How to Control a Servo Motor
Servo motors receive information from controls which they turn into action. Servos are found in robots, remote control cars and factory machinery, among other devices. These motors can output 42 oz/inches of torque, making these small devices quite powerful for their size. Servos are often small boxes with a motor shaft coming out one end and a connector with three wires on the other end.
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Instructions
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Attach a V+, ground and control wire to your servo control. These wires protrude from the motor. In a remote control device, the wires attach to a radio receiver.
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Use a remote control transmitter or a hard-wired control to send signals to the servo motor to move the motor from its neutral position. All servos are active in a neutral, clockwise or counterclockwise mode. That is, the servos seeks to maintain a neutral position when an outside force acts upon it. Likewise, the motor seeks to continue moving forward despite external constraints.
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Apply power to the motor in proportion to how far you need the part to move. A pulse will go to the servo motor which will determine the movement based on the pulse width modulation. The motor expects a pulse every 20 miliseconds and the length of that pulse determines how far the motor will turn. Many remote control devices, for example, act like a car accelerator and the farther you press the lever, the more power is delivered to the motor via the control wire.
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