Servos
- Introduction to RC servos
A "servo" is a generic term used for an automatic control system. It comes from the Latin word "servus" - slave. In practical terms, that means a mechanism that you can set and forget, and which adjusts itself during continued operation through feedback. Disk drives, for example, contain a servo system insuring that they spin at a desired constant speed by measuring their current rotation, and speeding up or slowing down as necessary to keep that speed.
What is "feedback"? Think about driving a car, and wanting to keep your speed smack on 55 MPH. You are cruising along, and occasionally glance at the speedometer. If your speed is under 55, you press down harder on the gas pedal. If your speed is over 55, you lift your foot. The speedometer gives you feedback - information about how fast you really are going. The brain uses this to decide whether to press down or raise the foot. This is also known as "closed loop" control.
An automobile's "cruise control" is a closed loop system that works similar to the way that you do while driving. You establish a set point, and if the speed is below that, the cruise control presses down on the gas pedal.
The most common consumer-visible servo is that used to operate radio controlled (RC) model planes, boats, and other gadgets.
These are small boxes that contain:- a DC electric motor,
- gears with an output shaft,
- position-sensing mechanism,
- and control circuitry.
The controlling intelligence, in this case the operator of the model, indicates to the servo the position that the output shaft should have. The position-sensing mechanism tells the servo what position the shaft currently has. The control circuitry notes the difference between the desired position and the current position, and uses the motor to "make it so". If the difference in position is large, the motor moves rapidly to the correct position; if the difference is small, the adjustment is more subtle. As for the operator, all he knows is that he moved a slider half-way up, and the rudder on his model plane moved to the center position, and will stay there until he moves the slider again.
Types and availability of RC servos
There are numerous types of servos. They differ in their precision, speed, and strength - all of which are reflected in price. This is as it should be - you shouldn't have to pay for a ball-bearing, metal-gear, high-precision servo, when your application can get by with a cheaper kind. The radio controlled model market is evidently a lucrative one - there are numerous companies making RC servos: Airtronics, Cirrus, FMA Direct, Futaba, Hitec, JR, Ko Propo, Multiplex, Tower Hobbies.
Although the array of manufacturers may seem daunting, it is only a good thing. It gives you lots of choices, and lowers the prices.
Servo Connectors
The good news is that all of these servos feed off of the same electrical connections: roughly 6VDC to power the thing, and a PWM pulse stream to indicate position. The bad news is that just about everybody formerly used a different connector layout for these same signals. If you are using an Airtronics, you can't just plug a Futaba in its place. Luckily, this silliness has been noticed - there is an entire industry that revolves around replacing the various connectors with a plug-compatible arrangement. And, as time marches on, the various brands slowly converge on a standard.
If you need to mix and match different types of servos, this connection information may help:brand universal positive wire negative wire signal wire Airtronics(old) NO Red Black, middle pin Black, White, or Blue Airtronics/Sanwa T(old) NO Red, outside pin Black, middle pin White or Yellow, inside pin Airtronics/Sanwa Z YES Red, middle pin Black, outside pin Blue or Yellow, inside pin Futaba J NO Red, middle pin Black, outside pin White, inside pin Hitec S YES Red, middle pin Black, outside pin Yellow, inside pin Japan Radio (JR) YES Red, middle pin Brown, outside pin Orange, inside pin Tower Hobbies YES Red, middle pin Black, outside pin White, inside pin
Notes:- If you purchase a new servo, it should come with a connection diagram. Keep it on file someplace!
- Connector chaos is slowly going away, as manufacturers become more standardized. The standard connector is sometimes called a "universal" connector.
- If you buy a used servo, or remove a servo from old equipment it may have a strange old connector. The connector may even have been replaced or modified in the past. Use caution!
- Just about all modern servo connectors put the positive power in the middle. With this arrangement, plugging in a servo backwards won't hurt anything - it simply won't work.
- The modern Futaba "J" connector has a little polarization tab that must be ground off if its going into other connectors.
- Most older Futaba radio systems use a "G" plug, which doesn't physically match any other units.
- Some old Airtronics connectors have a thin light grey or white stripe lead on the positive lead, pin 3.
- The old Airtronics with three ridges on top can be plugged into modern sockets if you shave off the ridges and reposition the wires.
- The direction of rotation is opposite for Futaba and JR.
- In general, Black or Brown wire is negative; red wire is positive; other colors (blue, white, yellow) are signal.
- Most servos are designed to work on 6 volts. Some special servos may require a lower voltage (e.g. a micro servo may be limited to 4.8 volts) and others may require higher voltage (e.g. high powered servos).
Driving RC servos As has already been mentioned, all RC servos have three connections: power (positive), power (ground or negative), and the controlling signal. We are going to assume that you are smart enough to hook up the power leads to a battery or suitable substitute. The interesting part is the control signal. An RC servo motor doesn't just run when you give it power. It's an intelligent device, and you must tell it what you want it to do. You need something that drives the servo with that control signal.
Powering RC Servos Most servos require a power supply between 4.8V and 6.0V. The higher the voltage, the faster the servo will move and the more torque it will have. Check the specifications before you buy. Example: the Hitec HS-50 Ultra-Micro "feather" runs only on 4.8 volts.
Theory of Driving RC servos The servo is controlled by a series of pulses, wherein the length of the pulse indicates the position to take. pulse width angle comment :pulse width angle comment 0.6m Sec -45 degrees minimum pulse length 1.5m Sec 0 degrees center position 2.4 mSec -45 degrees maximum pulse length
Notes:- Increasing the pulse width by 10 µSec results in about a degree of movement on the output shaft.
- These numbers are nominal, and vary slightly between manufacturers and models. For example, the HiTech HS81 likes pulses between 0.74 mSec and 2.14 mSec.
- The rate at which these pulses are sent isn't terribly important - only the width of the pulse. Some typical rates are 400 Hz (2.5 mSec pulse spacing) and 50 Hz (20 mSec pulse spacing).
So, the short story is, if you can make a series of electrical pulses, you can rotate the servo shaft through a range of 90 degrees. And that 90 degree range of rotation can open and close the jaw of a skull, move eyeballs left and right, point a finger, or do all sorts of creepy animation.
The driving pulse is usually specified as 3-5 Volt Peak to Peak, but I suspect that in many cases you can get by with whatever power the motor is getting. I would avoid using a drive pulse greater than the motor power.
