We work with several Locobots in our lab, the Wx250s interbotix arm variety on a create 3 base. One of our locobots seems to have a strange issue with its U2D2 board.
Usually when we launch the locobot control, we see that the U2D2 has the red power light and once we launch the code we see the green and blue Tx and Rx lights. On this robot, the U2D2 was working fine until randomly we stopped seeing the Rx light, now when we attempt to launch the code, only the red and green lights are illuminated. After some power cycles and changing out some parts, I found that replacing the U2D2 with another U2D2 resolved the problem. But, this has now happened 3 times, today the 3rd U2D2 board has stopped working. I am not sure how to debug the issue, is there a way I can test if the boards have been damaged?
I am wondering if there is an issue with the power supply on the locobot that is damaging the boards. We have never had this issue with any of our other locobots. I don’t want to replace the board before I can figure out the cause. I have contacted Trossen but thought that this forum could help suggest ways to confirm that the boards are indeed fried.
When connecting U2D2 to USB (power), U2D2 Power LED (Red) should be on.
Also check if it is recognized in the PC’s Device Manager_PORT.
It is normal for the RxD, TxD LED to blink when trying to communicate.
If U2D2 is broken, it is possible that the power is connected incorrectly.
In particular, check if the GND level is different. The device connected to U2D2 must have the same GND level.
So, the device is recognised on the Locobot onboard NUC, when we launch the robot in ROS we can see that the device is found. There are errors in the output of the ros node relating to being unable to communicate with any of the arm’s motors, this usually happens if the arm is not powered. The locobot has a Maxoak power bank, this is connected to a small power board from the 12v 2.5A output which is then connected to the U2D2. It is connected in the same way on all of our other Locobots and they have never had a U2D2 issue. It is unique to this Locobot that 3 U2D2 boards have now seemingly been broken/fried in the last couple of weeks. The last time I replaced the U2D2 I also replaced the power board which I borrowed from another working locobot.