How Do I Connect The Herkulex Servos To Ezb?

Question

I was looking at the servos that come with my ECO and they are a 4 plug servo. Obviously most servos are a three plug. So being a newb to this how do I make this all work together? It is the HerkuleX DRS-0101

https://www.dfrobot.com/wiki/index.php/File:SER0032.JPG

Rich · Answer

As stated in your other topic a few days ago, these are serial servos which require both Tx and Rx (along with Vcc and Ground). You will be unable to use them with a V3 as the V3 is unable to receive serial data, it can only send it. If it doesn't need the receive (check the manual) then you can ignore it and use only the Tx to any of the signal pins of the EZ-B. You will need to read the manual to figure out the serial commands to make the servos work.

Ings175 · Answer

Ohhhhh ok. I think I kinda get it. Just confused by the 4 pin. I assume I will be modifying the plug. I am planning on buying duplicates of the plug if I need to. There just isn't a ton of documentation out there about making them work as a standard servos that I have seen.

Ings175 · Answer

Sorry I was looking at the ezb3 board. Obviously the EZB4 looks different. Are the I2C ports for servos?

Sudo the Banned · Answer

There's only 3 i2c ports on the EZ-B v4.

Rich · Answer

i2c ports are something else entirely, they are similar to serial. You will be better off reading up about i2c as I'm sure there is better information than I can provide on it. But basically, i2c is a communication protocol similar to serial, you have a master device and slave devices with addresses such as 0x11 or 0xc3, they can all be linked together in a daisy chain and the EZ-B talks to the devices by using the addresses. That's a really poor explanation of i2c to be honest, there is a lot of info on the interweb about i2c, it's confusing and complicated too but well worth learning about it. Short answer is the i2c ports are probably not what are needed. From what I briefly read on the servos you need your vcc and ground as usual then you have your Tx and Rx. If using a V4 EZ-B you will take the Tx to a signal pin of any digital port and the Rx to a signal pin of any other digital port, they will require 2 ports. Then you use the SendSerial() command to send the correct serial data to the servos to make them move etc.

Ings175 · Answer

Thanks guys. It will probably make more sense when both are in front of me. Maybe the ez guys will chime in before that point as well.

Sudo the Banned · Answer

If memory serves correct (once again), he's using a 20 DOF humanoid robot kit (link below). Which means he would need atleast 2 EZ-B v4's with that method. https://www.dongburobot.com/jsp/cms/view.jsp?code=100796

Rich · Answer

It depends on if the servos need the Rx connected to the EZ-B. If the EZ-B has no requirement to receive anything from the servos then the Tx is all that is needed. I don't know enough about the servos to know if they do require the EZ-B to receive any data, I don't even know what data would be sent by the servos. But if all servos do need Rx and Tx connected then you are looking at needing 40 digital ports, which means 2 EZ-Bs. You could probably swap out the servos for some standard servos and avoid any of the problems which may be associated with the serial servos?

Ings175 · Answer

The only thing is the servos are smaller than standard servos. I am sure there is a way to make it work. Obviously there is some time to work it all out.

DJ Sures · Answer

you should be able to still use those servos but only send not receive with the v3... should still work

Ings175 · Answer

Thank you DJ. I may have more questions once I get everything but now I feel better. Thank you

Antron007 · Answer

So I think this has been covered but I can't seem to find the answer, Will the V4 support serial Tx and Rx? If so, that would be done on two ports, correct?

As far as modifying the plug, if the servos wires are Gnd,Vcc,Rx,Tx then you could just plug it in. It shouldn't matter if the Servos Tx is connected because the V3 can't read it anyway.

Rich · Answer

@Antron, that is what I understand to be correct, V4 has Tx and Rx capabilities, each would require a separate port of the EZ-B.

Also, yes, if the pin out is Ground, VCC, Rx, Tx then you could plug it in with the Tx no connected to anything and it should work without any plug modifications. Failing that, you could make up a small conversion board with 0.1" headers to re-route the pins in to the correct order or use jumper wires to do so.

Ings175

How Do I Connect The Herkulex Servos To Ezb?

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