Servo Modification Mistake

[ankitk]

So the thing is that I kinda messed up something...
I modified my servo and (which I have done before) and i chipped off the pot's tab without centering it...
Is my servo still okay?
The good part is I haven't glued it and bad part that i haven't centered it.
Is it necessary to center it,
I don't have my micro controller ready
Ankit

[ankitk]

Oh yeah and Im using the 50$ robot source code so will that center it for me?
Thanks Again,
Ankit

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

Its 100% crucial to center the pot. The servo normally uses that potentiometer to know where it is. As the gears spin, the pot spins which ends up telling the servo what direction its pointing. So by centering the pot, the servo will think that its pointing at 0 degrees all the time. Now what the $50 servo centering code does is it sends a command to the servo to point to center. Thats how you know youve centered it. When the servo stops moving, you know that the potentiometer is at the 0 degree mark because its comparing its incoming signal with its current location(which it knows from the potentiometer) and moves accordingly.

Hope this helped

[ankitk]

yeah thanks it did.
Now another question,
you know i dont want the light following sensors which is with the photoresistors, all i want is an autonomous robo, so i cant find a cds photoresistor, so can i make do without it..i think i can but am not sure
Thanks,
Ankit

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

Well technically the light follower("photovore") is an autonomous robot. But If you want, you can upgrade to the Sharp IR rangefinder which will actually detect obstacles and avoid them(Or run full speed into them if you are making a sumo bot )

If you dont have any sensors on your bot, he/she wont be able to know anything about the surroundings and thus cant do anything but go in a straight line unless you specifically program it to go a certain route (ex. Go straight for 10seconds, Turn right, Go straight for 15 seconds, Turn left, Fire Death Ray for 5 seconds) that sort of thing.

You can put a bump sensor if you want. That way when it runs into something, it backs up for a second, turns, and goes somewhere else.

[Hawaii00000]

Sorry to revive an old post, but I've done the same thing twice! I fixed it by pulling the circuit board out from the bottom, unscrewing the screw, and pulling out the bottom of the pot. I then pushed the rest of the pot through the hole, filed down the plastic around where the pot is supposed to stick through, and reassembled everything. After that I just modified it as usual. You can also replace the pot with resistors. http://www.seattlerobotics.org/guide/servohack.html