{"id":69,"date":"2019-01-02T07:40:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T07:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rcdedication.com\/?p=69"},"modified":"2019-01-18T07:40:10","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T07:40:10","slug":"analog-vs-digital-servo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rcdedication.com\/analog-vs-digital-servo\/","title":{"rendered":"Analog vs Digital Servo – Whats the difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"
To get the most from your car you need to understand the subtle differences in the component parts. Today we will look into Servos, in particular digital and analogue ones. So I can help you understand their fundamental differences.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the difference between an analog and digital servo? The basic difference between the analog and digital servo is the speed of both of these motor types. Both these servo motors send and receive constant pulse signals. The analog servo sends 50 pulses per second while the digital servo sends up to 300 pulses per second.<\/strong><\/p>\n Now that you know the basic difference between both servo motors, let’s learn some more details about analog and digital servo to get a better insight into how an RC car works. To all the new RC users, read on to get a deeper understanding of RC cars.<\/p>\n To define servo in simple terms, it is basically a control system. In technical terms of RC cars, it is an electronic device that controls RC cars by regulating its motion. In other words, servos are the mechanical motors in your RC cars.<\/p>\n The conversion of an electrical signal into linear or polar movement is the function of RC servos. Let\u2019s study an example to understand it better.<\/p>\n A steering wheel of an RC car carries a control signal to the car, it is then decoded and sent over to the servo. The servo then rotates its drives shaft when the signal is received and this rotation is converted into the wheel steering.<\/p>\n A small but an important point to note here about \u2018Hitec servos\u2019 is that the black wire is the battery ground (negative), the red wire is the battery power (positive), and the yellow or white wire is the receiver signal.<\/p>\n Right now, this seems like a long and complicated process but this process happens in a matter of seconds or even less than that.<\/p>\n Also, let’s discuss another important question while we are discussing servos. What servo should you use for your RC car? There are two main factors you need to keep in mind for choosing servos which are speed and torque.<\/p>\n We suggest you to go for the high torque servos if you are confused. It is also wise to follow the guidelines of the kit manufacturers, as they give suggestions according to the specifications of your RC car.<\/p>\n If you had a large powered aircraft on the other hand, micro servos are not appropriate even though they offer 38oz\/in of torque like HS-81. Additionally, smaller servos are more fragile than standard servos because of thinner gears.<\/p>\n In a digital servo, incoming signals are processed and converted into servo movement. These signals are received by a microprocessor. The length and amount of power of the pulse is then adjusted to the servo motor. Through this, optimum servo performance and precision can be achieved.<\/p>\n As mentioned above, digital servo sends these pulses at a much higher frequency which is 300 cycles per second. With these rapid signals, the response of the servo is pretty quick. The increase in the motor\u2019s speed; eliminates the deadband. The digital servo provides a smooth movement with higher power consumption.<\/p>\n Since we are talking about digital servos here, we would like to give you a little update on its latest model HS-50. This model is a super feather servo, a modern miracle in miniaturization and it has been engineered with precise components to provide a long-lasting free service.<\/p>\n It operates exclusively at 4.8 volts (4 cells). From indoor RC and hand launch gliders to ultra-small electric park and yard flyers, it’s an excellent choice for any micro application.<\/p>\n This a standard type of servo motor. In an analog servo<\/a>, the speed of the motor is controlled by applying on and off voltage signal or pulses. The regular pulse voltage range is between 4.8 to 6.0 volts and this is constant.<\/p>\n For every second the analog servo receives 50 pulses and there is no voltage sent to the servo when on rest.<\/p>\n If you have an analog servo, you will be able to notice that the servo lags in reacting to small commands and cannot get the motor spinning fast enough. A sluggish torque is also formed in an analog servo, in other terms this is also called deadband.<\/p>\n Now that you have an idea about what is an analog and digital servo, you can decide for yourself that which servo motor will you prefer for your car.<\/p>\n By now you have an overall idea about RC cars and that they come in different models and sizes. Just like this, the servos of RC cars have a variety of sizes and they are categorized into six standard sizes. In the table below you can see all the sizes with their specifications.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n These are the general servo sizes and their specifications for your knowledge. If you already own an RC car then you can take out the servo from the car and check its size. When you go to buy a new RC or even buy online, check all its specifications to find the details about its servo type and size.<\/p>\n The typical RC servo frequency is 50H.z. This means that the position of the servo is refreshed 50 times in a second. For most standard servos 120H.z is the limit. In addition to this, in the hitec servos 3-4V peak to peak square wave pulse is required. 0.9ms to 2.1ms is the pulse duration with 1.5ms as center.<\/p>\nWhat is a Servo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What is a Digital Servo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What is an Analog Servo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What are the different RC Servo Sizes?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\n Servo Size<\/strong><\/td>\n Weight Range<\/strong><\/td>\n Typical Servo Width<\/strong><\/td>\n Typical Servo Length<\/strong><\/td>\n Typical Applications<\/strong><\/p>\n \n Nano<\/td>\n Less than 8g<\/td>\n 7.5mm<\/td>\n 18.5mm<\/td>\n Micro airplanes, indoor airplanes, and micro helicopters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Sub-Micro<\/td>\n 8g to 16g<\/td>\n 11.5mm<\/td>\n 24mm<\/td>\n 1400mm wingspan and smaller airplanes, small EDF jets, and 200 to 450 size helicopters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Micro<\/td>\n 17g to 26g<\/td>\n 13mm<\/td>\n 29mm<\/td>\n 1400 to 2000mm wingspan airplanes, medium and large EDF jets, and 500 sizes helicopters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mini<\/td>\n 27g to 39g<\/td>\n 17mm<\/td>\n 32.5mm<\/td>\n 600 size helicopters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Standard<\/td>\n 40g to 79g<\/td>\n 20mm<\/td>\n 38mm<\/td>\n 2000mm wingspan and larger airplanes, turbine powered jets, and 700 to 800 size helicopters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Large<\/td>\n 80g and larger<\/td>\n >20mm<\/td>\n >38mm<\/td>\n Giant scale airplanes and jets<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n What is a Typical Servo Frequency?<\/strong><\/h2>\n