BB-8 command sync response error

[toonr]

Hi,

I'm trying to program BB-8 with the Javascript API. I'm on Windows 10 and have installed all the necessary dependencies, and I am using a bluetooth 4.0 USB. When I run a basic script, f.e. just change the color of BB-8, the robot does it successfully. But when trying to get a response back, I always get the error:

Unhandled rejection Error: Command sync response was lost.
at Sphero.handler (C:\Users\toonr\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\sphero\lib\sphero.js:252:21)
at ontimeout (timers.js:380:14)
at tryOnTimeout (timers.js:244:5)
at Timer.listOnTimeout (timers.js:214:5)

Or, when using Cylon.js, a similar error:

Error: Command sync response was lost.
at Sphero.cb (C:\Users\toonr\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\cylon-sphero-ble\node_modules\sphero\lib\sphero.js:243:21)
at ontimeout (timers.js:380:14)
at tryOnTimeout (timers.js:244:5)
at Timer.listOnTimeout (timers.js:214:5)

Noble also throws a warning before this error, saying an unknown handle is disconnected.
So executing a command (or multiple) is working perfectly, but I can't seem to get data back from the BB-8. Any ideas on what the cause could be? Thanks in advance!

[xiangzhi]

It seemed to be a issue with the newest version noble(1.8.0). You should be able to avoid this by rolling back to noble@1.7.0. It will be great if we can figure out what in noble broke the code.

[toonr]

Thanks for the response! I'll test it out this week and will report back here.

[scheunemann]

I can confirm the experienced behavior with using my BB8.

Minimal script

var sphero = require("sphero"),
    bb8 = sphero("C9:35:XX:XX:XX:XX"); 

bb8.connect(function() {
  setInterval(function() {
    bb8.ping();
  }, 1000);
});

Error message (every second)

Unhandled rejection Error: Command sync response was lost.
at Sphero.handler (<NODE_MODULES>/sphero/lib/sphero.js:252:21)
at ontimeout (timers.js:380:14)
at tryOnTimeout (timers.js:244:5)
at Timer.listOnTimeout (timers.js:214:5)

System & Node

OS: Arch Linux
Kernel: 4.10.3-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Mar 15 09:17:17 CET 2017 x86_64 GNU/Linux
BlueZ: 5.44

Node: v6.10.1
Modules: noble@1.8.0 and sphero@0.9.2.

Workaround

Downgrade noble with npm install noble@1.7.0

[jasherone]

I think I have very common issue. Did you manage to fix that?

I am trying to use this https://github.com/charliegerard/leap_sphero.git

I tested on different versions of MacOS, but I still have the same issue.

Fixes tried
1/ I found that the issue could be caused by noble version 1.8.0. I downgraded noble to 1.7.0, but I still have the issue.

2/ Call ping() after connect() #37

Current Config
Mac OSX 10.12.6
Sphero model: S003, SPRK (not plus)
"express": "^4.16.2",
"leapjs": "^0.6.4",
"noble": "^1.7.0",
"serialport": "^3.1.2",
"sphero": "^0.9.2"

Issue
I only send roll commands to sphero, and I limit them to one command every 200ms.

Fist few commands execute instantly, but then after 10-20 seconds (about 30-50 commands), they suddenly they start lagging up to few seconds long lags and I was getting following message

Unhandled rejection Error: Command sync response was lost.
at Sphero.handler (/Users/martin/Workspace/LEAP Sphero MJ/node_modules/sphero/lib/sphero.js:252:21)
at ontimeout (timers.js:475:11)
at tryOnTimeout (timers.js:310:5)
at Timer.listOnTimeout (timers.js:270:5)

I tried sending commands more often and less often, it made no difference.

And I also tried waiting (for example 60 seconds) and then started sending commands. It looks like Sphero starts to lag 10-20 seconds after I start to send commands no matter how many commands I send and how much I waited before.

The error line is in this funcion:

/**

• Adds a promise to the queue, to be executed when a response
• gets back from the sphero.
• @Private
• @param {Array} cmdPacket the bytes array to be send through the wire
• @param {Function} resolve function to be triggered on success
• @param {Function} reject function to be triggered on failure
• @example
• sphero._execCommand(packet, resolve, reject);
• @return {void}
  */
  Sphero.prototype._queuePromise = function(cmdPacket, resolve, reject) {
  var seq = cmdPacket[4];
  var handler = function(err, packet) {
  clearTimeout(this.responseQueue[seq].timeoutId);
  this.responseQueue[seq] = null;
  this.busy = false;
  if (typeof resolve === "function") {
  if (!err && !!packet) {
  resolve(packet);
  } else {
  var error = new Error("Command sync response was lost.");
  reject(error);
  }
  }
  this._execCommand();
  };

[toonr]

Seems like your issue isn't quite similar to mine, since I got the error immediately after connecting to the Sphero and sending a single command. Downgrading the noble package partially solved the problem for me. But I ended up using Cylon.js, which did the trick for me.