Experiment Issue ‐ LEDs on platform(s) not turning on (or finicky connection) - Carleton-SRL/SPOT GitHub Wiki

[!IMPORTANT] The LED Microdriver only charges when the platform is turned ON.

Are you attempting to run an experiment or communicate with the PhaseSpace cameras and one (or more) platforms aren't automatically turning on their top LEDs? If this happens, then the battery pack connected to the LEDs is not ON or in a standby mode. You may need to:

  1. Turn on the Microdriver by pressing and holding the white button until the yellow LED on the Microdriver illuminates. DO NOT PRESS THE RED BUTTON!
  2. More frequently, the Microdriver will go to sleep. When this happens, press the white button briefly (i.e. do not hold it down) until the yellow LED illuminates and starts flashing rapidly.

Or perhaps, the LEDs are on, but they are flickering. And when you open MasterClient, the LEDs are sporadically tracked. In this case:

  1. The Microdriver is depleted, generally because (1) it isn't plugged in or (2) the Microdriver/PhaseSpace system were being used without the platform being turned ON. To fix this, plug in the Microdriver to its power cable. It will take a few hours for the Microdriver to reach sufficient charge to operate nominally (after charging for 1 hour, it has been shown that a couple experiments can be run before the issue comes back). See the below Tip for futher information.

[!TIP] If the Microdriver needs to be charged since it is causing an intermittent connection with the PhaseSpace cameras and you cannot run an experiment due to this, it is recommended to plug the Microdriver charging cable into an alternative power source (e.g., the wall or the ground station computer) for a couple hours to charge instead of turning/leaving on the platform and draining the main 24 V platform battery.

Once you are done in the lab, leave the depleted (or near-depleted) Microdriver charging overnight by plugging it into the alternative power source, e.g., the wall or the ground station computer (which is always left on), and leave a message on the Current Laboratory Status page.