Creative uses for servos?

[dddriveman]

If anybody has any creative uses or has any good ideas on how to use servos on a robot please share them here.

[Cory]

shift the drill gearboxes with them

Cory

[dddriveman]

I"m not sure how you would do that!

[sanddrag]

Well, you would need to fabricate a servo mount and a custom shifting linkage.

Another good use for servos is to mount sensors on to scan back and forth for HP stacks or other reflective tape.

[jon]

Originally posted by dddriveman
I"m not sure how you would do that!

Attach them to the shaft collar on the drill motors, so that when the servos are rotated, the collar shifts positions.

Though, this is not longer very original, anymore.

[dddriveman]

thanx for the idea sanddrag

[sanddrag]

Check the white papers for the servo shifting. There are a couple designs in there.

[dddriveman]

I'll check the white pages for Servo shifting. Thanks again sanddrag

[Mike Schroeder]

we used servos to engage.. disengage our brakes

[Sully]

Clever use of a servo motor

In Houston I found one team using a servo as a vacuum release mechanism for their suction cup. The servo was used to close or pinch off a piece of tubing thereby keeping their suction cup fully engaged. If necessary the servo would open the tube - releasing the vacuum. A clever and simple release mechanism.

Often servos are used as release mechanisms at the beginning of matches so that a robot can expand outside its constrained envelope.

[dddriveman]

I found a way to flip down the motor the powers the flashing lights on our robot. THE motor is spring loading so you can make the light spin or not spin . Useless but, fun

[Ian W.]

just don't do that in an official competition

[dddriveman]

I know. But when you are not in competition it is fun to do.

[JLambert]

Originally posted by dddriveman
I found a way to flip down the motor the powers the flashing lights on our robot. THE motor is spring loading so you can make the light spin or not spin . Useless but, fun

Also, if you wedge a small disc on between the pinion (like, say, a small piece of a glue stick), the light will turn at a little over 2x the normal speed. Again, not legal, but fun to mess with when you have nothing else to do.

Not that our team would ever be sitting around, or ever be doing ANYTHING like that...

[Rickertsen2]

you can also short the resistor in the light to make it go faster. Again not legal but fun anyway. Its also interesting to hook it up to a speed controller. lol

Anyway i'm not sure if this counts but i made this from the FIRST provided servos.