Servo capacity question

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

'Evening, folks. I realize my the title is a bit vague, but when I say servo capacity, I refer to the number of servos that can be physically connected to the Arduino at any given time. At the moment, I'm working on a piece of hardware that's going to utilize 12 standard hobby servos that all need to be connected to the board and controlled simultaneously.

The Servo Library (which I can't link to right now due to my post count) states I can connect 12 servos to an ATmega328, but the board only has 6 PWM pins. An explanation for this discrepancy would be greatly appreciated, as well as a recommendation for whether I should buy the 328 or the 1280 board to control the 12 servos my design uses.

2

The number of PWM resources is irrelevant.
Servos don't use PWM for control, they use PPM.

3

Erm, help me out here - the PPM can be delivered through what, any of the regular I/O pins?

4

The servos can be on any i/o pin.

Which board is best depends on what else your project is doing. As the servo reference says, a standard 328 board is capable of driving 12 servos, but if you need other resources such as multiple serial ports than you may want the extra capability of the Mega.

Perhaps you can say more about what your project will do.