Q&A

This section covers common issues you may encounter when using the Raspberry Pi car. Follow the checks below first, then contact technical support if the problem still remains.

Note

After the first boot following flashing, the car may need some time to initialize. If the OLED screen stays blank, wait about 1 minute, power the car off, and then power it on again as described in 2.Assemble Smart Car.

No camera image appears in the app

  • Symptom: The app connects, but the video window is blank or stops updating.

  • Possible Causes:

    1. The camera cable is loose.

    2. The Raspberry Pi camera connector is not seated correctly.

  • Solutions:

    1. Power off the car.

    2. Reconnect the camera cable and make sure the connector is fully inserted.

    3. Power the car on again and reconnect from the app.

The buzzer beeps twice or four times repeatedly

  • Symptom: The buzzer sounds in a regular warning pattern during use.

  • Possible Causes:

    1. The battery voltage is low.

  • Solutions:

    1. Replace the batteries with fully charged 18650 batteries.

    2. Recharge the removed batteries before using them again.

The OLED screen does not display anything after flashing and powering on

  • Symptom: The OLED screen remains blank after the car is powered on.

  • Possible Causes:

    1. The first boot initialization has not finished yet.

    2. The car has not been restarted after the first successful flash.

  • Solutions:

    1. Wait about 1 minute after the first boot.

    2. Power the car off and then power it on again.

    3. If the Wi-Fi configuration is correct, the OLED screen should display the car’s IP address after restart.

The ultrasonic obstacle avoidance function does not work well

  • Symptom: The car does not avoid obstacles reliably.

  • Possible Causes:

    1. The obstacle is too short for the ultrasonic sensor to detect.

    2. The obstacle is too close or positioned outside the effective detection range.

  • Solutions:

    1. Use obstacles that are at least 10 cm tall.

    2. Keep the obstacle in front of the car with enough distance for detection.

The OLED screen does not show the IP address

  • Symptom: The car powers on, but the OLED screen does not show an IP address or shows incorrect startup information.

  • Possible Causes:

    1. The Wi-Fi name, password, or country setting was entered incorrectly during flashing.

    2. The image may not have been flashed successfully.

  • Solutions:

    1. Review the Wi-Fi configuration in 1.System Burning&Configuration, especially Step 5.

    2. Re-flash the image and enter the Wi-Fi settings again.

    3. Restart the car after flashing is complete.

The app cannot connect even though the OLED shows an IP address

  • Symptom: The OLED screen shows a valid IP address, but the phone or computer app cannot connect to the car.

  • Possible Causes:

    1. The phone or computer is not connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the car.

    2. The main service on the Raspberry Pi is not running normally.

  • Solutions:

    1. Make sure the car and your phone or computer are connected to the same local network.

    2. Use SSH or VNC to access the Raspberry Pi and run sudo systemctl status main-server.service to check the service status.

    3. If needed, run sudo systemctl start main-server.service or restart the car, then try connecting again.

If you still need help, please contact technical support:

  • tech_edu_service@outlook.com