Arduino problem

Question

I am actually doing an obstacle avoiding car. So, I bought Arduino UNO and L293D motor driver and four motors, servo motor and ultrasonic sensor. After the connections I have kept 10v li-ion battery. My problem the servo and sensor and motors are not working. BUT, the LED is glowing on both UNO and motor driver. I don't understand what's the problem?

(WHILE CONNECTING THROUGH USB CABLE THE MOTOR IS WORKING GOOD.)

Here my code,

#include <AFMotor.h>  
#include <NewPing.h>
#include <Servo.h> 
 
#define TRIG_PIN A0       
#define ECHO_PIN A1   
#define MAX_DISTANCE 100   
#define MAX_SPEED 150    
#define MAX_SPEED_OFFSET 20            
 
 
NewPing sonar(TRIG_PIN, ECHO_PIN, MAX_DISTANCE); 
 
AF_DCMotor motor1(1, MOTOR12_64KHZ);   
AF_DCMotor motor2(2, MOTOR12_64KHZ);  
AF_DCMotor motor3(3, MOTOR34_64KHZ);  
AF_DCMotor motor4(4, MOTOR34_64KHZ);    
Servo myservo;   
 
boolean goesForward=false;  
int distance = 100;  
int speedSet = 0;
 
void setup() {
 
  myservo.attach(10);  
  myservo.write(115);   
  delay(2000);  
  distance = readPing();  
  delay(100);  
  distance = readPing();  
  delay(100);  
  distance = readPing();  
  delay(100);  
  distance = readPing();  
  delay(100);  
}
 
void loop() {  
 int distanceR = 0;  
 int distanceL = 0;  
 delay(40);  
   
 if(distance<=25)  
 {  
  moveStop();  
  delay(100);  
  moveBackward();  
  delay(200);  
  moveStop();  
  delay(200);  
  distanceR = lookRight();  
  delay(200);  
  distanceL = lookLeft();  
  delay(200);  
   
  if(distanceR>=distanceL)  
  {  
    turnRight();  
    moveStop();  
  }   
   
  else  
   
  {  
    turnLeft();  
    moveStop();  
  }  
 }   
   
 else  
 {  
  moveForward();  
 }  
 distance = readPing();  
}  
   
int lookRight()  
{  
    myservo.write(50);   
    delay(500);  
    int distance = readPing();  
    delay(100);  
    myservo.write(115);   
    return distance;  
}  
   
int lookLeft()  
{  
    myservo.write(170);   
    delay(500);  
    int distance = readPing();  
    delay(100);  
    myservo.write(115);   
    return distance;  
    delay(100);  
}  
   
int readPing() {   
  delay(100);  
  int cm = sonar.ping_cm();  
  if(cm==0)  
  {  
    cm = 250;  
  }  
  return cm;  
}  
   
void moveStop() {  
  motor1.run(RELEASE);   
  motor2.run(RELEASE);  
  motor3.run(RELEASE);  
  motor4.run(RELEASE);  
  }   
   
void moveForward() {  
   
 if(!goesForward)  
  {  
    goesForward=true;  
    motor1.run(FORWARD);        
    motor2.run(FORWARD);  
    motor3.run(FORWARD);   
    motor4.run(FORWARD);       
   for (speedSet = 0; speedSet < MAX_SPEED; speedSet +=2)   
   {  
    motor1.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    motor2.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    motor3.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    motor4.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    delay(5);  
   }  
  }  
}  
   
void moveBackward() {  
    goesForward=false;  
    motor1.run(BACKWARD);        
    motor2.run(BACKWARD);  
    motor3.run(BACKWARD);  
    motor4.run(BACKWARD);    
  for (speedSet = 0; speedSet < MAX_SPEED; speedSet +=2)   
  {  
    motor1.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    motor2.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    motor3.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    motor4.setSpeed(speedSet);  
    delay(5);  
  }  
}    
   
void turnRight() {  
  motor1.run(FORWARD);  
  motor2.run(FORWARD);  
  motor3.run(BACKWARD);  
  motor4.run(BACKWARD);       
  delay(500);  
  motor1.run(FORWARD);        
  motor2.run(FORWARD);  
  motor3.run(FORWARD);  
  motor4.run(FORWARD);        
}   
   
void turnLeft() {  
  motor1.run(BACKWARD);       
  motor2.run(BACKWARD);    
  motor3.run(FORWARD);  
  motor4.run(FORWARD);     
  delay(500);  
  motor1.run(FORWARD);       
  motor2.run(FORWARD);  
  motor3.run(FORWARD);  
  motor4.run(FORWARD);  
} 


  [1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Sxy6.jpg

Answer 1

A skim through the code shows no obvious problems. The several likely problems with the electrical system suggest investigating there first.

Voltage

The 10 V you cite is an eyebrow-raiser. In my experience, the tiny, cheap electronics inside hobby servos will NOT operate reliably at more than 6 volts.

Also, if you are using the common TT motors, they are rated at 3 to 6 volts. They will be unhappy at much more than that. As with all motors, the degree of "unhappy" can range from erratic behavior to reduced life to catastrophic damage (= life reduced to zero).

Current

When your motor is working hard, it will draw a lot of current. You should compare that current against what your battery or USB can provide. You should expect trouble if you are anywhere near the limits.

When you draw current from a battery, the voltage it actually delivers will drop below what you would measure at open circuit. The more current you draw, the more it will drop, and even more so when the battery is nearly discharged. This is commonly attributed to "internal resistance", although the electrochemistry is a lot more complicated than that. You should measure the voltage at the motor when you think it should be working but is not.

A USB source has a voltage regulator which tries to keep the voltage at 5.0 volts. But a heavy motor load, even a transient one, can exceed the regulator's ability to maintain the proper voltage, causing things to misbehave. Often we try to power motors from a different source than powers the electronics.

Electrical noise

Brushed DC motors are notorious for spewing indiscriminate electrical noise that is more than capable of scrambling nearby electronics. Similarly, I would be leery of powering a PWM motor controller off the same supply as my electronics. Servos, with both buitin electronics and brushed DC motors, seem to survive their own noise, but they have builtin error correction and, typically, human controllers who expect erratic behavior.

Temporary solution

Just to get things working on the bench, I would suggest that you separate the potential issues. Get four AA batteries (4 x 1.5V = 6V) to power your motors and L293D. Use your USB to power the Arduino (getting the ground connections right!). Get the car wheels off the floor. Then test and debug the parts without them hiding each other's problems. With the car wheels off the floor, you can even test its behavior by approaching it with "obstacles" while it's still wired up in the operating room.

Good luck, you're on a good path. Autonomous behavior, even when simple, is the difference between a robot and an RC car.