Power 5 Servo Motors

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hello everyone.
I am planning to make a robotic arm in which i will use 4 MG996R Servos and 1 FS90MG.
I know that the MG996R requires a lot of current (2.5A stall current).
Can i power them using a classic 5V DC Adapter (like the one for smartphone charging) which can produce up to 4.4 Amps?
Also how am i going to connect the power from the usb port to the motor.
I have found this adapter USB-A Male Plug to 5-pin Terminal Block : ID 3628 : $4.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits.
If i use 4 of those to power the big motors and power the small one from the arduno 5V pin, will it be ok?
Can i just connect it to the breadboard and power the motors from there?
The adapter i will use is this one

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282804657_2682326475234727_3222077426035622635_n1536×2040 85.1 KB

One last question. Can the classic jumper cables for Arduino handle the current right?

Thank you in advance for any answers!!!

2

NEVER ok to power a motor from ANY Arduino pin. Why not power ALL the motors from a suitable single power supply? Be sure to use wire sizes that can handle the current and solder the connections, except where screw terminals are provided.

3

No and use of a breadboard will fail with the currents you are using.

4

That could power one MG996R. For 4 of them, you will need a power supply capable of delivering more than 10 Amps.

Can the classic jumper cables for Arduino handle the current right?

No. Solder power connections and use a servo power distribution PCB.

5

Hello guys.
Thank you for the answers.
To be honest i have found those two YouTube videos

They are using the same motors but they don't use a 10amp power supply, neither big cables. They also use a breadboard.
How?
Is it because they are using only one servo at a time and not all together?
Because i will also you the one by one.

Thank you

6

The stall current of your servo is 2.5A. They may be able to get away with a power supply of around 5A depending on usage, but it's not recommended. Generally speaking, you want to size your power supply and wiring for the max current that may be encountered, with some buffer. I'd recommend a 12V power supply (which are easy to find at all sorts of current ratings) with a 5V regulator to power your electronics.

7

Don't believe everything you find on the web. Few people post the failures, and if something works once, that is usually what you see.

Every single day on the forum, we get complaints posted by people trying to follow videos.

8

Hello again guys.
So if i get this

to power all my motors i will be fine.
Plus one battery for the arduino board (for the potensiometer e.t.c.).
Is there any easy way to connect is series all the servo with the power supply?
Adapters or something?

Can i use the PCA9685 16 Channel 12-Bit PWM Servo Motor Driver IIC Module.
I will connect power supply to the module and then i will connect the module to arduino.
Is this going to work?
Can this servo driver handle the load?

9

Sounds like a good plan. Try it and let us know.

10

Ok thank you very much everyone.
I will try the solution with the servo motor driver with a 60W power supply and i will let you know.

11

If you have mains power available, why would you want to use a battery? Which battery are you proposing?

12

Just a simple 9V Battery to power the board.

13

If you are considering using a PP3 battery as used in smoke detectors then reconsider. Such a battery cannot supply much current for long so expect problems

Why use a battery if mains power is available ?

14

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