Hello,
I have a project I’m controlling thru VSA and Helmsman using the SSC-32U USB Servo Controller.
I also have the Gatekeeper board and an relays.
I would like to turn off the servo’s when not required.
I’m not sure what would be the best method to approach this or the proper wiring for the relays and integration.
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave,
One simple way to cut drive to the servomotors is to send a pulse of either 0 (LOW) or 65535 (HIGH). This will completely stop sending a PWM signal. With most servomotors, this causes the driving circuit to cut-off all power to the motor. There is still a very small current use from the on-board electronics for the servomotors, but it is rather negligible compared to the motors themselves.
If you want to cut-off the power completely to the servomotors using relays, you could use some of the SSC-32U’s outputs to send a control signal (5 V DC) using the values 0/65535.
For the relay wiring, you could connect the VCC (typically red) or GND (typically black) wires of each servomotor through a relay (either NC or NO, depending on wanted behavior). Then, you wire the common pin of those relays to the proper pin (VCC / GND) on the SSC-32U for that motor channel. You then wire a SSC-32U channel to the relay’s control pin. This will be used as a digital signal to control the state of the relays.
We hope this helps!
Sincerely,