Not sure if settings for Servo are quite right

We would like to use our standard waterproof RC car servos with QGroundControl as tools on our ROV. We tried to set up one of the servos as a camera gimbal, but we are not sure if the settings are quite right. Currently, our servo is not running at all, and we are wondering what the issue could be.


#Photos of QGroundControl


Thank you,
Emma Hagen
CEO and CFO of Altum Operations

Hi Emma,

Do you have a +5V supply plugged into the servo rail on the Pixhawk? The autopilot power and the servo rail power are separated. Additionally, try unchecking the ‘Servo reverse’ option, there has been a bug with this functionality in the past.

Let me know if either of these are the issue.

-Jacob

Hello,
I am wondering if we could set up the servos and map the buttons through the aux ports on the PixHawk(I haven’t seen a setting for that). If not, how do we plug in a +5V supply to the middle rail? We are going to be using two standard waterproof servos. One for rotating the claw and one for opening the claw. We hope to use the trigger buttons on the controller to control them.
Thank you for the help!
Tobin Cox
Electronic and Software engineer of Altum Operations

You will need a 5V supply on the servo rail to run servos in any case. The most common way of doing this is to use the BEC included in an ESC. If your ESCs do not have built-in BECs then you may use a stand-alone BEC which are available from most hobbyist suppliers.

Regarding setting up buttons to control servos, this functionality is in the early stages and should be included in the next stable ArduSub firmware release. See more discussion about this here.

-Jacob

Hi Jacob,

I am also trying to control a two-servo robotic arm using QGC. As you said, the button setup is in its early stages so would I have better luck controlling the servos through raspberry pi? How should i set this up?

Are there any other workarounds that would allow me to control open/close my claw and open/close the arm, using my raspberry to pixhawk setup?

Your input would be highly appreciated.

I am also trying to control a two-servo robotic arm using QGC. As you said, the button setup is in its early stages so would I have better luck controlling the servos through raspberry pi? How should i set this up?

I wouldn’t recommend trying to go through the Raspberry Pi for servo control, as it will require additional hardware.

There isn’t a good workaround in place that I am aware of. There are a number of ways that you could go about implementing this yourself, but all would require some programming. I would recommend using the built in-solution in ArduSub once it is developed and released.