I am new to electronics, and am outside of my realm of expertise. What I am trying to build is a Pan & Tilt for my web cams. I need them to be controlled from the back of my church. A distance of about 100 feet.
I built the bread board prototype for servo's on my arduino UNO and everything worked fine. But when I move them to the actual use I have some snags. I think I might have something wired incorrectly. I am using RJ45 connectors and cat 5e cables to go the distance. Next to the camera's I have added a 9v battery and used a 5v regulator to power the servos. I am powering the arduino end in the back of my church with an ac arduino adapter.
I have included a schematic but keep in mind I had to use photo shop to draw this and so it is not an official schematic design with the dot connectors and I used a W to indicate the 5v regulator. Also instead of the jump over indicator I just stopped where the wires crossed over top. But It is good enough for you to figure out how I wired my project.
I think the problem is in what I call the servo power box, but I am not certain.
The actual servo's worked for a little while but then quit and when I put them back on the breadboard they work again. But, I do not have the power-box and battery power in the breadboard seniero. I know I am close, but something is not right.
Any help in where I am going wrong from someone who knows electronics would be greatly appreciated.
9v battery and used a 5v regulator to power the servos
If the 9V battery is a rectangular "transistor" battery, it will not provide the current needed for servos. 6 X AA batteries (in series) will provide the 9V you want and the current required by the servos. If the batteries are only powering the servos, use 4 AA batteries direct to the servos. Powering the servos using a voltage regulator is not the ideal way to go. Connect the grounds.
Groundfungus, thank you for your response,
Yes it is a 9 volt transistor battery I am using to power both servos.
to be sure I am clear on this. I should not use the 5 volt regulator? (skip it all together)
the servos to the best of my knowledge draw 5 volts and I was under the impression that the regulator was needed to keep from burning up the servos.
4 AA batteries will run both servos?
All the grounds are connected, even from the battery back to the arduino.
Thank You so much for your help, I am new to this stuff. I will give your suggestions a go and let you know how it went.
4 AA batteries will output 6 volts so that is good for the servos and should run 2 servos, no problem. It would be bad to try to run servos direct from 9V, for sure. The biggest problem with running servos form a regulator is the power the regulator must dissipate. The regulator must drop the 9V to 5V, so a 4V drop. If the servos are drawing 1 amp the regulator has to dissipate (waste) 4 watts (4V x 1A). That is a lot, especially for a battery powered device. Using the 4AA batteries does away with the 4 watt waste.
ordered a couple battery packs and can't wait for them to get here to make this project a reality. I will keep you posted. Thanks for sharing with me your expertise and pointing me in a right direction.
I am already revising the schematics as I intend to share my project on YouTube to help others. Once it works properly.
I am happy to give you credit on my project if you like. After all couldn't have gotten there without your help.
I am happy to give you credit on my project if you like.
Not necessary. I really enjoy helping where I can. That I can help is reward enough.
