How to Use Servo Motors with Arduino

Servo motors are used for making things like:

• Coffee mixers

• CNC machines

• And useless robots like this :)

What is a servo motor?

A servo motor is a motor that works in angles between 0° and 180°.

A servo motor is a motor that can only be controlled by a microcontroller like:

• An Arduino/Genuino

• A Raspberry Pi

• Micro:Bit

It has a small DC motor which only needs about 35 mA. It also has some gears and a potentiometer so that it can know which angle it's on.

Components

You'll need:

• An Arduino/Genuino (any Arduino/Genuino will do as long as it's 9th pin is a PWM pin)

• A servo motor

• Some jumper wires

• 5V 1A power source (you won't need this if you are using SG90 TowerPro Servo Motor

Connections

If you are using a SG90 TowerPro Servo Motor, connect the servo motor like this:

• Signal cable (orange one) ==> D9 on Arduino

• Power cable (red one) ==> 5v pin on Arduino

• Ground cable (black or brown one) ==> ground pin on Arduino

If you are not using a SG90 TowerPro Servo Motor, connect the servo motor and the power source like this:

• Signal cable (orange one) ==> D9 on Arduino

• Power cable (red one) ==> 5v pin of power source

• Ground cable (black or brown one) ==> ground pin of power source

• Ground pin of Arduino ==> ground pin of power source

What are the functions in Servo library?

These are the functions in Servo library:

Servo x;

x = the name that you'll use when calling the servo to do something.

x.attach(y);

x = the name that you'll use when calling the servo to do something.

y = the pin to attach servo.

x.write(pos);

x = the name that you'll use when calling the servo to do something.

pos = the angle that you want your servo motor to go. (it has to be something between 0° and 180°.