Looking for code to turn motor into servo

I have a 12 Volt windshield wiper motor with a Pololu simple motor controller that I want to run like a servo. That is, I want to give the motor controller an angle and have the motor shaft turn until it reaches that angle. I have a potentiometer hooked up to the motor shaft to tell me what angle the shaft is currently at.

Can anyone steer me to any code that does that?

Seems simple enough - wire up your pot to +5 & ground, wiper to an analog pin.
Map the end to end voltages into the ~270 degrees that the pot will turn.

I'm looking for something that uses variable speed and PID logic to get the right angle. I think that servos use something a little more sophisticated like that. But maybe not.

Daanii:
I'm looking for something that uses variable speed and PID logic to get the right angle. I think that servos use something a little more sophisticated like that. But maybe not.

Industrial servos probably do (and maybe serial-bus digital servos), but standard r/c servos convert the PPM signal into a voltage reference, then use a comparator (with a small voltage window to prevent "hunting") comparing the voltage from the conversion and the voltage from the internal potentiometer until they are "equal" (ie, within the window).

You can do the same thing with code; compare the analog value from your potentiometer with that of the value you want to seek to - if there is a difference (+/- a window percentage), move the motor in the direction to decrease this distance, until there is no difference. The size of the window will depend on how fast your motor rotates, the accuracy of your potentiometer, and how much mass is being moved by the motor (plus a few other variables).

Get this working first (it's not as difficult as it sounds); later you can work on the PID version (which is a whole 'nother ball of wax)...

:slight_smile:

cr0sh:
Get this working first (it's not as difficult as it sounds); later you can work on the PID version (which is a whole 'nother ball of wax)...

That sounds like the way to go. I thought I needed to do something more complex. But I'll get it working and see.

With a little creative wiring, you should be able to use the internals of an inexpensive servo to control an h-bridge driving the wiper motor. Below is my "to-do" big servo project (still need to get the h-bridge).

!

Loving the Winch Servo idea....

zoomkat:
With a little creative wiring, you should be able to use the internals of an inexpensive servo to control an h-bridge driving the wiper motor. Below is my "to-do" big servo project (still need to get the h-bridge).

Yeah - I've seen this done with a windshield wiper motor (for use as a large servo for steering control) - but now I am curious what you intend to control with -that- motor/gearbox (just what do you plan to move or incorporate it into)...?

cr0sh:
Yeah - I've seen this done with a windshield wiper motor (for use as a large servo for steering control) - but now I am curious what you intend to control with -that- motor/gearbox (just what do you plan to move or incorporate it into)...?

I know you are asking zoomkat what he plans to do. But I was interested to see you mention using a windshield wiper motor for use as a large servo for steering control. That's exactly what I plan to do!

Daanii:

cr0sh:
Yeah - I've seen this done with a windshield wiper motor (for use as a large servo for steering control) - but now I am curious what you intend to control with -that- motor/gearbox (just what do you plan to move or incorporate it into)...?

I know you are asking zoomkat what he plans to do. But I was interested to see you mention using a windshield wiper motor for use as a large servo for steering control. That's exactly what I plan to do!

Check out these links:

http://www.fieroaddiction.com/servo.html
http://forum.kansascityrobotics.org/showthread.php?t=580
http://130.94.182.150/mowers.htm

On the last link, scroll down and read about "Monster Servos" - all basically follow the same plan; the h-bridge output of the servo is used to actuate a larger h-bridge, then the larger motor being controlled by that h-bridge is connected (mechanically) to the potentiometer on the output shaft of the servo (the servo's motor is disconnected; the output shaft on a servo is connected mechanically to the internal potentiometer).

Note that this kind of a setup will work, but should the mechanical linkage between the motor and the servo's potentiometer fail in any manner, your larger motor may continue to turn, and possibly cause damage to the mechanicals of your system (the only suggestion I could give here is to implement limit switches - perhaps also a second potentiometer monitored by the Arduino - or hack into the servo's pot to read it).

:slight_smile:

Thanks for the links and other information, cr0sh. That's very interesting and helpful.

With my application, I'm a little hesitant to use the servo internal potentiometer and control signals. I'd rather reproduce what the servo is doing, and do it in my Arduino and using my own potentiometer. (And I think I'll use a rotary encoder rather than a potentiometer.) But the best thing to do seems to be to get started and try a variety of ways. The links you have help me do that.

but now I am curious what you intend to control with -that- motor/gearbox (just what do you plan to move or incorporate it into)...?

My interest is to find an easy and inexpensive way to control the winch like a servo. It might work better in an on/off mode as opposed to fast PPM due to the internal brake setup. Would be interesting to use in a very large three servo type hexapod, one that could carry a passenger. Brackets would have to be welded to the spool and such, but for only $40 at one of the big harbor freight sales, I couldn't pass it by.

zoomkat:

but now I am curious what you intend to control with -that- motor/gearbox (just what do you plan to move or incorporate it into)...?

My interest is to find an easy and inexpensive way to control the winch like a servo. It might work better in an on/off mode as opposed to fast PPM due to the internal brake setup. Would be interesting to use in a very large three servo type hexapod, one that could carry a passenger. Brackets would have to be welded to the spool and such, but for only $40 at one of the big harbor freight sales, I couldn't pass it by.

If you're interested in building a giant hexapod - you might just do a google search for "Jamie's Robot Spider"...

If you're interested in building a giant hexapod - you might just do a google search for "Jamie's Robot Spider"...

I hope you are not refering to the person below.I could only stand to watch about the first half of the video. :wink:

zoomkat:

If you're interested in building a giant hexapod - you might just do a google search for "Jamie's Robot Spider"...

I hope you are not refering to the person below.I could only stand to watch about the first half of the video. :wink:

Yeah - that's the guy; he's got tons of videos about his project. He started out with a small plastic working model (radio-controlled) he built; it uses two motors, and is fairly ingenious in the mechanism (he might've been smarter to patent and sell it as a toy). He ended up then moving to a plot of land out in the middle of nowhere, which could only be hiked to, then carving out a patch of land and setting up this stange three story "home" in the wilderness (totally off the grid - collects rainwater for drinking and such). Occasionally he builds strange alt-energy contraptions (wind generators and such) - those are documented too.

Other times, he seems to travel back "home" (to his parents and such?) - he seems very "nomadic" or something; I can't explain it, but it certainly is fascinating to watch him build this thing over time. Somehow he has managed all this, but I have yet to find out how or where he gets the money to do any of it. A lot of the materials he uses are "scrounged", but then again that land - while cheap - still had to cost -something-. Maybe he has a trust fund - or maybe he begs off his parents - or maybe he has "disability" and uses our tax dollars - I dunno.

I'm also trying to figure out - should he get the machine fully working and walking - how he plans to get it "off the mountain"; he has to hike a good distance from where his car is to where his house (hovel?) in the trees is, thru somewhat dense forest. So - unless he plans to cut all the trees in his way down (I wouldn't put it past him), he's going to have to take it apart and move it (with the help of friends - which he seems to have a lot of) - but I think he built it to be taken apart, so he may already have it all figured out.

Yes - his videos are hard to watch; he has a very "twitchy" personality, and it comes thru on the videos (ADD/ADHD? Something else? All of the above? Who knows!); apparently, though, he has it together enough to build this machine, and a place in the woods from junk/scrap, and still get gas, food, water, etc - and stay alive in the woods with little or nothing else - other than some friends.

In a way - he's living a very free and comfortable (for himself, if nobody else) life - without having the "rat race", thinking about a "career", etc - and still has access to the internet.

I envy his lifestyle a bit; my wife and I talk about "moving to 40 acres in the middle of nowhere and living off the grid" (in a steel building, or something made from shipping container, or a manufactured home - I dunno) - but I keep thinking "how will we pay for property taxes" and "what about the internet" - because all I know is software development - and at the minimum (ie, contract coding from home) you need some kind of internet for that. I also fantasize about having an "off the grid robot shop" - or some other weird thing to pay the bills; I'll have to come up with something if I want this to be a reality.

At any rate, its fun to see what Jamie is up to - I have a friend who's a little bit like him (the guy who was helping with my UGV project) - I just don't know how they do it (part of my problem is I "collect" things - I have a lot of "things" - and in a way, that holds me back in certain ways from doing something like this - I also have a house that I am paying on - but can't sell because of the current market - etc)...

:slight_smile:

/still smiling!

If I were to make a large hexapod, it would be an up scale of the very simple three servo hexapod designs. Below is my yesterdays time killer.

I believe these folks provide source code...
http://www.openservo.com/

setting up this stange three story "home" in the wilderness (totally off the grid - collects rainwater for drinking and such).

There was something about a house like this in the news just recently. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

There was something about a house like this in the news just recently.

Or perhaps like below: :wink:

Thanks very much. That's exactly what I was looking for.