Problem when unplugging/replugging Arduino (with easyVr shield)

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

Hi!

Let me preface this by saying that I am a beginner with Arduino and with electronics in general, so I apologize if this is a ridiculously stupid question and/or asked in the wrong place.

I'm using an Arduino Uno and an easyVr shield to control lights by voice (following instructions from DIY Your Own Voice Controlled Lights ).

When the Arduino is plugged in the computer and I just uploaded the program on it, everything works perfectly. Now, if I unplug the USB and plug it again, the results are quite random. Occasionnaly, it works fine, but most of the time there is a problem. I used LEDs displays to debug it and it doesnt always occur at the same place: sometimes the easyVr is not detected, sometimes it is detected but it does not hear anything... Sometimes I unplug/replug it again after it bugged and it works again. When I keep it plugged and reload the program, the problem always disappears.

My intuition is that it is a rather basic electronic problem due to my brutally unplugging/plugging the device (some tension remains somewhere or something?)

Anyone knows or to avoid/fix such problems?

2

You mean you power your Uno On and then you plug the shield in ??? :~ :~
That's when the problem occurs ?

3

zaxarias:
You mean you power your Uno On and then you plug the shield in ??? :~ :~
That's when the problem occurs ?

The shield stays plugged on the Uno the whole time. The only thing I am unplugging is the USB chord between the Uno and the computer.

The USB is only here to provide power: I also tried plugging it on a wall socket with an adapter instead of plugging it on the computer and I get the same random bugs.

4

Shadoko:
My intuition is that it is a rather basic electronic problem due to my brutally unplugging/plugging the device (some tension remains somewhere or something?)

It's really possible

5

Shadoko:
The USB is only here to provide power: I also tried plugging it on a wall socket with an adapter instead of plugging it on the computer and I get the same random bugs.

Judging by the recent discussion of "USB power adaptors", I would be very cautious about that!

6

So, I found that reseting the arduino when there is a problem solves it.
Maybe I'll try modifying my program to get it to recognize problems and reset itself, but pressing that button manually works too!

i just hope I'm not damaging anything with all that plugging-unplugging!