Sunday, July 22, 2012

Servo Driver Test

I modified the ArduinoServoSample code in GitHub to better test out the drivers.  I plugged in 4 servos on digital pins 1-4 for load testing (only 4 because I only have a 1amp power supply, and each servo is drawing 250mA).


I did however tell the software that there were servos on every pin, so the drivers were working overtime.  I manually moved the connection of the 4th servo from pin to pin and checked it's speed.  Every pin worked with the exception of pins A6 and A7.  I did come accross this quote in the arduino port manipulation reference
"PORTC maps to Arduino analog pins 0 to 5. Pins 6 & 7 are only accessible on the Arduino Mini"
As I'm using a Fio, I have a feeling that they may not be available to me.

EDIT:  
Upon review of the Fio Schematics it looks like ADC6 and ADC7 are indeed not on PortC.  PortC pin 6 is attached to the reset.  PC7 is not shown.

I have also since noticed that when the servos are being told to stay still, they have a tendency to occasionally jitter a very small amount.  There are a myriad of possible causes for this, as it's not important for my current application so I am just going to note it and move on for now.

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