Basic Stamp 2 Robot Programming - ISL

Basic Stamp 2 Robot Programming 6-21
There are a number of reasons Figure 6-17 will be displayed. If you are unable to
program the robot, the first thing you should do is to explicitly define the serial port
that is being used to program the robot. This is done by clicking on “Edit” and then
“Preferences” of the “stampw” application dialog box. This will bring up a new dialog
box as shown in Figure 6-18. Click on “Editor Operation” and make sure the serial
port that “stampw” has chosen is the one you think should be used for the robot programming.
If it isn’t, change the “Default COM Port:” to the one you think that should
be used.
If this does not fix the problem, then you should go through the following
checks:
1. Try other RS-232 ports in the PC. You may be trying to access the wrong
port.
2. Check for applications that are already executing on the serial port. For
example, if you have a Palm Pilot, its download software may be interfering
with the operation of the stampw during the programming operation.
3. Check the power on the robot. Wave your hand in front of the IR Collision
sensors, to see if the LED will light. Also check to see if the robot’s power
switch is on.
4. Check the orientation of the BS2. It is very easy to put it in incorrectly. The
pin 1 of the BS2 (and the semicircular indicator) should be pointing toward
the rear (toward the wheels) of the robot.
5. Check the serial cable. You must have a “straight-through” 9-pin cable—you
cannot use a “Null Modem” cable.
Figure 6-18
Checking serial interface ports.