I'm making a robotic arm for a school project and i need a way of controlling the servos without using something like arudino or pic. i came across a 555 timer controller circuit and i can use that. Am i able to control multiple servos using one circuit or do i need to make a different circuit for each servo?

 

There are tons of 555 servo schematics..
Here is one..
http://www.hvlabs.com/555servo.html
For a robotic arm you would need a circuit like this for each servo that you intend to move independently of the others.

 

How are you going to control your arm? Manually with a potentiometer, joystick or some other control for each servo? I ask, because I have done some robotics...

 

mcgyvr so i cant say run 2 servos off one circuit?

djsfantasi: using 1 monentry on/off/on switch per servo

 

mcgyvr so i cant say run 2 servos off one circuit?

Why do you want to? You want each joint of the arm to be able to move independently of the others..
However, if you are for example using 2 servos at 1 joint then yes you can.

Did you even read the link I gave?.. Its only a few sentences and its clearly stated there

You can drive multiple servos with the same signal using this circuit to all have the same output or build multiple driver circuits to command many servos to different outputs.

 

http://makeprojects.com/Project/Pro...-Three-Types-of-Motors-with-555-Timers/2036/1

 

Are you familiar with the way servo motors work? They are very different. For example, do you expect to be able to move smoothly between arm positions with momentary on-off-on switches? Note that in the link given in post #6, the control is via a potentiometer - giving a range of motion to the servo. If you have not used servos before, may I suggest this link http://www.lynxmotion.com/images/html/servo01.htm

 

Are you familiar with the way servo motors work? They are very different. For example, do you expect to be able to move smoothly between arm positions with momentary on-off-on switches? Note that in the link given in post #6, the control is via a potentiometer - giving a range of motion to the servo. If you have not used servos before, may I suggest this link http://www.lynxmotion.com/images/html/servo01.htm

I am aware of how they work but I have seen many robot arm projects that use arudino and a lot of them have switches so I was thinking if you replace the pot with a switch because if you think about it pots are sort of a switch so in theory it should work

 

JM, you can also purchase a stand alone servo controller. I have used them in automation projects before. An example is the E_Sky ES000504, it can be purchased through eBay from HobbyCool for about five and a half bucks. I remove the control pot and remote locate it in some applications. Cheaper then buying the components for a home made controller and it works well.

 

JM, you can also purchase a stand alone servo controller. I have used them in automation projects before. An example is the E_Sky ES000504, it can be purchased through eBay from HobbyCool for about five and a half bucks. I remove the control pot and remote locate it in some applications. Cheaper then buying the components for a home made controller and it works well.

I have to build it myself