SimpleFOC Shield 2.0.3 Intermittent Startup Issue

1

Hi Folks,

I’m new here, and have been playing around with an Arduino Uno and SimpleFOC Shield v2.0.3 along with a small gimbal motor. I’ve been able to get everything working as it should (velocity/position/torque modes), however, on occasion when i turn on the power to the FOC shield, it starts up in an odd mode where it seems like one of the motor phases isn’t being controlled, and the motor cogs around and draws a lot of current. I’m using the onboard 8V regulator to power the Arduino. This odd mode persists in between power cycles, and while it will clear randomly, I have not been able to identify what steps actually clear it and restore normal operation.

Is there anything I could check or has this issue been seen before?

Thanks!

Has anything like

2

Hey, I know it’s three years later, but did you ever solve this problem? I’m having an identical issue.

3

Hi! Unfortunately I dont remember if I solved the issue or not :frowning: I’ve since moved on to using some SimpleFOC compatible PCBAs from AliExpress that use ESP32 processors and have made quite a few gadgets with them successfully. I wouldn’t recommend using an UNO for SimpleFOC anymore, given it’s limited capability processing and memory wise. The STM Nucleo family would be a great option instead if you already have a SimpleFOC shield. There are some examples on the website using Nucleos that you can follow. Message me if you have questions!

1 Like
4

Hi guys!

A bit late to the game :smiley:

This might be an issue with the overcurrent protection, maybe one of the phases is actually disabled. It definitely can happen with the shield v3.x (but you’d see a led light showing you an error).

Does the behavior persist if you power-off the board and power it back up?
What motor are you using?
You can try disabling and enabling the board when this happens, this should in theory clear the error states.

Also, do you have the v2.0.3 shiled?
Which version do you have, which date is indicated on the back?

1 Like
5

I am actually using a SimpleFOC mini V1.0. I’m out of town for the week, so unfortunately I don’t have the driver to test or check.

  • The behavior doesn’t always persist when I power it off and back on. The motor fails more often than it works, but cycling power occasionally fixes it.

  • I am using an iFlight GM2804.

  • Once I’m back, I’ll certainly try disabling and enabling the board.

So do you reckon there’s a separate current issue triggering the control issue opposed to the other way around?

Thanks for getting back!

6

Mini definitely can go into the fault state and you should be able to read it using the fault (nFLT) pin. And you should be able to reset it too with the reset (nRST) pin. :slight_smile: