Project 2: Servo motor control with VarSpeedServo

The build in Servo library is good and very simple to use. However, there’s more we can do with the hardware than it allows us.

For example, how fast should the motor move from one position to the next? What about the ability to define a set of movements for the motor to perform, and then send them with a single instruction?

To achieve functionality like that, we need to use an external library. I am going to show you how to use the VarSpeedServo library, written by Korman and updated by Philip van Allen. Thank you to both for their work and contribution!

First, you will need to get this library. Go to the library Github repository to download it.Click on the green "Code" button to expand the drop-down menu ("1"), and then click on "Download ZIP" ("2") as I show in the screenshot below:

Download it somewhere on your computer, and then import it to your Arduino IDE's libraries folder. The easiest way to do this is to use the Arduino IDE's Include Library option. Start your Arduino IDE, click on Sketch ("1") --> Include Library ("2") --> Add .ZIP Library ("3"), as in the screenshot below:

In the dialog box that appears, navigate to the location where the ZIP file is stored on your disk, select it, and click "Choose".

Load the "Sweep" demo sketch

The VarSpeedServo library is now installed and ready to use. The library comes with several examples. One of them is "Sweep", which is perfect for an introduction to the library. Let's open it. Go to the Arduino IDE and click on File ("1") --> Examples ("2") --> VarSpeedServo-master ("3") --> Sweep ("4").

Here’s the Sweep sketch:

#include <VarSpeedServo.h>

// create servo object to control a servo
// a maximum of eight servo objects can be created
VarSpeedServo myservo;

// the digital pin used for the servo
const int servoPin = 9;

void setup() {

  // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
  myservo.attach(servoPin);  

  // set the initial position of the servo, as fast as possible, wait until done           
  myservo.write(0,255,true); 

}

void loop() {

  // move the servo to 180, max speed, wait until done
  // write(degrees 0-180, speed 1-255, wait to complete true-false)
  myservo.write(180,255,true);                                         

  // move the servo to 180, slow speed, wait until done
  myservo.write(0,30,true);           

}

You can probably see the similarities and differences between the original Sweep sketch and this one.

In the header of this sketch, you include the VarSpeedServo library and create the myservo object. You set the servo signal pin to 9.

You then send the first command to the servo by using the myservo.write() function. This looks the same as in the original Sweep sketch, except that is takes three arguments, not just one.

The function accepts three parameters:

• first, an integer which represents the degree we’d like the servo to turn to. For example, 15 degrees.
• Second, the speed argument which controls how fast the movement should be. Top speed is 255, stopped is 0, and anything is between is allowed.
  
• And third, the wait argument that can block the program at this line and wait for the motor to finish its movement. To enable blocking set this argument to “true”. If you want to allow the sketch continue instead of block and let the servo finish its movement on its own, set this argument to “false”.
  

Let’s now connect the potentiometer, like we did in the second part of the first project, and load the VarSpeedServo example sketch titled Knob into the Arduino IDE. You will find this sketch under File ("1") --> Examples ("2") --> VarSpeedServo-master ("3") --> Knob ("4").

Here it is:

#include <VarSpeedServo.h>

// create servo object to control a servo

VarSpeedServo myservo;   

// analog pin used to connect the potentiometer

const int potPin = 0;    

// the digital pin used for the servo

const int servoPin = 9;  

// variable to read the value from the analog pin

int val;                

void setup() {

// attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object

  myservo.attach(servoPin); 

}

void loop() {

  // reads the value of the potentiometer (0 to 1023)

  val = analogRead(potPin);   

  // scale it to use it with the servo (0 to 180)

  val = map(val, 0, 1023, 0, 180);  

  // sets the servo position according to the scaled value

  myservo.write(val);         

  // waits a bit before the next value is read and written

  delay(15);                 

}

Compare this against the sketch from the second part of the first project.

Isn’t it almost identical?

Notice how the sketch above also makes use of the myservo.write(val) function, with just a single argument? The VarSpeedServo library allows you to use the familiar functions from the build-in Servo library, so that any existing sketches you may have lying around will still work. You get the additional functionality, as we saw in the Sweep sketch, for free!

Can you build a circuit that contains a servo motor and three buttons?

• When you press button 1, the motor moves to 60 degrees.
• When you press button 2, it moves to 90 degrees.
• When you press button 3, it moves to 180 degrees.