Servos controlled by RC?

[Obi]

I heard somewhere that servos cannot be controlled by the RC. I assigned a couple people to try to find it again, but they couldn't find it. Thanks guys.

[neilsonster]

They can, use camera_set_servos(X, Y); where X is the position of the "X axis" servo (between 0-254) and Y is the position of the "Y-axis" servo.

[Obi]

Originally Posted by neilsonster

They can, use camera_set_servos(X, Y); where X is the position of the "X axis" servo (between 0-254) and Y is the position of the "Y-axis" servo.

I meant with PWM outputs from the RC, but the other programmer is very sure of it being illegal. Thanks anyway.

[Pat Fairbank]

It's perfectly all right to use servos on the robot - you can connect them to either the RC's PWM outputs or the CMUcam2 (the servos have been around for much longer than the camera), as long as they are of the HITEC HS-322S model (the one of which we get 2 in the kit). You can even have more than two, as long as they're of that same model.

Originally Posted by The Rules

<R38> Specific items allowed include:
• Additional HITEC HS-322S servos
• Additional Victor 884 Speed Controllers and Spike Relays, as needed.
[...]

[Obi]

ID: 1183 Section: 5.3 Status: Answered Date Answered: 1/17/2005
Q: May we connect servos to the PWM outputs on the CMUcam to take advantage of the automatic pan and tilt control that it provides

A: Yes. Servos connected to the camera module are considered part of the camera module and can only be connected to it.


ID: 1184 Section: 5.3.5 Status: Answered Date Answered: 1/17/2005
Q: The suggested camera configuration available from: www.ifirobotics.com requires a servo that pans the camera left and right to be directly connected to the camera board. Is this illegal according to <R53?

A: No. (Answer CHANGED 1/17/2005) Servos connected to the camera module are considered part of the camera module and can only be connected to it.

This is from the Q+A at USFirst. Just wanted to clarify this as much as possible. Notice the only.

[Pat Fairbank]

ID: 1183 Section: 5.3 Status: Answered Date Answered: 1/17/2005
Q: May we connect servos to the PWM outputs on the CMUcam to take advantage of the automatic pan and tilt control that it provides

A: Yes. Servos connected to the camera module are considered part of the camera module and can only be connected to it.

I would take the "only" to mean that you can't connect a servo that's connected to the camera to something else, i.e. you can't run a second wire from the RC to the servo that is already hooked up to the camera.
If you're still in doubt of the legality of hooking up servos to the RC, consider getting your team leader to post a question to the Q&A or just PM me with a question and I will gladly post it myself.