windows app.

Regards
Robert

[Julio Hornos]

Thanks Robert,

I am going to try,
Do I try with the version 2024-09?
Do I update to 2021_12 first?

Regards

[brownrb]

Yes please use 2024_12

[Julio Hornos]

Thanks Robert for your support,

I have tried to connect the rotator to check the parameter previously to update the firmware.
Impossible to connect, I always receive an error in windows app. I don't know what happens. The last day worked ok and connected. I am using the same cable
I have updated to the new firmware and after that I obtain the same error. The app to flash the firmware works without error. Can it be a problem of the Arduino nano module? I have another one, Is it better to change the module?
I attach the log file. It can help to analyze what can be the problem.
My Arduino nano has a USB-C connector, I don’t know if it can affect anything.
Another doubt I have is about the led light. It lights on when I connect the USB to the PC without 12 DC power connected. Is this normal?
The reset button is useful, it is very easy to connect without intention to do and can produce problems. Is it better not to wire?

Thanks

[Julio Hornos]

Problem solved,

I found in other question the solution of uploading the ClearEEPROM in test section. After that i uploaded the new firmware version and now It is possible to connect again.
One possible explanation for the issue is that the reset button is easy to slide and probably i tried to connect with the reset pressed and this can affect to the eeprom. Is it possible? I hope that this not happen very often.
After flashing the new version I have tested the home and works every time. I have tried 4 or 5 times and works for all. It seems to work I will continue testing.
I attach the log file
That worried to me is the eeprom corruption. I am going to put a push button instead a slide one an with a protection to avoid to press. Any recommendation?
Regard

[brownrb]

Hi Julio

One possible explanation for the issue is that the reset button is easy to slide and probably i tried to connect with the reset pressed and this can affect to the eeprom. Is it possible? I hope that this not happen very often.>

No should not occur. The reset button is not "reset". All the switch does in like a "write protect" meaning that when set to the On position, reprogramming the Controller is disabled,

EEPROM changes are occurring regularly during use. The Save EEPROM code tries to minimise writes to EEPROM by
1. Caching changes over a designated time interval, and when that interval expires all changes are written as 1 bulk write
2. Spreading the writes over a number of EEPROM locations through Load balancing

Corruption occurs when
1. Controller is turned off (Power Loss) during an EEPROM Save
2. Controller reboots during a save to EEPROM
3. Firmware is changed

The chances of corruption for 1 and 2 is very very small. The saving to eeprom takes a very very short time, so the chances of events 1 and 2 occuring during that very small time period is probably like winning Lotto

For 2) a user may encounter a problem, then wind back to some older firmware that they felt worked. So they reprogram the controller. If that older firmware changed the order of focuser data, then on the first boot the Controller reads from EEPROM and then things go sideways fast.

The older firmware expects the Saved data in the correct format but most of the time this is not true. So the older firmware struggles to make sense of things, and in doing so the saved data gets mangled with data elements appearing in the wrong place.

A simple case. The data I have is as follows
Position, Int value
MaxStep, Long value
Temperature, Float value.

So the most recent data has the following order, Position. maxStep followed by Temperature.
The older firmware I just used to reprogram the firmware has this order, Temperature, position. Maxstep. When the old firmware starts after the upload, it goes into EEPROM and reads the three values. But because the order is wrong the firmware just extracts the data and tries to convert that data into a focuser setting. So the values for Position, maxStep and Temperature get corrupted. When considering the data in the firmware has around 15 settings then a lot can go wrong real quick.

When a reboot command is sent to the Controller, the settings are automatically saved in EEPROM before the Controller is rebooted.

There are TWO workarounds defined in the protocol which are
29: // Save settings to EEPROM
30: // restore default settings

If the current data in EEPROM gets corrupted, the correct data can be re-generated using the 30: option.

Typically for projects I code these as options into the Windows application code. I see that these are NOT coded for myRotator, So I have added that to the list of changes for myRotator project.

regards
Robert

[Julio Hornos]

Thanks Robert for your support
I will take that into account