Specifications and Controls
will automatically shut down the onboard PC. Discharging the batteries below 10 VDC
may permanently damage them.
You may continue to operate the robot while
charging its batteries, although that will
lengthen the recharge time. Because the
onboard PC draws much current, even the
high-speed 4A charger will not be able to fully
recharge the batteries unless you power down
the PC.8
If you have only one battery onboard, plug
your robot into the charger before “hot-
swapping” the exhausted battery for a fresh
one. To hot-swap two or three batteries,
replace each battery one-at-a-time, leaving
at least one battery in place to supply power
to the robot.
The Power Cube accessory is a convenient
way to externally recharge one to three of the
hot-swapped batteries.
Liquid-Crystal Display & Contrast Adjustment
Information about your robot's state and
connections appears on a 32-character (two
lines) liquid-crystal display (LCD) on the
Console. When under control of the P2OS
servers, for example, the display shows the
state of communication with the client
computer, along with the battery voltage and
a blinking "heartbeat" asterisk (*) in the second
line of text.
A small, contrast-adjustment potentiometer for
the LCD is inset next to the display. Make sure the Main Power switch is ON and the
battery is well charged. Then, using a small, flat-blade screwdriver, turn the adjustment
screw to darken or lighten the screen so that the characters are clearly visible under your
lighting conditions.
Figure 13. The Console
RESET and MOTORS
The RESET (red) an d MOTORS (white) push-button switches on the Console affect the
microcontroller’s logic and motor-driver systems.
When pressed alone, RESET puts the microcontroller into its start-up state, disrupting any
running program or client connection. It also disables the drive motors—just as if you
cycle Main Power. But, unlike a cold-power restart, RESET preserves the contents of the
microcontroller's RAM, so any user programs downloaded in standalone mode get
restarted.
The MOTORS pushbutton is not a power switch—it does not directly control power to the motors. 8 We deliberately limit the charger power to avoid serious damage that can occur from overcharging lead-
acid batteries.