The Stretch was working well until today. However, now, when I turn on the Stretch with the main power switch, it appears to turn on (laser range finder spins, runstop light turns on). When I push the run stop, it beeps and blinks, and when I hold it for two seconds, it beeps again and becomes solid. However, it never plays the start-up sound, I cannot connect the Xbox controller, and when I connect a monitor, it says there is no input. Additionally, the arm never starts supporting itself, and it does not appear to be connecting to the Wi-Fi. How can I get the robot to start-up properly?
Hello @matsumoto, it seems like the robot’s onboard computer isn’t booting correctly. Typically, this symptom appears when the robot’s batteries are deeply discharged (e.g. by leaving the robot running overnight without the charger attached). More details are available in the battery maintenance guide.
In order to check whether discharged batteries are preventing the onboard computer from booting, please run the following test. Follow these instructions to measure the battery voltage with a multimeter. While the power switch is off, it should report 12-12.8V. While keeping the multimeter connected, flip the power switch on and check to see if the voltage reading drops. Please take care to avoid shorts while measuring. Let me know the results of this test, and I’ll recommend next steps.
Hi @bshah, thank you for the quick reply. When the robot is turned off, the multimeter reports the battery voltage at about 12.3V. When I turn it on, it drops to about 12.25V. After about 5 minutes, it still measured about 12.26-12.27V, but did not seem to have turned on properly (no startup sound and the arm would still not support itself).
Hi @matsumoto, thank you for sending these results. The voltage readings suggest that it is not a battery issue. The next step is to look at the power cabling for the onboard computer. We will reach out over email shortly with instructions on how to access and check this component.
Thank you very much.
Hi, I am having same issue on a RE2. I was operating the robot tethered. It crashed and turned itself back on then it crashed again but this time it won’t turn on (the monitor hooked up does not display anything). Could you send me the same instruction you sent matsumoto via email? Or if there are other things I could try, please let me know. Thanks.
Hello Sonny, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that you are having an issue. Can you confirm if:
- The runstop button is illuminated when powering on
- The laser range find spins when powering on
Our support engineers are out of the office but will get back to you as soon as possible.
Best,
Aaron
Hello Aaron, thank you for your response.
-the runstop button illustrates when powering on
-the laser range finder does NOT spin when powering on
Gotcha, please let me know! Thank you.
Best regards,
Sonny
Hi @sonny, the laser range finder not spinning indicates that the onboard computer has not booted. The earlier observation that the robot crashed and then crashed again after rebooting makes me believe that the robot’s batteries may be deeply discharged.
In order to check whether discharged batteries are preventing the onboard computer from booting, please follow these instructions to measure the battery voltage with a multimeter. While the power switch is off, it should report 12-13.5V. While keeping the multimeter connected, flip the power switch on and check to see if the voltage reading drops. Please take care to avoid shorts while measuring. Let me know the results of this test.
Additionally, please send us an email at support@hello-robot.com, and we will send you the instructions to check the onboard computer.
Hello Binit,
I have checked with a multimeter and the voltage did not drop as switch was turned on. Voltage reading stayed at 12.9 (12.95 before and 12.91 after switch was turned on to be exact).
Great, thanks for checking that. The next step is to check the onboard computer. Please send us an email at support@hello-robot.com, and we will send you these instructions.