Hi,
I am wondering if there is any danger in powering X amount of servos using one 5v arduino pin.
If the servos do not have enough volts/amps, will this pose a danger to the arduino board itself, or will the servos just not operate correctly?
Would a serial or parallel circuit with the motors make any difference in terms of effect on the arduino board? Thanks.
Yes, great danger - you will smoke the 5V regulator, which is only good for 800mA.
Power the servos from something else, and connect that supplies' Gnd to the Arduino Gnd so the servo control lines are seen at the correct levels by the servos.
Servo's generally like 6V?
While the Arduino barrel jack is expecting 7.5 to 9V.
If the servos need 4.5-5V, use a separate regulator from the 7.5-9V source to power them, and let the Arduino regulator power itself.
So I would have the 'hot' (red) wire for the servos hooked up to a DC external power supply's negative. And the ground (black) of the servos all going to the one GND pin on the arduino?
ansonl:
So I would have the 'hot' (red) wire for the servos hooked up to a DC external power supply's negative. And the ground (black) of the servos all going to the one GND pin on the arduino?
positive supply to servos to positive of the external power, negative to negative. External power can be 4.8V upto 6V or so
and every servo should be happy with that. Each servo may peak at an amp or so, if they all move simultaneously you
will likely need more current from your supply than if they move one at a time. Bigger servos tend to need more current.
Also ensure the Arduino ground is commoned to the servo negative supply (but don't connect servo supply positive
to Arduino +5V). Only two wires are then connecting Arduino and servo, ground and signal.
MarkT:
Servo negative supply would be the black wire, correct?
Also, why do all black negative (grounds) need to go to the same GND pin on the arduino?