A servomotor (or servo motor) is a rotary actuator or linear actuator that allows for precise control of angular or linear position, velocity and acceleration. It consists of a suitable motor coupled to a sensor for position feedback. Servo motors come in many sizes and in three basic types. The three types include positional rotation, continuous rotation, and linear. Servos are controlled by sending an electrical pulse of variable width, or pulse width modulation (PWM), There is a minimum pulse, a maximum pulse, and a repetition rate.
A servo motor can usually only turn 90° in either direction for a total of 180° movement. The servo has three wires: power, ground, plus a third wire to carry the command pulses. The end points of the servo can vary and many servos only turn through about 170 degrees. You can also buy ‘continuous’ servos that can rotate through the full 360 degrees. A servo motor is an electromechanical device that produces torque and velocity based on the supplied current and voltage.
A servo motor works as part of a closed loop system providing torque and velocity as commanded from a servo controller utilizing a feedback device to close the loop. Servo motors or “servos”, as they are known, are electronic devices and rotary or linear actuators that rotate and push parts of a machine with precision. Servos are mainly used on angular or linear position and for specific velocity, and acceleration.
