1. Introduction Of Robot HAT driver board
When you get the Alter product, you will see a board with its name printed on it called: Adeept Robot HAT, which is an important part of Alter. There are many interfaces on the Robot HAT driver board. By these interfaces, you can connect some sensors and electronic hardware modules, so that you can achieve many extended functions. Our Alter products need to be used in conjunction with the Raspberry Pi. Let's first get to know the Robot HAT driver board.
【Vin】：
The vin interface is an interface for external power supply.
【Switch】：
Switch is the switch of Robot HAT driver board, ON is to open, and OFF is to close.
【Micro USB】：
The Micro USB interface can connect the Robot HAT driver board to a computer or other equipment, and can also supply power for the Robot HAT driver board.
【Power LED】:
Power LED is used to indicate the power status of Robot HAT driver board. If the LED is on, it means that the Robot HAT driver board is powered on and can run; if the LED is off, it means that the Robot HAT driver board is not powered on.
【Tracking】:
it is the pin interface of Tracking Module.
【WS2812】
it is the pin interface of WS2812 Module.
【3.3V-GND】:
3.3V power supply interface.
【Uart】:
Uart interface.
【GPIO 40-PIN】 :
General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) is designed as a slot with two rows of pins on the Robot HAT driver board. GPIO can be used to connect various peripheral electronic devices and sensors and control or monitor these devices with input/output level signals. In Alter products, this GPIO interface is connected to the GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi driver board.
【5V-GND】 :
5V power supply interface.
【IIC】:
IIC interface. It is also the interface of the OLED screen module.
【MPU6050】:
The interface of MPU6050 sensor.
【Port】:
it is divided into Port1, Port2, and Port3 interfaces, which are commonly used to connect Small LED light.
【Servo port】:
Servo interface.
【motor】:
it is divided into motor1, motor2 interfaces.
【Ultrasonic】:
Ultrasonic interface.
2. Precautions for the use of Robot HAT driver board
When you are performing software installation, structural assembly or program debugging, you can use a USB cable to power the Raspberry Pi. If the Raspberry Pi is equipped with Robot HAT, you can connect the USB cable to the USB port on the Robot HAT. Robot HAT will power the Raspberry Pi by the GPIO interface.
Different Raspberry Pi have different current requirements. For example, the Raspberry Pi 3B needs at least 2A to boot up, and the Raspberry Pi 4 needs 3A to boot normally. When you use the power adapter to power the Raspberry Pi, you can check the specifications on your power adapter.
When the Robot HAT is connected to a load, such as a motor or multiple servos, you need to use a high-current power supply to connect to the Vin on the Robot HAT. You can use two 18650 batteries that support high-current to power the Robot HAT. For power supply, our product will provide a dual 18650 battery box with a 2pin interface. You can directly connect it to the Robot HAT.
When the USB interface on the Robot HAT is used for power supply, the switch of the Robot HAT does not control whether to supply power. The switch of the Robot HAT can only control the power supply of Vin.
Do not use the USB port on the Robot HAT and Vin to supply power at the same time. If you need to debug the program for a long time and don’t want to remove the battery, you can set the switch on the Robot HAT to OFF, so that when the USB cable is used to connect the Robot HAT, the Robot HAT is powered by USB.
If your robot restarts automatically after it is turned on, or after it is turned on normally, it is disconnected and restarted at the moment when the robot starts to move, it is likely that your power supply does not output enough current. The robot will automatically restart when it is turned on. Run the program to place all the servos in the neutral position. The voltage drop generated during this process causes the Raspberry Pi to restart.
We have tested that the peak current of the robot is around 3.75A when powered by 7.4V, so you need to use a battery that supports 4A output.
You can also use the power lithium battery to power the Robot HAT. Robot HAT supports power supply below 15V.
When assembling and installing the servo rocker arm, you can use a USB cable to power the Robot HAT. After the Raspberry Pi with the robot software is installed, it will control the Robot HAT to set all the servo ports to output neutral signals. You can connect the servo to any port. The gear of the servo will rotate to the neutral position, and then you can install the servo rocker arm according to the specified angle. After the rocker arm is installed, you can disconnect the servo from the Robot HAT , When you need to install the rocker arm of the second servo, connect the second servo to any servo port on the drive board.