Need some help for a science project.

I got the red wire out successfully, and when I put it into 5V, it felt pretty loose. Is it supposed to feel that way?

I'm really not sure what you're saying here.

Falchion:
I got the red wire out successfully, and when I put it into 5V, it felt pretty loose. Is it supposed to feel that way?

Note that the arduino can sometimes, depending on the servo, just about manage to power one. For the multiple ones you're going to need, you'll need a separate power supply for the servos. DuaneB's tutorials mentioned above should help you with how to wire them up.

Is this what its supposed to look like when you take the wire out?

Photo on 1-7-13 at 2.29 PM.jpg

Why did you remove the wire from the socket? What do you intend to attach it to?

edit: typo

wildbill:
Why did you remove the wire from the socket? What do you intent to attach it to?

The 5V port on the Arduino. Did I do something wrong? :~

Well normally at this stage of your project, you'd be more likely to use some breadboarding wire to stick into the servo's socket and then attach those wires to whatever is going to power the servo - which should not be the arduino - it can't provide sufficient current for more than one, if that.

Later you might wire it up using a male connector into the servo's socket so that it's easier to replace the servo from your robot if it is damaged, or solder it all together if you decide you don't need that luxury.

So I need to buy these wires to plug them into the sockets?

wires-lrg.jpeg

At the very least yes. You actually need to get a pin header and solder the wires from the servo to it.

wildbill:
Well normally at this stage of your project, you'd be more likely to use some breadboarding wire to stick into the servo's socket and then attach those wires to whatever is going to power the servo - which should not be the arduino - it can't provide sufficient current for more than one, if that.

Later you might wire it up using a male connector into the servo's socket so that it's easier to replace the servo from your robot if it is damaged, or solder it all together if you decide you don't need that luxury.

What should it be powered by then?

For initial experiments, I searched around my house for an old wallwart in the right range - 6-7 volts IIRC. The ones I found didn't provide enough current for more than a couple of servos though. You may need to buy (or build) something that provides more juice. Even though your robot sounds like it will be stationary, you might look at lipo batteries to avoid the need for acquiring what would effectively be a beefier wallwart.

What should it be powered by then?

Four 1.5v batterys in series would do for simplicity, like below.

Did you have a look at DuaneB's servo tutorials as I suggested in post #3? They really do explain servos very clearly.

Yes, I looked at the tutorials. I'm starting to understand the concept more.

Falchion:
Yes, I looked at the tutorials. I'm starting to understand the concept more.

Cool.... for what it's worth my daughter's busy with a servo controlled arm... so far just a shoulder and an elbow. Shoulder is two standard servos on a pan and tilt bracket; elbow is a micro. It's mounted with Meccano (= Erector Set) in a small wooden box to stop it falling over and the upper and lower arm are Meccano too. Pic attached....

I got the wires and the breadboard yesterday. :slight_smile:

I just need to obtain a battery that can support all of these servo motors.

Falchion:
I just need to obtain a battery that can support all of these servo motors.

Yep, and there's a lot of discussion about power supply on this forum!

I've just (literally yesterday) been given a 650W ATX PSU and using an Instructable like this we're converting that to a lab supply. The servos I have are happy at 5v, and I can also use the 5v to supply Uno through the USB. (Alternatively I might regulate that up to 7.x V with one of these (which I have) and feed that to the barrel or Vin).

How many servo motors should I be using?

Falchion:
How many servo motors should I be using?

Hey- glad you're making some progress!

I didn't read those hand instructions in any detail, but it seemed to me there's a string in each finger, is that right? Then I suppose at a maximum you would need a servo per finger. On the other hand (sorry about the pun), maybe you could gather the strings together and activate them with only one servo. Or somewhere in between- space and weight will be a consideration. You will need to experiment with that- that's part of the fun of this whole thing. I think too, that you'll need to experiment with servo positioning relative to the hand, to give the right angle when the strings are pulled, and build some kind of base for the whole thing.

Then you'll need to figure out how to attach the hand to the arm- the arm I showed has three servos: 2x standard size a "shoulder" in a pan / tilt bracket and 1x micro as an "elbow". Number of motors depends on the number of joints and the range of motions you need.

As an aside, I've asked my local supplier to see if he can source a pan / tilt bracket like that for micro servos: it would make a cool wrist.

Is it possible to put these into a breadboard? http://www.amazon.com/SparkFun-Arduino-Stackable-Header-Kit/dp/B004G56J8W/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top