Gilderfluke&Co Sixteen Channel Servo Controller and Joystick Amp - Manual (Page 4)

J-6A INPUT
4"
5 5/16"
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
STROKE ADJUSTMENTS
RETRACT ADJUSTMENTS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
SERVO MOTOR OUTPUTS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
SERVO MOTOR
POWER INPUT
In some cases a lower speed is desired for the smoothness of the movement, while in other cases
the need for high speed or strength may be paramount. The chief disadvantages of running the servo
motors in high voltage / high speed applications are that the servo motor will run hotter and is much
more likely to have a mechanical failure.
The size of the servo motor, the load it is driving, and the amount of movement it is doing can all ef-
fect the amount of current it will require. Most of the smaller servo motors draw about an amp of current
at stall (This is when the servo motor shaft is held against the motor's best efforts to move it.). This condi-
tion isn't often encountered in any real world applications, but if you are planning on really abusing your
servo motors you should allow about an amp per motor when selecting a power supply. Under most nor-
mal conditions, 1/4 to 1/2 an amp per servo motor will be sufficient. If your power supply is undersized,
you will see a certain amount of interaction between servo motors when a number of them are moving
at the same time.
To reduce the number of wires needed to run into a servo motor-controlled figure it is not uncom-
mon to run the high current power supply leads directly from the power supply to the servos in the figure
and gang the signal lines. When this is done, it is still necessary to run low current leads from the power
supply to the power supply connections on the Servo Motor Controller board. If the signal line runs to the
servo motors are long, it may be necessary to use shielded lines to prevent noise and cross-talk between
the servos. You can tell when you have this problem when some servo motors are tending to jitter un-
controllably.
Be aware that the servo motor input signals are notoriously bad travelers. They are susceptible to any
power supply noise, radio frequency (RF) interference, and even the noise from other servo motors. Try
to keep these lines as short as possible. Anything over 10 feet can cause problems. Even shorter lengths
can have problems under the right circumstances. Possible solutions include large capacitors across the
power supply leads and pullup resistors between the signal input and the positive supply line. These must
be located as close as possible to the servo motors.
Each channel of the Servo Motor Controller has two adjustments. The first sets the 'retracted' position
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