Servo Motor Controllers and Drives
Controller can manage up to 8 servo motors.
Press Release Summary:
Operating from 6-15 V, 1061 - PhidgetAdvancedServo 8-Motor can produce smooth, fluid movements by controlling position, velocity, and acceleration of up to 8 RC servo motors and also measures their current consumption. Switching regulator, used to provide power to motors over entire power supply voltage range, also isolates motors from normal fluctuations in voltage and protects against overvoltage as well as reverse voltage. Updated 50 times/sec, PWM to servo has resolution of .007°.
Original Press Release:
The 1061 PhidgetAdvancedServo 8-Motor can Control 8 Servo Motors with a PWM Resolution of 0.007°
Users can produce smooth, fluid movements by controlling the motors' position, acceleration and velocity.
CALGARY, Alberta, July 30, 2008 - Phidgets Inc. released the 1061 - PhidgetAdvancedServo 8-Motor which allows users to control the position, velocity, and acceleration of up to 8 RC servo motors. The PWM to the servo is updated 50 times per seconds and has a resolution of .007º. The 1061 replaces the 1001 - PhidgetServo 4-Motor.
The 1061 uses a switching regulator in order to efficiently provide power to the motors over the entire power supply voltage range. The regulator isolates the motors from normal fluctuations in voltage due, for example, to the charge level of a battery. The regulator also protects the motors from overvoltage and reverse voltage.
"We have had many requests from our customers for a servo motor controller that could drive larger Servo Motors than the ones that our current 1-Motor Controller and our now discontinued 4-Motor controller can handle" says Chester Fitchett, CEO of Phidgets. " As we were designing the new product, we decided to go past building a basic controller and add functionality that allows smoother operation of the servo motors." Added Chester.
The 1061 also measures the current being consumed from each servo motor. This feature is useful to assert if the motor is attached and functioning (not consuming any current) or if it is stalled (consuming maximum current).
Product Specifications
o Pulse Code Period: Typical: 20ms - Maximum: 25ms
o Minimum Pulse Width: 83.3ns
o Maximum Pulse Width: 2.7307ms
o Output Impedance (control): 600 Ohms
o Position Resolution: 0.0078125º (15-bit)
o Lower Position Limit: -22.9921875º
o Upper Position Limit: 233º
o Velocity Resolution: 0.390625º/s (14-bit)
o Velocity Limit: 6400º/s
o Acceleration Resolution: 19.53125º/s2 (14-bit)
o Acceleration Limit: 320000º/s2
o Time Resolution: 83.3ns
o Minimum Power Supply Voltage: 6V
o Maximum Power Supply Voltage: 15V
o Maximum Motor Current Surge: 1.6A
o Motor Overcurrent Trigger (combined): 12A
o Operating Motor Voltage: 5.0V
o Device Current Consumption: 36mA max
Software Environment
"Unlike a lot of our competitor's products that require their users to write some firmware code in order to use their sensor, we are completely "Plug and Play" says Bernard Rousseau, Director of Marketing. "With Phidgets, you plug it in and start using it and when it comes to programming, the user, not us, decides which operating system and which computer language he wants to use", added Rousseau.
Users can program Phidgets using a simple yet powerful and well documented Application Programming Interfade (API) that is supported under Windows (2000, XP, Vista), Windows CE, Mac OS X, and Linux. Users can write programs in Visual Basic, VB.NET, C#, C/C++, Flash/Flex, Java, Labview, Matlab, ActionScript 3.0, and Cocoa.
Phidgets also provides programming examples for all its products to help programmers write their own programs. The API Libraries as well as the examples and the documentation are available at no charge on Phidgets.com.
Pricing and Availability
The 1061 PhidgetAdvancedServo 8-Motor is available now. The suggested resale price is $90.00 Canadian.
About Phidgets
Phidgets, Inc. is a technology leader in the design and manufacture of low-cost control and sensing modules connected to personal computers through the USB port. Phidgets products are ideally suited for fast prototyping. The privately held company is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Contact Information
Bernard Rousseau
Director of Marketing
Address: Phidgets Inc.
2715A 16A Street N.W.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2M 3R7
Web Site: Phidgets.com
Phone: 1-403-282-7335
Fax: 1-403-282-7332
E-mail: bernard@phidgets.com
Sales Inquiries: sales@phidgets.com
