A Servo is a small device that incorporates a three wire DC motor, a gear train, a potentiometer, an integrated circuit, and an output shaft bearing. Of the three wires that stick out from the motor casing, one is for power, one is for ground, and one is a control input line. The shaft of the servo can be positioned to specific angular positions by sending a coded signal. As long as the coded signal exists on the input line, the servo will maintain the angular position of the shaft. If the coded signal changes, then the angular position of the shaft changes.

     A very common use of servos is in Radio Controlled models like cars, airplanes, robots, and puppets. They are also used in powerful heavy-duty sail boats. Servos are rated for Speed and Torque. Normally there are two servos of the same kind, one geared towards speed (sacrificing torque), and the other towards torque (sacrificing speed). A good example of this is the HS-625MG servo and the HS-645MG servo.

     Servos come in different sizes but use similar control schemes and are extremely useful in robotics. The motors are small and are extremely powerful for their size. It also draws power proportional to the mechanical load. A lightly loaded servo, therefore, doesn’t consume much energy.

A typical Servo looks like a rectangular box with a motor shaft coming out of one end and a connector with three wires out of the other end. The three wires are the power, Control, and Ground. Servos work with voltages between 4 and 6 volts. The control line is used to position the servo. The servo motor comes in different sizes, which affect the overall size of the servo. The gears of a servo vary from servo to servo. Inexpensive servos have plastic gears, and more expensive servos have metal gears which are much more rugged but wear faster. The potentiometer of a servo is the feedback device. The electronics of a servo are pretty much the same in all servos, but the output shaft bearing of a servo has either a plastic on plastic bearing that will not take much side load or a metal on metal bearings that stand up better under extended use, or ball bearings which work best.  We highly recommend ball bearing servos if your application demands heavy side loads.