Turn any DC Motor into a Servo Motor

Parts list (check website article for full list, affiliate links):

AliExpress

In this video we will learn how to turn any DC motor into a stand-alone servo motor with a lot of features. Unlike regular servos that have limited motion of 180 or 270 degrees, this one has unlimited range of 360 degrees and in addition to that we have the ability to adjust the range of the rotation to whatever value we need. We can also set a custom center point, we can adjust the responsiveness, it has continuous rotation mode and it can be controlled through an analog input, digital input from a RC receiver and using the serial monitor from our PC.

00:00 Overview
04:18 How a Servo Motor Works
05:08 Closed-loop System
06:50 AS5600 Encoder
08:33 Circuit Diagram
10:59 PCB Design
13:09 3D Design - Gearbox
14:45 Assembling the Servo
17:36 Bootloader and Programming the Servo
19:28 Test
22:18 Code
24:37 Outro

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[aviator]

You are doing a great job for the community. Thank you for these informative videos. You’re amazing

[DigiLab]

I wish YouTube had an option to give 5XThumb ups. You sir, certainly deserve 5X👍

[maxhouseman]

I recommend using a switching power regulator instead of a linear one. Reason is that the voltage doesn’t have to be super precise and switching regulators don’t waste the power from converting 12 V to 5 V.

[deone-entity]

I research on this so long ago, I think u are first one get on this topic thanks alot. I waited so long.

[IdRatherBeMaking]

Thank you, this is an outstanding project. I'm adding it to my build list. It looked like the servo is overshooting the position somewhat. I saw a feature you may want to consider researching and/or implementing. I think it was James Bruton who programmed the controller to half the remaining rotational distance and go there, half it again, half it again.... That would allow the servo to ramp down and stop the servo at a more precise point.

[YoutubeBorkedMyOldHandle_why]

Super informative video ... thank you.

Personally, I'd have made a couple of changes:

1. My opinion: the 328p has been over-hyped because of the Arduino community, but by today's standards it has some issues, so I'd use something else. Being 8 bits is probably not an issue here, but it's more expensive than 32 bit alternatives, such as the CH32V003 or the ESP32-C3. Besides this, Atmel(Microchip) debuggers are 'really' expensive and the 328p is very easy to brick. Even one of the newer ATTiny chips would be a better choice.

2. I had an issue with pcbway, so I much prefer JLCPCB. They are very reliable, high quality and probably cheaper anyway. They just don't advertise as much.

Otherwise, Great project ... looking forward to more.

[TheEvertw]

One comment about your PCB: for IC connections, the pad for pin 1 should have a different shape than the pads for the other pins. Usually, pad 1 is square and the other pads are rounded.

[piconano]

The PID needs work. It overshoots a lot.

[ismettopal]

As always another high quality work. Thank You. I hope you will make a self balancing bicycle with reaction wheel one day.

[GNARGNARHEAD]

great project. a tip for your soldering, bring the solder in first and use it to transfer the heat to the board 😉

[apbosh]

What's it like to actually complete a project that works? I've always wondered lol. Very nice design!! Thanks for sharing.

[TiFi]

Great work, wanted to build this for a while, saved me a lot of time

[wing]

Great video as always! You are my inspiration, man.

[enteente]

Great video and interesting idea. One thing i would add though is two header pins that can be used as external reference inputs or endsrops for driving things like a linear axis

[bonafide]

The way to solder microcontroller pins is not one by one, but add a decent amount of soldering tin basically soaking multiple legs by keeping the tin liquid, tilt the board to use the gravity and just pull the soldering iron slowly, it will attract the tin and leave just enough tin on the pins. I usually start soldering the microcontrollers to my boards and then the smaller parts. Nice project as usual! Thank you for sharing!

[dalek]

Ingenious. I have a need for something like as I finish your RC transmitter project, that is.

[lightman]

Terrific job! Outstanding description....thanks for sharing your design

[TheAstronomyDude]

I like the gears. I've never seen that herringbone geometry before.

[MaxLevine]

Having an option to use Encoder separately (on a daughter board) will be great addition!

[Chsch]

What tool was used to make the circuit diagram? It’s very nice!