Sunday, 17 December 2017

Powering a Servo: Do I need a separate power source?


I have a project that utilizes two strong digital, coreless servo motors. Whenever I use DC motors, I usually need to have separate power sources for both the microcontroller and the motors (due to noise and such). I don't have as much experience with servos, is this still the case? I'd really like to get away with using just one battery, are there any precautions I can take for this?


Thanks.



Answer



Wherever possibe use a seperate power supply. (We do in a 4kg robot)



Use a proper noise filter if you must share a power source. An isolated DC-DC converter to supply the electronics is very effective (active filter).


Opto-isolate from the MCU to servo power amplifier.


It's the rule in industrial, where reliability matters.


Never share grounds.


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