I have a situation where I would like to drive a servo to a position and then basically remove power from the servo and/or disable it. I saw one post where you might be able to disable all servos (not sure if that would work for me). Is there some way in the FTC eco system to disable a servo? We are using Java but we’re still learning our way through the Java universe.
It appears that the new REV Servo Hub will eventually allow per-channel power control functionality for servos with a post-launch firmware update, but not right at release.
Unsure if there’s a good way to control servo power with current hardware though.
Sure there is.
Another servo running a pair of scissors.
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Works once at least.
I had also considered the possibility of utilizing an older REV Servo Power Module connected to a motor output on the control Hub as a means to effectively toggle the power to the servo, but I doubt its legal under the wiring rules (not to mention if you ever accidentally got the polarity wrong it could cause bad things to happen). A relay would be preferable here, but the FTC rule limit a lot of things like that.
I have zero idea what the mechanical manifestation of this is but there are a few things you may be able to do mechanically for some use cases.
I.e. if you have a rack and pinion setup that needs 300 degrees of rotation from the servo: remove the teeth on the unused 60 degrees of the pinion, then if you drive to that unused sector with the servo the teeth will disengage and the rack can slide freely. Downside you lose all clocking between the rack and the servo using the servo feedback.