Robobot 1

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Robobot with Raspberry Pi

Power on

Usually, the robot powers on, then the power switch is fully UP. Some switches have three positions. If this fails, then the software-off may be active, then press the small Power ON button on the PCB (see image further down).

When the Raspberry is booted, the LED band LED 14 will start blinking, but communication is not available for another 5-10 seconds.

Run mission

By default, a mission is available to run 30cm, turn 90 degrees left, and then take 5 images while blinking an LED on the IO board.

Press the green start button. It will take some 2-5 seconds for the Python script to load and start the mission.

Battery

The battery is an 11V 2.2 Ah 3-cell Lipo. Its power consumption (when not moving) is 0.3-0.5A, so it can sustain about 4 hours of use.

Robobot will cut power when the battery voltage is below 10V to protect the battery.

The Battery is (probably) charged to storage level (~40% of full capacity), so start by charging it.

Power supply

A 230V power supply, which supplies 15V and 6A, is available and intended for use during development.

OFF and back ON

Preferably, turn the power off by holding the Start button for more than 5 seconds.

This will illuminate 3 LEDs in the LED band. These will gradually go off, and then the power will be cut.

The Teensy display will show power off in XX seconds while waiting for the Raspberry to shut down. And usually 10 seconds longer, just in case.

The Raspberry will be asked to shutdown during the wait time.

To power on, press the Power on button.

The power cut switch should not be used while the Raspberry is running. It will usually be OK, but the disk may crash.

Raspberry Pi shutdown

The Raspberry Pi can alternatively be shut down from the command line.

Use the command

sudo shutdown now

Then, wait about 30 seconds before cutting the power.

This will ensure that all open files are closed correctly and that the system date and time are stored for the next boot.