I dont think the issue is with braccio.init_arm since it works just fine and has been working fine for a long time now. I havent changed anything in that function.
The only change is creating the function send_all_angles() which i pinned down to the function call create_send_msg().
create_send_msg() works in other functions.
if i do not include send_all_angles() in my code the program runs just fine.
This is why its so weird. Its not calling send_all_angles() and the issue occures. Ive never seen anything quite like it.
Just double checked the behavior. Nothing happens with the robot arm and its sending garbage over serial. It does not print the send_verbose message in braccio.init_arm()