Hi,
Just wondering what the maximum amperage of the NetMedia 8T Super servo controller is robotshop.com/netmedia-8t-super-servo-controller.html. I am looking to run the RobotShop M100RAK with it, however Ive noted that the maximum amperage of the servos goes up to 1.8A, which is quite high, while the Super servo controller states that 1A should be available to servos. Im not sure if this is a maximum rating though. Any help would be appreciated
-Team 06
Hi,
The winch servo operates using normal servo pulses (500us to 2500us) and can therefore be used with this servo controller. The vast majority of servos however can only rotate 180 degrees given this range of input, which is why it is stated as 180 degrees in the manual. You can use the winch servo (Hitec HS-785HB) with any standard servo controller.
Sincerely,
The servo’s gearing is secondary to the measurement (aside from friction) since it is likely related to the current and voltage. Based on the manual (page 2/12) “In attempting to drive the error to zero, the servo will apply power to the motor to oppose the torque. The CPU on the board analyzes this condition.” Each servo will need to be calibrated individually, and this takes into consideration the gearing, motor etc.
We have contacted the manufacturer to see what happens when you use external power.
The manufacturer informs us the board can handle about 2A per servo. Power for the sevo needs to be supplied through the power connector on the circuit board for the current feedback to function.
Sincerely,
Hi TEAM06,
Welcome to the RobotShop Forum. The manual indicates they suggest 1A per servo, which means the board in theory can handle up to 8A (peak). There is also a jumper which allows you to use external power (which is likely given that an RS232 port can only handle a few hundred mA. We have contacted the manufacturer to be certain and will get back to you here once we receive a reply.
Sincerely,
I noticed that the Board says it can only rotate servos to 180 degrees extended range… Because the Winch servos have to rotate through 1000 or so degrees, does this mean that the motor being geared down will have a extremely small range of motion?
If this is so, could you recommend a suitable servo controller? It would preferably have current sensing ability, and if not, analog input so we could measure the current using a resistor etc.
Regards,
Michael
Hi Cbenson,
Thanks for that.
We are looking to use the torque measurement functionality of the board, primarily. Would the gearing of the servos affect this measurement? If so, can we adjust something in the programming of the board to counteract this?
If we were using external power, can the board still read the torque? Just wondering as the torque would be read from the current.
-Team 06
