BREmote - DIY Remote

EFOIL.builders Electronics (ESC, remote, batteries)
,
611

I added this in bremote_tx.ino and commented out everything else to see if all the systems works without crashing or rebooting and it seems fine:

#include "BREmote_Tx.h"  // This includes all function declarations

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  while (!Serial);
  Serial.println("DEBUG MODE START");

  Serial.println("Calling initPins...");
  initPins();

  Serial.println("Calling initEEPROM...");
  initEEPROM();

  Serial.println("Calling initNRF...");
  initNRF();

  Serial.println("Calling enableDisplay...");
  enableDisplay();

  Serial.println("Finished setup()");
}

void loop() {
  Serial.println("Loop running...");
  delay(1000);
}

Serial:

DEBUG MODE START
Calling initPiLoop running...
DEBUG MODE START
Calling initPins...
Setting Pins...Done
Calling initEEPROM...
Reading calib. from EEPROM...Done
Calling initNRF...
Enabling NRF...Done
Calling enableDisplay...
Finished setup()
Loop running...
Loop running...
Loop running...
Loop running...
Loop running...

When uploading original firmware this is serial when done uploading:

Setting register...Done
SettingSetting register...Done
Setting Pins..
612

So even with the shipping demo nothing on the display? Also after pushing the display a bit?
Nothing shown on display, even when pushing

The shipping demo stops after the ā€œ30ā€ output?
The shipping demo seems to stop yes, I can redo and verify

613

I uploaded a sketch that is forcing a message on the display but nothing shows up so most likely the screen is dead. I suspect water intrusion. Im gonna open it up to investigate more.

1 Like
614

Yeah, thatā€™s a problemā€¦
The firmware crashes in the middle of the init, so probably some peripheral on the board is defective and upon power up resets / crashes

For opening the remote I recommend splitting the handle along its length 2x, then you can pry it off like opening a clam

615

Opened it up, did not see any sign of water intrusion, foam was filled in good but there was a small gap between the case and the screen where water could have gotten in, bad epoxy job on my part.

Since it seemed to fail/reset at initPins I commented out each digitalWrite in system.ino and enabled them one-by-one while adding a serial print to each to figure out which one fails.

/*Init Pins*/
void initPins()
{
  DEBUG_PRINT("Setting Pins...");
  pinMode(EN_PWR, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(EN_MOT, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(SR_DAT, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(SR_CLK, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(C1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(C2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(HALL_EN, OUTPUT);

  digitalWrite(EN_PWR, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(EN_MOT, LOW);
  digitalWrite(SR_DAT, LOW);
  digitalWrite(SR_CLK, LOW);
  digitalWrite(C1, LOW);
  digitalWrite(C2, LOW);
  digitalWrite(HALL_EN, LOW);  
  DEBUG_PRINTLN("Done");

  analogReference(EXTERNAL);
}

The culprit was SR_CLK which seems to be one of the screen pins. After commenting out that line out the remote turned on with half display and seemed to be working.

I figured some water might be trapped in the pinheaders so removed as much PU foam as I could and flushed with IPA and let dry for the rest of the afternoon.

Uploaded full firmware and seemed to be working for a long while but then all of sudden a similar freeze happened so unplugged and let it sit until the evening when I made another attempt. Now it instead seemed to freeze on initNRF();. Puzzling.

I let it sit overnight to dry and this morning it seems to be working fine again. I hope it just trapped moisture causing problems and not something permanent.

616

Interesting, thanks for the detailed info
The SR_CLK has no direct connection to the display, it just connects to the display driver, so I am not sure if water in/around the display can be a problem regarding thatā€¦
Close to the display is only the NRF module, which, if it got wet, would probably explain those symptoms.
I have had 1 case where the NRF module failed even without water ingress, that behaved like you described. In that case sadly there is not much to do except replace the NRF moduleā€¦
Thatā€™s the main reason the V2 has a way more reliable RF moduleā€¦

1 Like
617

Ok good to know! Thanks for being so available with information and help.
Ill keep an eye on this V1 for a few days and then rebuild it but ordered a V2 kit just now so I can be confident I got a working remote for the rest of the season :grinning:

1 Like