Servo motors

solenoid

Overview

In hackSpace we have two types of servomotors; ones that can rotate to 180 degrees and ones that can rotate to 360 degrees, however they work on a same principles. They rotate fully forward or backwards instead of moving to a position. They are very similar to stepper motors, but they are less accurate (very good for prototyping). You can use any servo code, hardware or library to control these servos. Good for making simple moving robots. Comes with four different horns, as shown. They may require some simple calibration, simply tell the servo to ‘stop’ and then gently adjust the potentiometer in the recessed hole with a small screwdriver until the servo stops moving.

To control with an Arduino, you have positive and negative to 5V and GND, and I would suggest connecting the control wire to pin 9 or 10 and using the Servo library included with the Arduino IDE (see below for an example sketch).

 

Health & safety

  • Ensure you are familiar with all H&S rules that apply to the environment you are working in.
  • Identify where first aid can be found in your work space
  • Keep all components dry and free from liquid spillages
  • To avoid static, make sure your work surface is sufficiently earthed