Setbacks

Running the wheelchair robot in autonomous mode has been a lot of fun. Seeing it come back to waypoints pretty much dead nuts to the same spot is very satisfying. So I’ve become a little complacent with keeping my hand on the “manual mode” button in mission planner in case the robot veers off toward something it shouldn’t.

And boy did I pay for it today. Remember that sprinkler well in my backyard? Well the robot seemed to remember it too, and I may be buying a new power switch for it this spring. I took my eyes off the robot for just a few seconds and boom, collision.

Normally this wouldn’t be too frustrating except for the fact that now the left motor doesn’t rotate at all. The right motor though still runs perfectly.

So I start to troubleshoot the problem using the following process:

1. I made sure the motor still works. I connected the motor wires to the battery terminals and it spooled up just fine. No problem.
2. I checked continuity across the motor wires to the relays and Sabertooth motor controller. Everything is connected. No problem.
3. I checked the relays to make sure they weren’t broken, they function as desired. No problem.
4. I checked the fuses on the motors. Not blown. No problem.
5. I swap the S1 and S2 wires on the Sabertooth, thinking this would eliminate the Sabertooth as the issue if the left motor suddenly worked and the right motor didn’t. No change, the right motor still responds to RC input, although in a funky way because S1 and S2 are switched. The left motor is still unresponsive. Might be the Sabertooth.
6. I removed the Pixhawk from the equation by hooking the Sabertooth up to RC input from the receiver directly. Same results, left motor still unresponsive, right motor works.
7. I also checked continuity across the DB15 cable between enclosures. Everything seems to be connected. No problem.

So from my cursory testing, the Sabertooth seems to have been bricked, at least on the left motor side. So I pull it from the enclosure and take it inside for bench testing.

But after some simple testing, both left and right motor outputs work when hooked up! So what could the issue be?

I’m thinking something got knocked loose during the collision. Nothing else makes sense. I’ll take everything apart and rebuild it just to make sure, but the lack of a smoking gun is somewhat worrisome.