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Servo Voltage — Parallax Forums

Servo Voltage

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2003-05-04 18:19 in General Discussion
I have a new Board of Education and the Robotics Part Kit. The BOE
package has a sticker on it that says, "The input power for the servo
connector socket comes directly from the VIN .... you will never want
to power the board with more that 6.5 VDC ... as the servo could be
damaged beyond repair."

I'm assuming that the "servo" is the motor that came with the
Robotics Part Kit, which is a Parallax STD PM BB HT HS

I like to work using the power supply that came with the kit which
supplies 9 VDC. I would prefer to not have to use the battery pack.
Is there some way to lower the voltage from the power supply or
protect the servos?

(As you can see, my electronics knowledge is pretty low.)

Mario

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2002-12-19 05:28
    On the bottom of your BOE you'll find a point called Vservo. In production,
    it is connected to Vin (also marked on the bottom of the board). You can cut
    the link between the two and solder a jumper between Vservo and Vdd -- this
    will run your servos at five volts from the BOE regulator.

    Be careful with this -- you're performing [noparse][[/noparse]minor] surgery on your BOE. If
    you have any doubts, call the guys in our tech support department; they can
    help you through it.

    -- Jon Williams
    -- Parallax

    PS: Not that it will help you at the moment, but I just saw a prototype of
    the next version BOE and it has a moveable jumper [noparse][[/noparse]sandwiched between the
    servo connectors so it has to be moved deliberately]. The new BOE also has a
    power switch like on the Toddler/Sumo board. Not sure when it will go into
    production, like I said, it was a prototype board.


    In a message dated 12/18/2002 10:57:52 PM Central Standard Time,
    mario.guttman@w... writes:

    > I have a new Board of Education and the Robotics Part Kit. The BOE
    > package has a sticker on it that says, "The input power for the servo
    > connector socket comes directly from the VIN .... you will never want
    > to power the board with more that 6.5 VDC ... as the servo could be
    > damaged beyond repair."
    >
    > I'm assuming that the "servo" is the motor that came with the
    > Robotics Part Kit, which is a Parallax STD PM BB HT HS
    >
    > I like to work using the power supply that came with the kit which
    > supplies 9 VDC. I would prefer to not have to use the battery pack.
    > Is there some way to lower the voltage from the power supply or
    > protect the servos?
    >
    > (As you can see, my electronics knowledge is pretty low.)
    >
    > Mario



    [noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-05-04 04:13
    Hi Stampers,

    I have a simple question about the voltage for HiTec servo's. I was
    looking at the schematic for my board of education and it show the
    postive voltages for the servo connectors are at vin potential. I was
    a little worried about this because my (unloaded) Vin is 16 volts. In
    the data sheet for the HS-311 Hitec servo's show a input voltage of
    4.8V to 6V. Is it safe to hook them up to BOE? Do the Servo's have
    voltage regulator's. If so what is a safe voltage range for them.

    Thanks,
    -Chris Ross
    Portland, Oregon
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-05-04 18:19
    Hi Chris

    I had to buy a 6vdc "wall wart" and abandon the a.c.
    adapter that came with the B.O.E. kit. I have futaba
    servos and anything I have read says servos can't
    handle anything above 7 volts in general. So I guess
    they don't have built in regulators.

    Regards

    --- Christopher Ross <tlcruiser1970@y...> wrote:
    > Hi Stampers,
    >
    > I have a simple question about the voltage for
    > HiTec servo's. I was
    > looking at the schematic for my board of education
    > and it show the
    > postive voltages for the servo connectors are at vin
    > potential. I was
    > a little worried about this because my (unloaded)
    > Vin is 16 volts. In
    > the data sheet for the HS-311 Hitec servo's show a
    > input voltage of
    > 4.8V to 6V. Is it safe to hook them up to BOE? Do
    > the Servo's have
    > voltage regulator's. If so what is a safe voltage
    > range for them.
    >
    > Thanks,
    > -Chris Ross
    > Portland, Oregon
    >
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