Arduino Pro "resetting" while bluetooth mate gold connected

Hi.

I have a problem with my Arduino Pro. When the Bluetooth mate gold is connected, it works for some secounds, then the state led on it stops to blink, and the led for digitalpin13 blinks. And this goes in a loop. When the bluetooth mate gold is disconnected, it works fine.

So, what is the problem? It worked normal like it should yesterday and erlier today, but not now. I have tried a different power source, disconected every output and disconnected the bluetooth mate gold, and resetted the board with the reset button. I have also tried to upload the same scetch trough the usb cable.

So, what can I try?

Best regards,
The Crusher

The-Crusher:
I have tried a different power source,

What are you using as the power sources?

The-Crusher:
resetted the board with the reset button.

The RESET button doesn't actually change anything. It just restarts the ATmega328.

Tried some different batteries and the usb cable. When I use the usb cable the bluetooth mate gold cannot be connected at the same time.

What kind of batteries? How many? How where they connected?

The mostly issue is that your batteries are not able to supply enough current. When the Bluetooth module powers up its radio, the voltage from the batteries drops enough to cause the Arduino to reset.

Tried with 8xAA recharcable batteries witch is fully charged, conencted in series. I also tried with a 7.2V NiCD batterypack, witch also is rechargable. I am planing to use the 7.2V battery, since it is to the car i am going to controll.

The 7.2V battery is on 700mAh. The AA batteries is on 2300mAh per battery. The same thing happens with both of those power sources.

Any ideas for the problem??

The Bluetooth mate gold might chew up to 100 mA during TX.
The Arduino on-board regulator is 150 mA maximum output only.
It might still be enough, but marginally for reliable operation.

So the power source is not the problem. Since it is on 700mA

Your power source is capable of 700mA, but is the regulator? The linear regulator could be overheating. I believe the Bluetooth module was intended to be used by the 5V version (especially if powered with an unregulated supply.)

If the Bluetooth draws 150mA, this means the on-board regulator is dissipating the following.

5V Model: 7.2V - 5V = 2.2V * 150mA = 330mW
3V3 Model: 7.2V - 3.3V = 3.9V * 150mA = 585mW

Keep in mind that these regulators do not have a heat sink, other than the PCB itself. So if you are using a 3V3 version of the Arduino Pro, it is very likely the regulator is thermally shutting down. It may even be possible for the 5V to be shutting down because of the relatively high input voltage.

Are you using a 3V3 or 5V Pro?

I got a 5Varduino pro.

We need to eliminate the regulator as the issue.

Either provide regulated 5V on the VCC pin from an external source, or, use fewer batteries, again on VCC.

Since your AAs are rechargeable their nominal voltage should be less than 1.5V. Try putting 4 in series to get about 4.8V and apply them directly to VCC. (Even if they are 1.5V, the max voltage for both the arduino/atmega328 and the bluetooth device is actually 6V.)

The purpose of this test is to bypass the regulator and see if the Resets still occur.

Just tried with 4xAAA batteries. They are on 900mAh each, and has a voltage on 1.2V. Still the same result. The bluetooth mate gold blinks red one time, stops, and the yellow led thats on my protoscrewshield blinks. The led is connected to pin13.

Tried it again yesterday, and the arduino did not reset, but i could not connect to it. The state led blinks as it should when it is not connected (or should it not blink?). So, is the bluetooth mate gold dead or something?

Hello again.

I have been in contact with robonor, the store i bought it from, and they told me to contact sparkfun. Sparkun says that it might be a defective module, but since I did not buy it directly from them, they can not give me an replacement, but told me to contact robonor. So my problem is solved, sort off. The module was the problem. Now I just have to wait for a reply from robonor. Thanks for trying to help me guys! :slight_smile: