Tronic's AMC motor motion-controller with pwm/servo output

Remove the jumpers, and connect a 6V power supply to the AMC. My AMC did not flash without power supply.

Any other applications running, which use the comport? For example if X-Sim is running, you wont be able to use ponyprog.

:hi: Christian at the moment i had tried with and without the jumpers without success but now i know thanks to you guys that they should be removed like the pony prog guide says so thanks. at the moment i have a 12VDC Supply going to the Regulator. are you saying that i need more than 5 volts to program the controller ??? the reason i ask is that the circuit has the LM2940CT which limits the overall circuit voltage to 5V have i misunderstood something in the design?? Thanks again for th quick response it all helps and am grateful :

First thing now is trying to establish a connection, to be able to read out the Atmega.

5V for the logic part behind the voltage regulator is correct. But I think connecting a 12V ps to the LMLM2940CT will heat it up alot imho. Do you have 5V behind it still? I've connected a 6V ps.

However, did you have selected the correct AVR model in ponyprog? Did you checked all your fusebit settings according to the pdf tutorial?

Btw, Thanos advised me, to disconnect the motors while flashing, as this could cause some interferrences.

Hi wannabeaflyer,
I'm new here but I noticed that in the right upper corner of your board in photo - 2 grn leds.jpg, you appear to be missing the wire jumper. This may be your problem.
hoovie

Hi Hoovie Better picture of the PCB i belive the jumper you refer to is the one at the top of the atmel 8535 .. it has been fitted justa bad picture :thbup: thanks for the input anyways as with most electrical problems i hope this one turns out to be something minor like that , will have another play after work later and keep you guys posted . Christian:- did not check that Voltage regulator for heat yet becuase the board is only switched on for a short time due to the ponyprog error but will definietly look at that as well ( thought i was safe as the operationg voltage of this regulator is up 25V i belive ) : guys.. forgot to say that the motor cable is connected but not to the Dual H Bridge PCB in the photos..

Hi Wannabeaflyer

looking at the pictures and the comment from Hoovie i think he means this one (see attachment circled in red).

W

Guys Guys Guys Big thank you for that (Talk about cant see the wood for the trees) i have been over this board so many times and still missed that exceelent pointer Hoovie & (Dubya ) W will be rushing home toninght to sort that out 8) :yes:

hi guys another quick update double tripple checked the board again after replacing the missing jumper you all pointed out ( Big relief ) anyways still was not working so changed cables. re-checked all 5 volt supplies around pcb and got really fed up was about to blow my gasket because i know this thing should work, Thanos designed a good easy to build product so what could go wrong ? ( er me maybe )
:yippiee: :yippiee: :yippiee: i decided to change the pc that i was using for Ponyprog and the damm thing programmed 1st time( bLOODY pc'S :clap: :clap: ) WOW WOW AND MORE WOW'S i was able to download erase , readback re-program and verify program in AVR8535 evertime so a very happy chappy .......cant say it enough, all the members of this forum ROCK : ... have to change my LCD as i cant see the data after the re-starting the card, after programming. but thats another little glitch on my part ( for every mistake we learn a little more ) also found out that device missing -24 error is sometimes to do with Not Powering up the PCB ( D'oh ) or forgetting to re-connect the Programming jumper cable : .... and worse case broken lead or intermittent contact ... all good stuff ( hair pulling good 8) ) getting there slowly but surely ... sorry to post stuff your thread Thanos, will post progress updates under my project in future ( just thought others may learn from my silly mistakes) Cheers Guys

Sorry you had to go over the board so many times. I wanted to send out a picture of your board with the missing wire jumper area marked this morning but I was running late for work. Got to make money for this hobby!
Hoovie

OK Guys here's my situation to date bought 3 Atmel 8353 Controller chips and tried to program them on my Tronic AMC PCB intitaly had issue with the PC i was using and ( and forgot to fit a link wire : ) Changed PC and was able to program the IC and all seemed well. But the LCD was just showing the IC not programmed state ? OK i Thought change the 2 X 20 LCD to a new 2 X 16 LCD ( this time Back llight worked and still all to row Characters were Shaded not programed state ) Loaded hyper terminal and was able to read and chage the KP value data repeatedly with no problem ...Loaded Ponyprog and checked security bits and read program back on the Controller also no problem. This would seem to say that the microcontroller is fine but i messed up somewhere with the display wiring ( forgot to order the LCD PCB so used Veroboard as a short term solution Have checked the wiring but we all know i have been there before and got that wrong :lol: ) can someone let me know what the actual LCD pin voltages are when testing i know the Pins 1 & 2 will be Gnd & +5V and RS line on my lcd = 5V the Enable Line = 0.185V The data lines D4 -D7 seem to be floating which i belive may be the LCD trying to indicate the noise because i have not yet connected the feedback POTS.. I understand from the tutoruals that after programming ends and Ponyprog says programmed OK i should remove the bridge and the program should self start... Because i cant see any values Not sure whats going on - Oh By the Way i mentioned i bought three Atmega Chips well Seems 2 of then from the same batch keep coming up error -24 device missing :thbd: But the 3rd Chip is fine i seem to be able to program erase and re-program this chip ok ( different date code ) has any one else seen this situation : :

Hi ,
i forgot to order the two Resistors with 470 Ohm, 1%, 1/4W .
I found 2 Resistors at my work but they have 470 Ohm, 2% !!, 1/4W instead of 1% tolerance ?. Can i use them too?

Hi Michael

You can use up to 5% resistors without any problems. Just measure them before using them that their value is indeed 470 Ohm... :brows:

Regards, Thanos

Hi Guys : : :
Been a rough week still trying to get my LCD to display any values and really need some help guys Please ( want to get my seat moving to try and give something back to the X sim Crew...Still cant get any values up on the display and wondered if there are any other steps i can take to Fault find this problem ...have now made another Veroboard interface and as yet no luck ... Thanos do you have a simple test routine which can be flashed to the Atmega8535 just to test LCD function ..Have taken a picture of my PCB assembly showing the LCD connector with the pins numbered right to left. Where the pin at the far right is the GND (pin1) and the Pin at the far left DB7 (pin 8) the test results i amd getting without the LCD connected are pin 1 = 0v, pin 2 = +5V , pin 3 (r/s) = 5V, Pin 4 (enable) = o.187V and pins 5-8 ( DB4-DB7) = Random V .
Can anyone advise me as to what the correct voltages at these pins should be when the running normally ? is their another area of the PCB that i should be looking at ? is it possible given the problems i had with the Controllers that i may have a badly programmed Chip ? :

Hi wannabeaflyer,

Since you are making yourself the board for the LCD, you might missing some connections... Here is the schematic...

parallel_LCD_schematic.pdf

Regards, Thanos

Ok, I see that your connections look good.
But, can we have a datasheet of your LCD? or its model number? Perhaps its pinout is a little different as happened to many other here...

Again another reason you might not be able to display the serial data on the LCD is that you didn't enable the proper DIP switch:


Or you used Firmware that is not compatible with the crystal you have on the board...
Here are the filenames of the firmware and the crystals you should use them with:
PWM_AMC15_2DOF_V1_CRYSTAL14.HEX (with a 14.31818 MHz crystal)
PWM_AMC15_2DOF_V1_CRYSTAL18.HEX (with a 18.432 MHz crystal)
PWM_AMC15_2DOF_V1_CRYSTAL22.HEX (with a 22.1184 MHz crystal)
PWM_AMC15_2DOF_V1_CRYSTAL24.HEX (with a 24Mhz crystal)

ALSO try to remove the Programming ISP bridge (you made it as cable), before powering it on. This bridge is useful only during programming new firmware.

Regards, Thanos

:hi: Many Thank thanos, will try all these suggestions later when i get home sorry to be a pain like i said before just really excoted at getting this project moving in more ways than one : did not get adatasheet with theLCD , it was off ebay but will try and get the specs and post it later,

Hi Thanos back again ...found the datasheet on the net the model seems fairly standard And have attached a copy with this post now checking the PCB again , I have tested thses LCD using a program called LCDSMARTIES which drives them through the parallel port interface cable and they work excellently so i at least know the problem is not the LCD modules ( Must be my Crappy Soldering somwhere : ) will keep you posted..

HI Thanos .was looking at the active-robots.com website for some bits for my project and came across this device. a MR-8535 CPU Board is this somthing that can be used as a drop in replacement for the Atmel 8535 chip we use for your project i noticed teh built in ISP but have not looked through all the specs yet, just thought i would point to this if it would make it easier for NOOBS like me to get running. : opps just seen it only has an 8meg crystal fitted : (maybe it can be changed/replaced ?

hi to all iam sorry i didnt have much time in last months so i am back and i have completed H-bridge and Atmel board. i want ask you for information about ceonnectivity between the boards and computr because my lcd dont change any numbers.. only numbers of potentiometer (100K) it shows from 1024 until 0 and both last digits are changing.. so itis good i think. but that first digits which have to change when i roll my wheel or press the pedal it is stable and no reaction. also my force profiler show to me that i have write any serial number.when i start it app. and then i dont know how to set the profler and i cant press Start button cause itis grey not green.. Thank you very much Mila(czech)

Hi,

please use X-Sim1 software.
X-Sim2 software is in BETA testing still, and without key you wont be able to output any data to your AMC contorller, as the start button is locked by default.

Dont forget to select USO as interface, and make the correct settings.

Regards
Christian