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Robot w/ many servos — Parallax Forums

Robot w/ many servos

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2001-12-15 15:37 in General Discussion
Greetings!

My daughter and I have decided to build a robot. We are intrigued by
the design of Lynxmotion's Hexapod 3, and have a few questions:

What are the power requirements for 18 servos? Lynxmotion uses HiTec
HS-85BB's on theirs, and they do indeed seem to have the most torque
for the size/price.

We have decided to use a BS2SX, with 3 Scott Edwards SSC's. If we
operate all four of those on the same 9v battery, how long will the
battery last?

Lynxmotion doesn't seem to have fleshed out the Hexapod 3, not
offering any electronics or programming. Does anyone have any
experience with this robot, or one like it?

If anyone has any helpful information, hints, or advice, it would be
greatly appreciated.

Regards,
RK

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2001-12-15 04:01
    A 9V battery is woefully inadequate to power the walker. You will need a
    much larger power source like "C" cells or rechargeables like the ones for
    RC model racers.

    Richard

    Original Message
    From: "rk_az" <rk_az@y...>
    To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
    Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 10:29 PM
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Robot w/ many servos


    > Greetings!
    >
    > My daughter and I have decided to build a robot. We are intrigued by
    > the design of Lynxmotion's Hexapod 3, and have a few questions:
    >
    > What are the power requirements for 18 servos? Lynxmotion uses HiTec
    > HS-85BB's on theirs, and they do indeed seem to have the most torque
    > for the size/price.
    >
    > We have decided to use a BS2SX, with 3 Scott Edwards SSC's. If we
    > operate all four of those on the same 9v battery, how long will the
    > battery last?
    >
    > Lynxmotion doesn't seem to have fleshed out the Hexapod 3, not
    > offering any electronics or programming. Does anyone have any
    > experience with this robot, or one like it?
    >
    > If anyone has any helpful information, hints, or advice, it would be
    > greatly appreciated.
    >
    > Regards,
    > RK
    >
    >
    > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    > from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
    Body of the message will be ignored.
    >
    >
    > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
    >
    >
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2001-12-15 04:44
    --- In basicstamps@y..., "rk_az" <rk_az@y...> wrote:
    > We have decided to use a BS2SX, with 3 Scott Edwards SSC's. If we
    > operate all four of those on the same 9v battery, how long will the
    > battery last?

    The bs2sx and 3 ssc's together will draw about 90 ma. About 1-3 hrs
    (depending on battery capacity) before it reaches the regulators
    dropout point. I would use 6 AAA, or AA if the weight is not to much.
    The servos will need larger batteries

    Rick
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2001-12-15 04:52
    Hello,

    Something you should also be careful of if you are
    going with the Hexapod 3, since it uses the HS-85BB
    Servos, make sure you do NOT OVERPOWER them, usually
    you can get away with hooking up a 7.2v NiCad pack
    with normal servos, however I have talked with people
    who have burned out the HS-85BB servos this way. No
    more than 4.8vDC should be applied to power these
    servos otherwise you will burn them out very easily,
    and they are expensive to replace. Just my 2 cents.
    --- rckbrwn <mycomminc@a...> wrote:
    > --- In basicstamps@y..., "rk_az" <rk_az@y...> wrote:
    > > We have decided to use a BS2SX, with 3 Scott
    > Edwards SSC's. If we
    > > operate all four of those on the same 9v battery,
    > how long will the
    > > battery last?
    >
    > The bs2sx and 3 ssc's together will draw about 90
    > ma. About 1-3 hrs
    > (depending on battery capacity) before it reaches
    > the regulators
    > dropout point. I would use 6 AAA, or AA if the
    > weight is not to much.
    > The servos will need larger batteries
    >
    > Rick
    >
    >
    > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    > from the same email address that you subscribed.
    > Text in the Subject and Body of the message will be
    > ignored.
    >
    >
    > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
    > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
    >
    >


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  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2001-12-15 14:06
    My son and I built the Hexapod Kit using all the parts supplied by
    Lynxmotion. This kit was one of the best kits I have every built. The nine
    volt battery last for a couple hours and the 7.2 volt RC battery last for
    about 1 hour. The servos supplied work very well. I would without
    hesitation recommend this kit.
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2001-12-15 14:57
    Hi all,

    Just to respond to some of the replies:

    Of course the 9v battery wouln't be used to power the servos. I
    meant only to power the stamp and ssc's with it. I reckon I could
    always draw their power from the same source used for the servos.

    Any idea why the HS-85BB's in particular are not recommended for over-
    powering? The Lynxmotion site said the same thing. Does anyone know
    of another high-torque micro that would be better? Or should I use
    bigger servos and build a bigger robot to accomodate them?

    We actually don't plan to buy the Hexapod 3 kit. Partly because they
    don't have any electronics or programs available for it yet, and
    partly because it is on the pricey side. I think we can build it
    ourselves, and buy servos elsewhere much cheaper (sorry Lynxmotion!).

    Thanks to those who responded, and any other input is welcome.

    Regards,
    RK
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2001-12-15 15:37
    Some of the ball-bearing micro servos have super torque-to-weight ratio
    compared to standard servos, but are a fit pricey. I would think for maximum
    longevity, at minimum you would want standard ball-bearing servos, and
    possibly metal gears as well. If you need 8 servos you will wind up spending
    most of you budget on them and not the control stuff.

    At any rate, assume that you will use 4 AA batteries or a 7.2 NiCad pack and
    start comparing torque & weight specs for all the different servos that will
    work at these voltages. Be sure they don't require more current than your
    battery pack can supply.

    Original Message

    > Of course the 9v battery wouln't be used to power the servos. I
    > meant only to power the stamp and ssc's with it. I reckon I could
    > always draw their power from the same source used for the servos.
    >
    > Any idea why the HS-85BB's in particular are not recommended for over-
    > powering? The Lynxmotion site said the same thing. Does anyone know
    > of another high-torque micro that would be better? Or should I use
    > bigger servos and build a bigger robot to accomodate them?
    >
    > We actually don't plan to buy the Hexapod 3 kit. Partly because they
    > don't have any electronics or programs available for it yet, and
    > partly because it is on the pricey side. I think we can build it
    > ourselves, and buy servos elsewhere much cheaper (sorry Lynxmotion!).
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