Dynamixel Arduino Shield cannot find connected motors (XM430)

Technical Support
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4

Below is my setup:

  1. DXL Shield is powered by 12 V PS to its Terminal Block. VIN Jumper is disconnected.
  2. UNO-R3 is powered by USB cable.
  3. I am using a 2XL-430 actuator.

UNO-R3-Setup

Below is the Arduino sketch I used. It is based on the example sketch “position_mode.ino” but I stripped out all the macros and DEBUG_SERIAL stuff.

#include <Dynamixel2Arduino.h>
#define DXL_SERIAL   Serial
const int DXL_DIR_PIN = 2; // DYNAMIXEL Shield DIR PIN
const uint8_t DXL_ID = 1;
const float DXL_PROTOCOL_VERSION = 2.0;

Dynamixel2Arduino dxl(DXL_SERIAL, DXL_DIR_PIN);

//This namespace is required to use Control table item names
using namespace ControlTableItem;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  
  // Set Port baudrate to 1000000bps matching my 2XL-430's with DYNAMIXEL baudrate.
  dxl.begin(1000000);
  // Set Port Protocol Version. This has to match with DYNAMIXEL protocol version.
  dxl.setPortProtocolVersion(DXL_PROTOCOL_VERSION);
  // Get DYNAMIXEL information
  dxl.ping(DXL_ID);

  // Turn off torque when configuring items in EEPROM area
  dxl.torqueOff(DXL_ID);
  dxl.setOperatingMode(DXL_ID, OP_POSITION);
  dxl.torqueOn(DXL_ID);

  // Limit the maximum velocity in Position Control Mode. Use 0 for Max speed
  dxl.writeControlTableItem(PROFILE_VELOCITY, DXL_ID, 30);
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
  
  // Please refer to e-Manual(http://emanual.robotis.com/docs/en/parts/interface/dynamixel_shield/) for available range of value. 
  // Set Goal Position in RAW value
  dxl.setGoalPosition(DXL_ID, 1000);

  int i_present_position = 0;
  float f_present_position = 0.0;

  while (abs(1000 - i_present_position) > 10)
  {
    i_present_position = dxl.getPresentPosition(DXL_ID);
  }
  delay(1000);

  // Set Goal Position in DEGREE value
  dxl.setGoalPosition(DXL_ID, 5.7, UNIT_DEGREE);
  
  while (abs(5.7 - f_present_position) > 2.0)
  {
    f_present_position = dxl.getPresentPosition(DXL_ID, UNIT_DEGREE);
  }
  delay(1000);
}

Below is a little video clip showing how this sketch runs - don’t forget to switch the UART switch to the DXL side, and turn on power to the DXL SHIELD and also push the RESET button on the UNO-R3 to restart the downloaded sketch:

Hopefully this sketch will work for you too. If not, there is a good chance that the DXL SHIELD is acting up somehow.