Standard Servos?

[Matt Krass]

Are the Vex servos simply rebranded servomotors from somewhere like Hitec? If so could we find out which so I can grab some spec sheets?

Also, can they be driven by a standard PWM generator circuit? I have one here meant to drive servos and I'm looking in to prototyping the device with Vex parts but I need more hardware control than the Vex controller affords.

I assume if the answer to the above question is yes, then could I also use the Vex controller to drive regular servos?

Thanks!

[CmptrGk]

i think i rember reading something about this on the vexlabs.com website. i wanna say that the vex motor and servo are the same with the exception of a hardware stop within them.

ive never tried using a regular servo with the vex controler.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by CmptrGk

i think i rember reading something about this on the vexlabs.com website. i wanna say that the vex motor and servo are the same with the exception of a hardware stop within them.

ive never tried using a regular servo with the vex controler.

I am 99% that a Vex Controller will drive just about any servo, even continuous rotation servos like the ones from Futaba sold by Parallax.

But, I suppose that the Vex servos are not a standard off the shelf servo. I would guess that Futaba had something to do with the inside of the servos because I think Futaba had something to do with the radios, but I would think that Radio Shack has enough volume to justify an at least partially customized design. I am only going from memory so I hope I am not giving false info. But I think the Futaba link is right.

Joe J.

[CmptrGk]

http://www.vexlabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=141

Are the replacement gears provided in the kit able to work on servomotors?

Yes. All the white gears are interchangeable between the Vex Motor and Vex Servo. The black gears are slightly different. The black gear with a mechanical stop (a square post on its side) is for the Servo. The black gear without the mechanical stop is for the Motor.

this is what i saw on the vexlabs site. (now that i reread the original post this dosent seem to have much relevance)

some motor related specs i also found
http://www.vexlabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=152
http://www.vexlabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18

that seems to be as specific as the specs get on the vex labs site.

[foobert]

Originally Posted by Matt Krass

Also, can they be driven by a standard PWM generator circuit? I have one here meant to drive servos and I'm looking in to prototyping the device with Vex parts but I need more hardware control than the Vex controller affords.

what is it you want to do that you don't feel that you can do with the vex controller? it's a pretty capable little doodad. with a little creative wiring and a willingness to ditch most of the default code it shouldn't be difficult to run servos off of just about every port on it.

of course, if you've yet to pop for a programming kit, i can see where you might have a problem.

good luck.