Mechanics and Construction > Mechanics and Construction

Continuous vs. Modified

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airman00:
Whats the difference between buying a continuous servo and a modified to be continuous servo. I'm talking about the servos which are manufactured to be continuous not the ones that are modified by the seller.

Is there some big difference why they charge 20 bucks more for a continuous one then for a modified one? ???

airman00:
I was reading The robot Builders bonanza and have some questions.

In the book it says:

--- Quote ---Modifying a servo for continual rotation carries with it a few limitations, exceptions, and
?gotchas? that you?ll want to keep in mind:

The average servo is not engineered for lots and lots of continual use. The mechanics
of the servo are likely to wear out after perhaps as little as 25 hours (that?s elapsed time),
depending on the amount of load on the servos. Models with metal gears and/or brass
bushing or ball bearings will last longer.

The control electronics of a servo are made for intermittent duty. Servos used to power a
robot across the floor may be used minutes or even hours at a time, and they tend to be under
additional mechanical stress because of the weight of the robot. Though this is not exactly
common, it is possible to burn out the control circuitry in the servo by overdriving it.
--- End quote ---

Is it really true that if I modify my servos they'll last only 25 hours??? And if the robot is driving across the floor then will it really break so soon???

,Eric

Steve Joblin:
I'm not quite sure exactly where the "25" comes from, but yes, servos are not meant to be continuously driven, so don't plan on them lasting forever.  Typically, the more you spend, the better the quality, and the longer they will last.  That said, I've been into robots for about 8 years now and my first robot (a Parallax BoeBot) is still running just fine!!

airman00:
Did you include a modified servo into your parallax boe bot?

Also, if I purchase a continuous one over a modified one, will the continuous be better?

Steve Joblin:
The Parallax BOEbot has two Futaba-S148 servos that I modified for continuous rotation.

The reasons you would want to buy a continuous servo are:
1.  You are not mechanically inclined and are afraid to take the servo apart
2.  You don't have the correct tools to make the modification
3.  You are "sloppy" and are concerned that your modifications to the gears won't be good

If you take your time, follow the instructions, and are careful, you won't have any problems and should have the same "performance".  One helpful hint is to add a bit of extra gear grease to all the moving parts before you reassemble the servo.  Bottom line is that for small, light-weight robots, you won't know the difference.

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