Nick from Gadget Gangster is one guy in the suppliers business who has truly understood that if you support the community, the community supports your business.
I originally bought one of he's "Simple Servo Tester"'s a while back, and I really, really liked it. It was cheap, and did excactly what I needed.
However, somehow I managed to break mine - not sure if it was me, or this in fact is a piece of crap. I wrote with Nick because he was sponsoring other items to be reviewed, and I just happened to tell him that I loved the Simple Servo Tester, but I managed to break it.
He told me that personally he felt that it was too limited, and that there was development on the way, I think perhaps he even mentioned that there was other versions already. But that is not the point here.
The next thing that happend was that all the sudden I got mail from him - He'd actually send me a new thing. No letter, nothing, just a greeting from a guy who understands how to treat he's customers. I can say this, because I know that he treats other the same way.
So - in return, I decided to do an LMR review of the thing :)
I posted as a "tip", because this is a tip from me to you: If you build stuff with servos, do yourself a favour and get one of these.
The documentation says something about accuracy and what do I know. But to me this is purely a tool.
I tend not to do my programming before I have constructed the robot. And also, I tend not to plan a lot. What I do, is I have an idea, and I start building. Then, when (almost) done, I start programming.
This tool (for me) is perfect for when in building-mode. It is absolutely perfect for the job.
It is as simple as: Hook up a servo, turn the knob, and see the servo turn. Or two servos.
How many times dd I not sit and twist the servo by hand, trying to figure out how high or to the side, or what angle in which it should be placed? All the freakin time :)
But with this handy tool, you just plug in the servo, twist the knob, and see what Mr Robot will do with the tentacle. Instant pre-life while constructing!
I store it in my bucket of servos, ready to attach. Oh - also, if I want to know if one servo is faster or stronger than the other, hook up and Tjing!
Verdict: I can recommend this. Get yours here.
One irritating thing though; I realized that my old one was not broke. The design has a fault; The spikes that are to be send to the servo are not high enough. I talked to the designer of the board, and he agrees that "they are in the lower end". Shorting the LED out fixes this absolutely. But hmm, you know ;) But I still would not be without it! (now just without LED ;)
