Broken kit at DUL SR2017

[Richard Barlow]

DUL have reported by email to kit-support@ (via their LTC) that they have broken some kit:

...tried to power one of the USB hubs via a 12V port on the power board.  The result is that the USB hub and USB memory stick are both broken, and either/both the brain board and power board do not function correctly.

[Richard Barlow]

They consider the following parts to be broken:

• USB Hub
• USB Memory Stick
• Power Board
• Brain Board

[Richard Barlow]

Photos provided by the team.

image1.jpg shows how it was wired up (sans battery).

image2.jpg shows a close up on the offending connection. Note that the photo is just a mock-up to indicate where the connection was made. Apparently the connection was actually made with a cable that was not part of the kit, but left lying around in their DT room. This cable just so happened to have a 7.5mm camcon on one end and a barrel connector of the correct size for the USB hub on the other end.

[Richard Barlow]

Based upon a photo provided by the teams the following parts of the kit were connected at the time of the incident:

• Battery
• Power board
• Motor board (one of)
• Brain board
• Ruggeduino + screw shields
• USB hub
• USB memory stick
• Webcam

The team reports that the USB hub smells burnt and that the USB memory stick does not work.

[Richard Barlow]

I have asked the team to try the following:

1. Plug the motor board into a computer over USB. It should show up as an FTDI FT232 USB to serial converter. You can check this in Windows via the Device Manager or in Linux/OSX by running dmesg.
2. Plug the webcam into a computer and see if it functions.
3. Plug the ruggeduino into a computer that has the Arduino IDE and USB drivers installed and see if it is recognised/programmable.

Their response was:

1. I've tried both motor boards and one works fine but the one that was connected when the issue happened doesn't register in the device manager even though the power LED on the motor board is on.
2. Webcam works fine, I tested it with Skype and both video and microphone work.
3. Ruggeduino seems to be recognised but when I try to upload code it says it can't find port COM3 and asks if I've selected the right port, but it doesn't allow me to open the serial port menu in tools.

[Richard Barlow]

Based upon the information received from the team I think the following parts are damaged and need replacing:

• Power board
• Brain board
• Motor board
• Ruggeduino (but not screw shields)
• USB hub
• USB memory stick
• WiFi dongle

I will send a request to the Kit Logistics Coordinator to dispatch the parts listed above from the Spare Kit.

[Richard Barlow]

They also had a WiFi dongle plugged in so I am assuming that it's toast too. I've added it to the list of parts to be replaced.

[Richard Barlow]

I am issuing the following replacement parts:

• Power board sr0YR24
• Brain board sr1VY6U
• Motor board sr0WCB
• Ruggeduino srM1R3A
• USB hub sr1PG3T
• USB stick (untracked)
• Wifi dongle sr1WW6U

[Richard Barlow]

The Kit Logistics Coordinator has dispatched these parts.

[Richard Barlow]

I have instructed the team to box up the suspected broken parts. Namely:

• Power board sr0LR2T
• Brain board sr1JL7Q
• Motor board sr0JJ17
• Ruggeduino srM1X27
• USB hub sr1GK35
• USB stick (unlabelled)
• Wifi dongle sr1JW6H

[Richard Barlow]

The Kit Logistics Coordinator has informed me that these have been delivered.