Servo Motors

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     A servo motor is a dc, ac, or brushless dc motor combined with a position sensing device(e.g. a digital decoder). In this section, our discussion will be focused on the three-wire DC servo motors that are often used for controlling surfaces on model airplanes. A three-wire DC servo motor incorporates a DC motor, a geartrain, limit stops beyond which the shaft cannot turn, a potentiometer for position feedback, and an integrated circuit for position control.Of the three wires protruding from the motor casig, one is for power, one is for ground, and one is a control input where a pulse-width signals to what position the motor should servo. As long as the coded signal exists on the input line, the servo will maintain the angular position of the shaft. As the coded signal changes, the angular position of the shaft changes. Servos are extremely useful in robotics. The motors are small and are extremely powerful for thier size. A standard servo such as the Futaba S-148 has 42 oz/inches of torque, which is pretty strong for its size. It also draws power proportional to the mechanical load. A lightly loaded servo, therefore, doesn't consume much energy. The guts of a servo motor are shown in the picture below. You can see the control circuitry, the motor, a set of gears, and the case. You can also see the 3 wires that connect to the outside world. One is for power (+5volts), ground, and the white wire is the control wire. 

  So, how does a servo work? The servo motor has some control circuits and a potentiometer (a variable resistor, aka pot) that is connected to the output shaft. The potentiometer allows the control circuitry to monitor the current angle of the servo motor. If the shaft is at the correct angle, then the motor shuts off. If the circuit finds that the angle is not correct, it will turn the motor the correct direction until the angle is correct. The output shaft of the servo is capable of travelling somewhere around 180 degrees. Usually, its somewhere in the 210 degree range, but it varies by manufacturer. A normal servo is used to control an angular motion of between 0 and 180 degrees. A normal servo is mechanically not capable of turning any farther due to a mechanical stop built on to the main output gear. The amount of power applied to the motor is proportional to the distance it needs to travel. So, if the shaft needs to turn a large distance, the motor will run at full speed. If it needs to turn only a small amount, the motor will run at a slower speed. This is called proportional control. How do you communicate the angle at which the servo should turn? The control wire is used to communicate the angle. The angle is determined by the duration of a pulse that is applied to the control wire. This is called Pulse Coded Modulation. The servo expects to see a pulse every 20 milliseconds (.02 seconds). The length of the pulse will determine how far the motor turns. A 1.5 millisecond pulse, for example, will make the motor turn to the 90 degree position (often called the neutral position). If the pulse is shorter than 1.5 ms, then the motor will turn the shaft to closer to 0 degress. If the pulse is longer than 1.5ms, the shaft turns closer to 180 degrees.

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Servo motors have been around for years. Because of their small size, they are widely used by hobbyists and collectors to operate remote-controlled or radio-controlled toy cars and robots and even airplanes. Servo motors can also be found in one form or another in industrial devices where robotics are necessary. Servo motors can be found across a number of industries, from pharmaceutics to food services. This article will provide some background about servo motors, including what they are, how they work and how they are used. ï
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