Support GPK 32
We’re here to help you get the best performance from your robot. This support section includes manuals for specific SuperDroid Robot models. For general robotics information, check out our Knowledge Base.
GPK 32 Robot Models
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Yes. The camera is set up to begin recording automatically when the robot turns on, and you can take pictures while the robot is recording without interrupting the video. You can also stop the recording and switch the camera over to photo mode to take higher resolution pictures, all from the remote control.
A GPK robot will typically run for two hours on the provided 20v DeWalt battery.
Each robot should come with two DeWalt batteries and a charging station.
The maximum line of of sight range is about 500ft. This will obviously go down as obstructions are placed between the controller and the robot. The range is generally sufficient to reach the far side of a crawlspace from the outside, but if you begin to loose the connection you can move closer to the robot either from above by being inside the house, or by moving around the exterior to the other side of the house. Strong WiFi signals, or any other signal in the 5.8GHz range can cause additional inference in the video feed.
The video monitor has about a 2 hour runtime, just like the robot. Unlike the robot, it does not have an external battery that can be swapped out when it goes dead. Simply keeping it charged between jobs works well for most people.
The GoPro is a very popular, and very good camera, but it does not meet all of our requirements. The very first version of this robot did use the GoPro, but the biggest problem is the connection method. The only way to connect to the GoPro camera to see the video feed from the robot and have control of the camera is by using the WiFi on the camera to connect to a phone or tablet. This does have some benefits, but it has more drawbacks for most users. The range is extremely limited. You must stay very close to the robot in order to maintain the video feed. There is also a delay in the video feed that means when you move the robot, you don’t see that movement immediately on screen.
The thing to remember is that inspection robots are tools. They can not replace a skilled inspector. Buying an inspection robot does not mean that you will never crawl under a house again. There will be times that you get the robot stuck and must retrieve it, or can not reach an area with the robot and have to crawl in yourself. Inspection robots are simply tools to help you do your job. They will not be the right tool in every situation, or for every person, but when used properly they can absolutely help you do your job more safely, easily, and quickly. It is also necessary to have access to a computer or other device that is capable of interacting with a SD card so that you can view your photos and videos, and so you can wipe the card clean when it fills up. If you understand the limitations, then an inspection robot would likely be a very valuable addition to your business.
Troubleshooting
Every time you turn on the controller, before it will connect to the robot, the four switches across the top of the controller must be in the up position, and the left joystick must be pulled all the way down towards you. Do not touch the right joystick during this process.
This relates to the issue above. Be sure not to touch the right joystick when turning on the remote control. Each time the controller is turned on it checks the position of the right joystick and uses the position at startup as its zero point. It does this to prevent creep from getting into the stick over time as it wears, which is good, but it means that if you are touching the right joystick when it connects it will take that as the new zero point and when you let go it will register that the stick is being moved which will make the robot move. Basically, if you turn on the robot with the right joystick held all the way down it will stay still as long as you hold the stick there but as soon as you let go the stick will return to center and the robot will start driving forward by itself.
The video being transmitted from the robot to the monitor is analog so it will always have bits of interference, but the range is greatly increased from that provided by a WiFi connection. It is also very low latency so that you are seeing the robot move in real time, rather than with the delay you get from a WiFi connection. The most important thing is to be sure the antennas on the monitor are pointing straight up so that they match the orientation of the antenna on the robot. Once you find the most comfortable position to hold the controller, adjust the antennas on the monitor to be pointed straight up. If you are experiencing excessive interference while not very far from the robot, it is likely that something in the area is either blocking the signal or another signal is interfering with it. There isn’t a whole lot you can do about a competing signal in the area, but if it is a block then moving to a different location to get a different angle to the robot can help. Sometimes the video feed will begin to go out, but come back once you are past whatever is interfering with the signal.
If we are sure that the robot and camera have turned on properly but the feed is still all snow, even right next to the robot, then it is most likely that either the band or channel on the monitor have been changed. We want the monitor to be set to “Band:R CH:8”. Follow the steps below to get the monitor set back to the right place.
Step 1: Turn on the robot and the monitor.
Step 2: Tap the “>/CH” button once. This will cause band and channel to turn red in the upper left corner of the monitor.
Step 3: Quickly tap the “</BAND” button while the text is still red until the upper left reads “BAND:R” (if the text turns white before this step, tap the “>/CH” button once again to turn the text red once more).
Step 4: Tap the “>/CH” button until the upper left reads “CH:8”
The most likely cause of this is the monitor having accidentally been put in the wrong mode. The button just to the left of the power button (with a sideways U-turn arrow under it) is the Mode/Return button. Tapping it will cycle between “Video” and “RF”. We want the monitor to be on “RF”. Tap the button until you see a box in the upper left corner that says “RF”.
The GPK-32 is not indestructible or unstoppable. You can absolutely get it stuck. The biggest thing to keep in mind to avoid getting stuck is route selection. You should pay attention to what you are driving on, and driving over. The easiest way to get stuck is to high center the robot. This happens when you drive onto something that lifts the body of the robot slightly so that the tracks are no longer making good contact with the ground. A good example is a small pipe running on the ground. If you drive over that pipe at 90 degrees there will be no problem, but if you drive onto that pipe and then turn to drive down the length of the pipe, the robot will be balanced on the pipe with the tracks no longer having good traction. Once you end up in that position with no traction, there is very little chance of getting unstuck because there is no way to impart enough force to the robot. Some customers have tied a paracord line to the handle of the robot so that they can impart force to the robot to get unstuck, but this solution means you have to be aware of a line that is dragging behind you and take care not to tangle yourself. The best solution is to pay attention to the terrain and avoid situations where you are likely to get stuck. As for flipping the robot over, the wheelie bars included with the robot will help with getting over larger obstacles, but experience is required here. Over time, through trial and error, you will learn which obstacles you can tackle, and which should be avoided.
The most common cause of this is the Micro SD card. To ensure that this is the case, take the Micro SD card out of the camera and use the switch to change the mode of the camera. If you can change the mode, then the problem is almost certainly the Micro SD card. This will happen when the Micro SD card is full. There have been several reports from customers saying that they have deleted all files off of their Micro SD card so that it appears empty but is actually still full. The solution here is to format the Micro SD card.
- Move all of the videos and photos on the Micro SD card that you don’t want to lose to a folder on your computer before formatting the card.
- Open File Explorer on your computer so that you can see the drive when it pops up.
- Use the adapter that came with your card to plug it into your computer. It should show up as “USB Drive (D:)” or “USB Drive (E:)” or some other letter based on how many drives you have on your computer.
- Once it shows up in the file explorer you can right click on it to get an options box. One of the options will be “Format…”. Click on “Format…” a formatting box will pop up.
- You should be able to just click on the “Start” button, but to be safe the options should be as follows: Capacity = “14.8 GB”, File System = “FAT32 (Default)”, Allocation Unit Size = “8192 bytes”, the volume label should be blank, and the quick format box should be checked.
- Once you click “Start” a warning box will pop up asking if you want to continue. Be sure you are on the right drive as this will completely erase everything on it! Click on “OK”. Once it is done you will click on “OK” again, and then you can click “Close” on the formatting box.
If the issue is simply keeping track of photos and videos from multiple inspections the easiest thing to do is use separate Micro SD cards for each inspection.
Because the camera does not have an internal battery, there is no way for it to retain the date once it is turned off. The simplest solution is hold your phone in front of the camera for a moment at the beginning to show the date and time.