Unable to make continuous servo motor move

Projects Programming
1

Hey everyone,

I'm having difficulty with getting a continuous servo motor to move at all. The motor I am using is FS90R from Adafruit and the board I'm using is the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP 8266.

I've attempted to follow some guides online but nothing I have done seems to make the motor spin. I have the signal, ground and power wires hooked up correctly but the only movement I can get out of the motor is from applying power and connecting ground. When I do that the motor spins very slightly and stops almost immediately after connecting the two.

I have attached my code I am using and can add anything else that may be able to fix my issue. Really at a loss here so any help would be greatly appreciated!

#include <Servo.h>

Servo myservo;

int pos = 0;

void setup() {
  myservo.attach(14);
  myservo.write(180);

}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

}
2

Please describe the wiring, especially the servo power supply, which cannot be the Arduino, or the USB port.

A 4xAA battery pack will work as a power supply if you wire it according to the scheme below.

servo_pwr
servo_pwr1035×538 42.8 KB

3

Here

  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

you can experiment.

Continuous motion servos typically are stationary when sent the value 90, move ever more rapidly counterclockwise with values as they increase to 180, and ever more rapidly clockwise as the values decrease to 0.

Or vice versa in the southern hemisphere. :wink:

So this should make your servo go one way for a bit, then the other, rinse and repeat:

void loop() { 
  myservo.write(120);  // forward 1/3 speed
 
  delay(1777);
  
  myservo.write(60);   // backwards 1/3 speed

  delay(1777);
}

Provided you've wired it correctly and supplied sufficient power, as in not from the Arduino itself as @jremington is mentions.

And your servo isn't broken. :expressionless:

a7

4

From your post, follow the link for the Adafruit servo page In the Adafruit description there is a link to a tutorial. This includes the electrical diagram as well as an example program.

5

Yes. The example sketches are written for regular servos, but they will certainly make @chilcaul's servo start doing interesting things.

The pot position control thing will control the speed and direction of the continuous servo, from full speed CCW to full speed CE.

The sweep thing will be interesting as it will(shoukd) make the servo slowly accelerate to full speed CW, then decelerate to stopped, accelerate to full speed CCW, then back to stopped…

Or vice versa.

a7

6

Please add a picture showing your connections

7

Just got home and started with this. Can't believe I forgot to connect the grounds properly! Using an external power supply for the motor and didn't connect the ground from that to the ground on the microcontroller. Thanks for the help, everyone!

8

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