2013/01/26

Hacking a servo: Part I

Motivation

Servos are probably the most popular actuator in DIY robotics today. Cheap, easy to use and easy to control, they are almost everything you want for your little robot. However, they're also quite limited, since they don't provide any feedback, or any information about how they're performing. This makes servos open loop systems, resulting in robots showing typical open loop issues.
Basically, your robot tells its servos to move to some position, and hopes they do it. Never knows whether servos have come to its target or they are stuck in the middle. Even when a servo doesn't get stuck, it's hard to predict where it actually is due to varying loads and initial conditions.
Most of the time, this is solved using an external sensor, like a potentiometer.
But some times there is no room for extra sensors in your robot, and even if there is, why bother when the servo has its own potentiometer inside?