• The first thing you will want to check is your battery power in both your robot battery and Remote Control battery. The battery power level should be at least 12 volts, and the RC power level should be at least 9 volts. One way to check to see if your RC is getting power is by checking the meter on the top. Most likely you will have a meter that indicates the battery level. This meter should be pointing from 1:00 to 2:00 to indicate a good power level (the other possibility is that your RC has three lights; the green one indicating full power). On most robots, you can check to see if the robot battery is getting power by seeing if the fan on the electrical box is on, or if the eye lights are on. (Even though this allows you to know that your robot is getting some power, it does not necessarily mean that it is getting full power; if the power level is very low, it can cause the robot not to have functionality.)

• If you have determined that the robot and RC is getting full power, then the next thing you will want to check is to make sure that the robot is receiving the signal transmitted from the RC. In many instances, if the robot has power, but does not have functionality, it could mean either the receiver or transmitter crystal is bad. If you think this is the case, you can call us to order a new crystal.
  

• Another thing for you to look for is the fuses inside the electrical panel. To look inside the electrical panel you will first take the top off of the robot. There is a screw on each corner of the electrical box; unscrew these and remove the lid (before you remove the lid make sure to unplug the units that are on the lid). Also, the fan is connected to the main electrical board. Remove the lid slowly and disconnect the fan wires when they are accessible, then completely remove the lid. After the lid is completely removed then you can look into the board and see a fuse block and check all the fuses. If it appears that a fuse is blown, replace it. Sometimes it may appear that a fuse is good when in fact it is blown. You can check for this is you have a volt meter by checking the continuity. You can also check for voltage across the fuse block.

• To check if this is a problem with the RC, you should turn the robot on without turning the RC on. If the robot no longer has the moving problem then it is a problem with the RC; if the problem continues then it is a problem with the robot and you should call the service department. Many times what will happen in this situation is that the RC after many years begins to wear out and plastic pieces inside the RC begin to break. When this occurs the center position for the RC becomes off center and will always move. The easiest way to solve this problem is to send the RC here and we can replace the broken parts and adjust the RC. If you do not wish to send the RC back for repairs, you can talk to someone in the service department and discuss the specific piece that you need replaced and you can order that part over the phone. If you choose this option you will have to manually adjust the centering for your joystick.

One of the drive motors does not seem to work.

• There is the rare occasion where a drive motor will go bad. To test to see if a motor is bad, you can prop the wheels off the ground and move each wheel manually and compare the sounds. Usually a bad motor will be more difficult to move and make a scratchy sound. You may also find that the wheel you turn spins loose; this is because the you have a loose set screw on the motor pulley. The most sure way to test a motor if one motor does not seem to work is by swapping motor wires. The motor wires (blue and yellow) are found underneath the electrical panel near the vehicle battery (where the motors are). If you swap the motor wires you will be able to tell for sure if a motor is bad or not. For instance; if you were to prop your robot wheels off the ground and notice that only the right wheel moved (or that the left wheel only moved very slowly), by swapping the wires you would observe the following things when operating the drive: 1. The right wheel is still the only wheel that moves (or the left wheel is still slow). This means that the left motor is indeed bad. 2. The left wheel now is the only wheel that moves (or the right wheel is very slow). This means that there is a problem with the drive circuit of the robot. It most likely only needs an adjustment (see below) but if the drive circuit is bad you will probably need to send parts back to Robotronics for repairs.

• If you have determined that a motor is bad, please contact the service department for help on replacing the motor. If you think that it is an adjustment problem, see the manual on help for adjusting the drive of your robot.

The robot veers to one direction.

• See the robot manual here for your robot. If you still have questions after reading the manual please contact service.

Voice Problems

• To see a detailed guide on how to troubleshoot your voice system, click here.