I attempted to piece together a system composed of a sensor, continuous rotation servo from Parallax and a Dragon12 plus hcs12 demo board in order to test a control algorithm. The problem is that sometimes when the program gets to a point where the servo control signal changes, the whole board resets. The servo runs on its own regulator so I don't think its a power issue. Why does running the servo control line directly off the pin of the board do this? Any nice workarounds? Thanks! --------------------------------------- Posted through http://www.EmbeddedRelated.com
Servo resets demo board
Started by ●September 2, 2010
Reply by ●September 2, 20102010-09-02
On 09/02/2010 02:42 PM, Joel wrote:> I attempted to piece together a system composed of a sensor, continuous > rotation servo from Parallax and a Dragon12 plus hcs12 demo board in order > to test a control algorithm. The problem is that sometimes when the > program gets to a point where the servo control signal changes, the whole > board resets. The servo runs on its own regulator so I don't think its a > power issue. Why does running the servo control line directly off the pin > of the board do this? Any nice workarounds?Is it running on it's own regulator from the same raw power rail, or is it running from an entirely different supply? If it's the former, it could be sucking down your main power. If that's not it, look for ground loops, or for the servo backfeeding a spike to the processor. _If_ the servo motor is going fast in one direction and you call for it to stop and reverse, and _if_ it's being driven from a switching amplifier then it _might_ cause it's supply to go overvoltage, which could spill back into the processor. That's a lot of ifs, so don't think that's definitely the problem... -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
Reply by ●September 3, 20102010-09-03
I'm not familiar with your "Dragon12" board. But googling it led me to a schematic, which shows an MC34064 reset supervisor. This chip appears to have an open collector output. The board seems to have 1nF on the signal, and routes it to two connectors and the micro. It's easy for me to imagine that you get an EMI-induced reset. To check this, try a hard pullup (like 470 ohms) near the micro, and possibly an additional cap (like 10nF). If it works then, you have identified the cause. The suggestion might interfere with your BDM adapter though, and you might have to adjust the fix or find a completely different one.
Reply by ●September 3, 20102010-09-03
"Joel" <joelbenway@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com> wrote in message news:IuGdnS1Yxrehhx3RnZ2dnUVZ_s2dnZ2d@giganews.com...>I attempted to piece together a system composed of a sensor, continuous > rotation servo from Parallax and a Dragon12 plus hcs12 demo board in order > to test a control algorithm. The problem is that sometimes when the > program gets to a point where the servo control signal changes, the whole > board resets. The servo runs on its own regulator so I don't think its a > power issue. Why does running the servo control line directly off the pin > of the board do this? Any nice workarounds? > > Thanks!Don't know how seriously you're into this, but I can say that since I got my Rigol DSO, diagnosing this sort of thing has become a piece of cake. You can immediately identify the cause as electrical transients, or discount it and focus on other possibilities.
Reply by ●September 3, 20102010-09-03
On 09/03/2010 02:52 AM, Marc Jet wrote:> I'm not familiar with your "Dragon12" board. But googling it led me > to a schematic, which shows an MC34064 reset supervisor. This chip > appears to have an open collector output. The board seems to have 1nF > on the signal, and routes it to two connectors and the micro. > > It's easy for me to imagine that you get an EMI-induced reset. To > check this, try a hard pullup (like 470 ohms) near the micro, and > possibly an additional cap (like 10nF). > > If it works then, you have identified the cause. The suggestion might > interfere with your BDM adapter though, and you might have to adjust > the fix or find a completely different one.Putting a scope on one of those pins may be informative, too, particularly if it's a DSO. MC34064 -- I remember trying to get my hands on a handful of those when they were brand new, and I was a student who didn't understand the ins and outs of getting parts for prototypes. Fortunately that was also a time when Motorola was very student-friendly, so the Boston-area apps engineer took pity on my and sent me sample parts. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html