Servo

Introduction#

A Servo is a an enclosed system containing a motor and some supporting circuitry. The shaft of a servo can be rotated to a fixed angle within an arc using a control signal. If the control signal is maintained, then the servo will maintain its angle. Servos can easily be controlled with the Arduino Servo.h library.

Syntax#

#include <Servo.h> // Include the Servo library
Servo.attach(pin) // Attach to the servo on pin. Returns a Servo object
Servo.write(degrees) // Degrees to move to (0 - 180)
Servo.read() // Gets the current rotation of the servo

Moving the servo back and forth

#include <Servo.h>

Servo srv;

void setup() {
  srv.attach(9); // Attach to the servo on pin 9  

}

To use a servo, you need to call attach() function first. It starts generating a PWM signal controlling a servo on a specified pin. On boards other than Arduino Mega, use of Servo library disables analogWrite() (PWM) functionality on pins 9 and 10, whether or not there is a Servo on those pins.

void loop() {
  Servo.write(90); // Move the servo to 90 degrees
  delay(1000); // Wait for it to move to it's new position
  Servo.write(0); // Move the servo to 0 degrees
  delay(1000); // Wait for it to move to it's new position
}

Note that you are not guaranteed that the servo reached the desired position, nor you can check it from the program.