Building a robotic pet!

[jcpook]

Hi! I've just found out about this site. Lots of useful information. Thanks!

Anyways, I'm building a simple robotic pet with the following functions:
-Head movements with one axis of rotation. This will be controlled by a servo motor.
-Tactile sensor. This will sense whether the robot is being stroke or beaten.
-Speakers to play some simple voice.

I'm currently focusing on the head movement part of the robot. I completely new at this. But i've done some research online and from this site. Thus in order for me to control the servo motor i need to complete these few steps:
1. Build a regulator to control the voltage into the servo and to isolate the microcontroller with the motor. (They are both sharing the same source)
2. Program the microcontroller to send a pulse to move the servo motor to the intended angle.

Is that all I need to consider? I'm currently using a Renesas M16C microcontroller and a hitec HS-605BB servo motor. Thanks for your advices in advance!!!

[Admin]

1. Build a regulator to control the voltage into the servo and to isolate the microcontroller with the motor. (They are both sharing the same source)

You dont want to regulate the power into a servo if at all possible. Just make sure the battery isnt over ~6V. But you do want to regulate power to the microcontroller.

Is that all I need to consider?

My $50 Robot Tutorial should be exactly where to start . . . It takes in sensor information and outputs servo commands. Your robot could always be dog looking, wheels arent required . . .