Ok, I know right off people are going to want to respond with “Nope, can’t do it”.
I bought a few of these (CS-160s) just to see how well they would work, because they are much cheaper then the Hitec equivalents. So far, its turning from about 750ms to 2250ms. This is a software limitation, as I took it apart to check, it is very mechanically capable of 180degrees.
It is running a ATmega8L-8AU inside of it (the other letters, 0627I, I assume thats some sort of date code?)
Does anyone know how the programming for the Hitec digitals works? I am just wondering how much of a difference there is between the two servos really. Is it only software, and is there maybe a way to reprogram the Atmel?
(And I should add, if anyone has experience with programming atmels and hacking stuff, etc, and they wanted to borrow a hobbico servo to try their hand at it, they can borrow one of mine. (But only one mind, the other three are going to get used in my tripod)
I have not seen any literature which says the Hobbico servo is programmable in the same way as some of the Hitec servos. If there is a programmer from Hobbico, then it would be good to know.
The Hitec programmable servos use a serial interface on the servo control signal. The changed parameters are written to on chip EEPROM. Though the Hitec servos are flash based, and have a bootloader, I have not been able to read or write the flash code. I simply emulate the programmer.
Usually the lock bits on the processor are set to prevent reading through the SPI. Even so it would require too much work to disassemble the code and find the parameters to change.
Maybe you can check with Hobbyco, if a programmer is planned.
To avoid being in your “Nope, can’t do it” group. Might I suggest a different approach to get 180 degree motion.
You will see from the schematics of the Hitec servos, that the pot voltage is simply measured by the ADC input on the processor. If you add a resistor to each end of the potentiometer, then the POT will have to move further to reach the same change in voltage expected by the processor. Of course the 750 to 2250 microsec range would now cover a larger angle.
I have info direct from Hitec USA. That servo is not programmable with the Hitec wares. It was part of the tradeoff for the lower price. I could go into more detail, but was asked not to.
