MePed seems to get stuck

[Knud Jacobsen Jensen]

Hi

Continueing from my questions on the kickstarter comments page.

I still cant seem to get it to work right.
I've made these two videos to show the issues

https://youtu.be/giFeCviz4qM

https://youtu.be/ylmkPng_YEw

I have tried with several packs of new batteries, but the problem seems to be the same. Whenever it stands on the table or floor, it makes a buzzing sound, and doesnt want to move much. I can then lift it up and it moves a bit more and the buzzing stops.
And it seems to do the jitter a lot.

I have also tried loosing all the legs, but they all seem to move freely with no issues. Although in the process of loosing one of the legs and re-tightning it, i managed to break two of the wood parts
And chance these wood parts and other parts can be ordered in the shop? I can only see the full kits inthere.

regards Knud

[spierce]

Hi Knud,

I apologize for the issues you are having with your new mePed robot. It is normal for the servos to hum and chatter a little bit when the mePed is standing idle and not moving. This is due to the servo constantly reading the internal potentiometer and updating the position based on the resistance reading of the potentiometer. Since the lift servos are bearing the weight of the mePed, the servo is constantly working to keep those servos in their current position, causing the humming or chattering.

As for your second video, the issue is the battery voltage dropping below the minimum threshold of the Arduino, causing a brown out. Please see my explanation of this and a possible work around in this forum thread: http://meped.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4.

As for replacement wood pieces, we are planning on releasing the wood kits for sale in the near future. Which pieces do you need replaced?

Thank you for your continued patience as we work these bugs out!

Scott Pierce

[Aztecphoenix]

@Scott

Have you considered adding tension springs to the legs like on a desk lamp to help relieve the weight, a potential side effect could be increased battery life and the ability to handle more sensors.

[spierce]

@Aztecphoenix,

I had considered a spring/shock unit similar to what are on R/C Cars for absorbing impacts. The idea was more so to give the legs a little bit of flex as well as cushion each step rather than relieve some of the load being carried by the servos. I like your idea of relieving some of the load though!