motor servo taking up power when not attached

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evil_shark
 
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motor servo taking up power when not attached

Post by evil_shark »

I am using Datan S1213 servo and connects it feather M0 adalogger pin 11. I use the servo library to control the motor and when i need it to move, i attach the servo with pin 11 and detach it after finish using it in my code. I also write low on pin 11 and delay(500) after using the motor. I used the external wake up from the lowpower library so the m0 is suppose to be sleeping unless i touch a button and wakes it up to move the motor. when I tested my power consumption using otii, i found that the motor is draining about 6 mA even when I detached it and is not using it. when I unplug the power for motor from my feather m0, my power consumption drop to 0.3 mA. I wonder why will the motor takes up so much power when it is not used and is detached and whether there is a way to lower the power usage. I tried other servo library like the tom servo library and it does not help with lowering the power.
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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: motor servo taking up power when not attached

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The detach command simply stops sending control pulses to the servo. How the servo deals with that is a function of how the servo control circuitry is implemented. No servo library can control what the servo does when there are no control pulses being sent.

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evil_shark
 
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Re: motor servo taking up power when not attached

Post by evil_shark »

adafruit_support_bill wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:07 pm The detach command simply stops sending control pulses to the servo. How the servo deals with that is a function of how the servo control circuitry is implemented. No servo library can control what the servo does when there are no control pulses being sent.
Thank you so much for the reply! do you know whether 6mA is the expected average of all motors while not moving or is it just for Datan s1213? what are some strategies that you will recommend in order to reduce the power consumption from the motor in the resting state?

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: motor servo taking up power when not attached

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I don't have a Datan here to test with at the moment. But last time I tested a bunch of HiTec Micros, they pulled 3-4mA when idle. So 6mA does not sound too far off.

To completely cut all power to the servo, you could use a MOSFET.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/5648
https://www.adafruit.com/product/355

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