I am using a Dynamixel XM540-W270-R servo with the dynamixel_interface package on ROS noetic (available on GitHub). I had set the max torque to 0.35 (where 1.0 represents the maximum torque). I use the servos in current_based_position control.
At first, the servo was stalling for about 1–2 minutes, during which it became noticeably hot. To prevent damage, I changed its position so that it was no more stalling.
However, after turning it off, I noticed that I could no longer rotate the servo by hand as I could before. Additionally, the servo started drawing 2–3 times more current than usual, and its effort values were significantly higher compared to my other XM540-W270-R servos.
In Dynamixel Wizard, I can still control the servo, and it behaves mostly as expected—except for the excessively high current draw (twice/three times the normal current). However, when I try to control it using dynamixel_interface on ROS Noetic, the servo exhibits erratic behavior.
I have a robotic arm with four XM540-W270-R servos, arranged in two daisy-chained pairs. All other servos respond normally, but the previously stalled servo behaves unpredictably:
When commanded, it gets extremely hot.
It takes around two minutesbefore it responds to commands.
Despite this issue, I can still communicate with the servo through Dynamixel Wizard without errors. However, its high current draw remains a concern.
Does someone know if this is fixable and if so how?