S-curve graph. Position, acceleration and velocity.

A servo motor is a motor that maintains a given position, but how does it get to that position?

A normal servomotor only receives the final position by PWM and always goes as fast as it can to that point. A smart servo motor, on the other hand, usually receives a command that tells it the end position and how fast it has to reach that position, at which point the smart servo motor starts to calculate the path to the end position. There are several ways to trace the route, those are the motion curves.

Little more to say, it was something I really wanted to do since years ago, but if I don't have time for the project itself and the website, even less to have the project also on another website.

The project is progressing quite well lately and I think it's about time to make it more known in the community. Although it is on hackaday, it will be on LibreServo where all the information will be more up to date and in greater detail.

LibreServo expands to Hackaday

Soldering the first LibreServo v2

This little entry is to announce that the new LibreServo has arrived, I was able to solder it without any problem and it is fully working! 🥳

After the tests I did with the test boards v1 and v2 many changes were made to the design of LibreServo. Because of those many changes, LibreServo moves to version 2.

LibreServo sending data via RS485 to Arduino plotter

After several tests, the LibreServo hardware is finally chosen and it's working, even the H-bridge that gave me a lot of problems! In general, all the parts of LibreServo remain as they were, because they were already working correctly, except the parts are discussed in this article.

Hello World in LibreServo PCB test v2

A month ago I was analyzing the results and conclusions obtained with the LibreServo test PCB v1 and trying not to lose momentum this month I have designed, I have ordered new PCBs and I have already assembled the LibreServo test PCB v2! 🥳

It is the first PCB that I have designed with 4 layers for LibreServo and I hope that this will mitigates some issues with the H-bridge that I think comes, in part, from electronic noise. For the rest, it is a PCB with the final components, it is closer to the final design in which I have forced myself to put the components as close as possible to each other to see the real limit between what is designed and what can be easily welded without overcomplicating things, everything holds up on paper but then you have to bring it to reality.

RS485 Hello World at 9 Mbps

After analyzing all the parts of LibreServo, I have decided to make several design changes again. I am happy with the results obtained with the test board since without it, it would have been impossible to analyze all the components separately and detect all the errors and faults that I have found, it is something that I should have done from the beginning and it would have saved me a lot of time. The topics to be discussed are:

• Current Sensor
• Protection against change of power polarity
• New power supply, mpm3610 + ap2112
• NTC temperature sensor
• New more compact RGB led
• RS-232 vs RS-485 serial communication
• New AEAT-8800 magnetic sensor
• H bridge
• Next PCB (4 layers)

MPM3610 and AP2112 circuit

One of the parts that I have changed the most in LibreServo and thought about is the power supplies. In previous versions it was a linear regulator that I reduced in size, but the truth is that I was not at all comfortable since if LibreServo was powered with only 12V, the linear regulator should dissipate up to 1.74 Watts and in 16v 2.54 Watts... something that was really unreal that it could handled.

A few months ago I discovered the MPM3610, and this finally made it possible for me to design the power supply as I wanted. This tiny component is a powerful 1.2A step-down that supports up to 21V input and also has a built-in diode and coil! It is the latter that makes it perfect for my design, due to the reduced space used, being the only step-down that is manufactured that has an integrated coil and diode in the same package. The difference between using a step-down and a linear regulator is that a linear regulator from 3.3V to 12V gives an efficiency of 35%, while a step-down of 80% or higher, the rest is dissipated in heat, so one is much more prone to overheating than the other. The downside of using a step-down is that they are quite noisy and their output is not as clean as one from a linear regulator.

Circuito básico ZXCT1010 con protección Zener

El primer componente que voy a analizar en mi nueva placa para testear LibreServo es el sensor de corriente ZXCT1010, el cual es una versión mejorada del sensor ZXCT1009. La mejora sobre todo es en la parte baja del sensor, cuando hay poca caída en R_sense, parte en la que quería estar ya que no quiero que se desperdicie tensión en R_sense. Además, aparejado al sensor de corriente está el diodo Zener MMSZ5226BS para evitar que la tensión de salida del sensor de corriente pueda superar los 3,3V y quemar el microcontrolador.

LibreServo test PCB

It has been a long time since my last update, a pandemic in between and many changes. Be that as it may, LibreServo continues moving forward, little by little, but it moves 💪.

During the previous versions of LibreServo I have continually encountered different problems in the design and without knowing exactly how different components were going to behave, in addition, later trying to debug the board being so compact and without extra space to be able to even solder a cable to be able to see the signs, always complicated everything too much.

Nuevo material y herramientas para LibreServo

LibreServo va a sufrir varios cambios importantes y he decidido cambiar el método en el que estoy realizando las pruebas. Además, he decidido rascarme el bolsillo y comprarme algo más de equipamiento para medir todo lo necesario de una manera externa y precisa y así saber de antemano qué esperarme en LibreServo.