Servos
The material presented is taken from a variety of
sources including:
http://www.seattlerobotics.org/guide/servos.html,
http://www.baldor.com/pdf/manuals/1205-394.pdf,
and Parallax educational materials at
http://learn.parallax.com/
Overview
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Servo motors are used for angular
positioning. They typically have a
movement range of 180 deg but
can go up to 210 deg.
The output shaft of a servo does
not rotate freely. It seeks a
particular angular position under
electronic control.
Servos are typically rated by torque
and speed. A servo rated 40 ouncein/.21 means that at 1 inch from
the hub, the servo can exert 40
ounces of force and move 60 deg in
0.21 sec.
What makes a Servo
Servo motors and are constructed out of basic DC
motors, by adding:
• some gear reduction
• a position sensor for the motor shaft
• an electronic circuit that controls the motor's
operation
 The basic hobby servo has a 180:1
gear ratio. The motor is typically
small.
 Typically, a potentiometer (variable
resistor) measures the position of
the output shaft at all times.
 An informative link
Feed-back loop
open-loop
closed-loop
Control
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An external controller (such as the
Arduino) tells the servo where to go
with a signal know as pulse
proportional modulation (PPM) or
pulse code modulation (which is
often confused with pulse width
modulation, PWM).
PPM uses 1 to 2ms out of a 20ms
time period to encode information.
PPM
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A control wire communicates the angular
movement. The angle is determined by the
duration of the pulse on the control wire.
The servo expects a pulse every 20 millisec
(.02 seconds). The length of the pulse
determines how far the motor turns.
For a 1.5 millisecond pulse, the motor
turns to the 90 degree position (i.e., the
neutral position).
If the pulse is shorter than 1.5 ms, the
motor turns the shaft to closer to 0
degrees. If the pulse is longer than 1.5ms,
the shaft turns closer to 180 degrees.
PPM
• Each pulse is from 1300 to 1700 microsec (μs) in duration
• The pulses repeat about 50 times each second---once every 20 millisec
PPM
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The amount of power applied to the
motor is proportional to the
distance to be traveled.
If the shaft needs to turn a large
distance, the motor runs at full
speed.
If it needs to turn a small amount,
the motor runs at a slower speed.
Modified Servos
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Servo motors can also be retrofitted to
provide continuous rotation:
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Not always
necessary
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Remove mechanical limit (revert back to DC
motor shaft).
Remove pot position sensor (no need to
know position) and replace it with 2 equalvalued resistors with a combined resistance
equivalent to that of the pot. Makes the
servo “think” it is in the 90 deg position.
Modified Servos
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The idea is to make the servo think that
the output shaft is always at the 90
degree mark.
This is done by removing the feedback
sensor, and replacing it with an
equivalent circuit that creates the same
readings as the sensor at 90 degrees.
Then, the control signal for 0 degrees
causes the motor to turn full speed in
one direction. The signal for 180
degrees causes the motor to turn full
speed the other direction.
Since the feedback from the output
shaft is disconnected, the servo
continues in the specified direction as
long as the signal remains.
Parallax Servos
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The parallax servos are modified
servos with the potentiometer
intact.
The potentiometer (a.k.a., pot)
should be adjusted to make the
servo think that it is at the 90
degree mark.
Parallax Servo Connections
Servo Connector:
Black – ground
Red – power
White – signal
Connecting to the Arduino
Calibration Program
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myServo;
void setup() {
myServo.attach(9);
myServo.writeMicroseconds(1500); // Stop
}
void loop() { }
Demonstration Program
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myServo; // Create Servo object
void setup() {
myServo.attach(9); // Servo is connected to digital pin 9
}
void loop() {
myServo.writeMicroseconds(1700); // Counter clockwise
delay(2000);
// Wait 2 seconds
myServo.writeMicroseconds(1300); // Clockwise
delay(2000);
myServo.writeMicroseconds(1500); // Stop
delay(2000);
}
Using Two Servos and Angles to
Specify Movement
#include <Servo.h>
Servo servoLeft;
// Define left servo
Servo servoRight; // Define right servo
void setup() {
servoLeft.attach(10); // left servo on pin 10
servoRight.attach(9); // right servo on pin 9
}
void loop() {
forward();
// move forward
delay(2000); // wait 2000 millisec
reverse();
delay(2000);
turnRight();
delay(2000);
turnLeft();
delay(2000);
stopRobot();
http://www.robotoid.com
delay(2000);
}
Using Two Servos and Angles to
Specify Movement---continued
void forward() {
servoLeft.write(0);
servoRight.write(180);
}
void reverse() {
servoLeft.write(180);
servoRight.write(0);
}
void turnRight() {
servoLeft.write(180);
servoRight.write(180);
}
void turnLeft() {
servoLeft.write(0);
servoRight.write(0);
}
void stopRobot() {
servoLeft.write(90);
servoRight.write(90);
}