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Boebot kit for Arduino servo question — Parallax Forums

Boebot kit for Arduino servo question

mindfieldmindfield Posts: 1
edited 2013-02-22 08:52 in General Discussion
I have just bought a Boebot kit for arduino which includes a pair of servo motors. My problem is with one of the servos, it always jerks forward a fraction of a second,then it will follow the codes whatever it is, this always jerking (or rolling) forward is troublesome because it could affect the general direction of the robot whenever I would test the unit, it's very strange since the right servo is not exhibiting this behaviour only the left one. Any ideas?

Comments

  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2013-02-22 06:55
    You could post your code (inside code tags) and we could take a look, but this is just life in the big city. This tends to happen with any microcontroller, not just the Arduino using the BOE shield. The problem is that as the microcontroller is booting up and is initializing, the servos have power but aren't being commanded to do anything. Absent any proper signals from the microcontroller the noise on the line tends to cause some jerking like that.
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2013-02-22 08:52
    Be sure your batteries are fresh. Try unplugging the "good" servo, and plug the one you're having trouble with in its place. Same problem? Are you powering the BOE Shield only from your computer's USB port? That's not good. The servos will attempt to draw too much current from the port.

    Remember that the BOE Shield wants >6 volts. Power it from 5 AA cells. Be sure to use the 5th cell adapter that came with your kit.

    -- Gordon
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