On Tue, Mar 30, 2021 at 11:09 AM, Michael Herman wrote:
That is true....if the Gemini does not sense the motor optical encoder wheel move it will keep sending motor power to see if it can move it...and the motor will appear to run away.? ?It could have been programmed to stop and report a stalled motor or motor signal not received...but c'est la vie.??
Thankfully, that really is how it is programmed. When Gemini doesn't sense movement after applying maximum power to the motor, it will stall pretty quickly. That's what the stall message from Gemini represents: it couldn't move the mount or at least, couldn't get feedback from the encoders that the mount has moved.
What may get one into trouble is if there are intermittent or poor signals getting in from the encoders. In that case, Gemini may continue to try to move the mount, applying whatever power is needed to get it to the desired position. That's when runaway slews occur: when there is some feedback from the encoder, but it's either wrong or inaccurate.
Regards,
? ?-Paul
Paul Kanevsky