Servo Motors & Controllers

1. What is a servo motor?

• A servo motor is a rotary actuator or a motor that allows for a precise control in terms of the angular position, acceleration, and velocity. The motor can take angles as input and precisely rotate the given angle using a feedback loop. The servo motor has major industrial applications for high technology devices.  

2. What type of motor is a servo motor?

• Servo motor is a type of DC motor, but unlike DC motor, it also comes with an encoder and microchip to form a feedback mechanism that allows it to rotate at precise angles. 

DC Servo Motors:

A DC servo motor consists of a small DC motor, feedback potentiometer, gearbox, motor drive electronic circuit and electronic feedback control loop. It is more or less similar to the normal DC motor. 

3. What is the difference between a servo motor and a DC motor?

DC motors are used in applications where the motor is required to give out a rotational speed, while servo motors are used in applications where precise angles are desired.

3. Are servo motors AC or DC?

• Servo motors come in both AC and DC varieties. If the servo motor is made of a DC motor, it will be called a DC servo motor. If the servo motor is made using an AC motor, then the servo motor is said to AC servo motor

4. Can servo motors rotate 360 degrees?

• More expensive servo motors tend to be capable of rotating full 360 degrees. However, lower priced servo motors are usually locked to a certain range of angles.
• The MG995 360° has accurate positioning, quick control response and excellent holding power.  It is equipped with a 3-wire JR servo plug which is compatible with Futaba connectors.

5. How are servo motors controlled?

• Servo motors are to be controlled using a microcontroller. It comes with 3 connectors, positive, negative and input. The positive and negative are to be connected to VCC and GND while the input connector can be connected to any digital pin of any microcontroller.

6. Which is better - A servo motor vs a stepper motor?

• Servo motors offer more precision than a stepper motor, while stepper motors tend to be cheaper and have the capability of full 360 degree rotation. Stepper motor also suffers from torque degradation at higher speeds, as compared to servo.

7. What are the advantages of a servo motor?

Servo motor offers accurate angular control for any rotating device. Applications for servo motors include steering wheels, robotic arms, angle adjustable solar panels, etc

Advantages of Servo Motors:

• The servo motors have high output power capacity relative to motor size and weight.
• It is equipped with an encoder that determines high accuracy and resolution.
• It has an efficiency upto 90% for light loads.
• Servo motors can rapidly accelerate load since they have a high torque to inertia ratio.
• Servo motors achieve high speed at high torque values and operate quietly at high speeds.