Controlling a Servo with a BeagleBone Black

by Simon Monk

published July 15, 2013, last updated July 15, 2013

posted in Development Boards/ BeagleBone

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Beginner

Project guide

Overview

In this tutorial, you will learn how to control a servo from Python using a BeagleBone Black (BBB).

A Python test program will allow you to set the angle of the servo between 0 and 180 degrees.

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# python servo.py 
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):90
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):180
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):0
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):x
#

# python servo.py 
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):90
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):180
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):0
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):x
#

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To try out this tutorial, you will need:

	BeagleBone Black
	Standard Servo
	or a Micro Servo
	1 kΩ Resistor (optional)
	5V Power Supply
	Female Screw Terminal adaptor
	Half-sized Breadboard
	Male to Male Jumpers

The 1 kΩ resistor is not strictly necessary, but will protect your BBB from damage is something should go wrong in the servo.

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This tutorial uses Ångström Linux, the operating system that comes pre-installed on the BBB.

Follow the instructions here, to install the Python IO BBIO library. http://learn.adafruit.com/setting-up-io-python-library-on-beaglebone-black

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Wire up the solderless breadboard using the header leads as shown below.

You can use male to male jumper wires from the screw terminal to the breadboard. Connect an external 5VDC power supply to DC power jack

We will use pin P8_13 as the PWM output to control the servo. The only other connection that we need from the BBB is GND.

There is more information about all the pins available on the P8 and P9 connecters down each side of the BBB here: http://stuffwemade.net/hwio/beaglebone-pin-reference/

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Before writing a Python program to allow us to set the servo to an angle between 0 and 180, we can try some experiments in the Python Console.

To launch the Python Console type:

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# python
Python 2.7.3 (default, Apr  3 2013, 21:37:23) 
[GCC 4.7.3 20130205 (prerelease)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

# python
Python 2.7.3 (default, Apr  3 2013, 21:37:23) 
[GCC 4.7.3 20130205 (prerelease)] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

First, we need to import the library, so enter the command:

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>>> import Adafruit_BBIO.PWM as PWM

>>> import Adafruit_BBIO.PWM as PWM

Now enter the commands below into the Python Console one at a time, and you should see the servo change position.

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>>> PWM.start("P8_13", 95.0, 60)
>>> PWM.set_duty_cycle("P8_13", 97.0)
>>> PWM.stop("P8_13")
>>> PWM.cleanup()

>>> PWM.start("P8_13", 95.0, 60)
>>> PWM.set_duty_cycle("P8_13", 97.0)
>>> PWM.stop("P8_13")
>>> PWM.cleanup()

NOTE: If your servo doesn't move you might need to change the polarity of the PWM signal and try again. Add a 4th parameter to the PWM.start function with a value of 1 (one), this will invert the PWM signal so it's low when normally high and vice versa.

Here's the same code but with the inverse parameter set:

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>>> PWM.start("P8_13", 95.0, 60, 1)
>>> PWM.set_duty_cycle("P8_13", 97.0)
>>> PWM.stop("P8_13")
>>> PWM.cleanup()

>>> PWM.start("P8_13", 95.0, 60, 1)
>>> PWM.set_duty_cycle("P8_13", 97.0)
>>> PWM.stop("P8_13")
>>> PWM.cleanup()

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Exit the Python Console by typing:

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>>> exit()

>>> exit()

This should take you back to the Linux prompt.
Enter the following command to create a new files called servo.py

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nano servo.py

nano servo.py

Now paste the code below into the editor window.

NOTE: Don't forget to add the inverse parameter to the PWM.start function if you found it was required to make your servos move in the previous page!

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import Adafruit_BBIO.PWM as PWM

servo_pin = "P8_13"
duty_min = 3
duty_max = 14.5
duty_span = duty_max - duty_min

PWM.start(servo_pin, (100-duty_min), 60.0)

while True:
    angle = raw_input("Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):")
    if angle == 'x':
        PWM.stop(servo_pin)
        PWM.cleanup()
        break
    angle_f = float(angle)
    duty = 100 - ((angle_f / 180) * duty_span + duty_min) 
    PWM.set_duty_cycle(servo_pin, duty)

import Adafruit_BBIO.PWM as PWM

servo_pin = "P8_13"
duty_min = 3
duty_max = 14.5
duty_span = duty_max - duty_min

PWM.start(servo_pin, (100-duty_min), 60.0)

while True:
    angle = raw_input("Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):")
    if angle == 'x':
        PWM.stop(servo_pin)
        PWM.cleanup()
        break
    angle_f = float(angle)
    duty = 100 - ((angle_f / 180) * duty_span + duty_min) 
    PWM.set_duty_cycle(servo_pin, duty)

To start the program, enter the command:

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# python servo.py 
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):90
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):180
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):0
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):x
#

# python servo.py 
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):90
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):180
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):0
Angle (0 to 180 x to exit):x
#

Entering a value between 0 and 180 will set the servo's angle accordingly.

When you want to stop the program, enter 'x'.

You may find that your servo judders at one end of its range or does not give a full 180 degree range of movement. If this is the case, try tweaking the values in duty_min and duty_max.

When you enter 'x', the PWM is stopped and 'cleanup' is run, otherwise the PWM signal would continue in the background even after the program had stopped running.

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The position of the servo motor is set by the length of a pulse. The servo expects to receive a pulse roughly every 20 milliseconds. If that pulse is high for 1 millisecond or less, then the servo angle will be zero, if it is 1.5 milliseconds, then it will be at its centre position and if it is 2 milliseconds or more it will be at 180 degrees.

"Continuous" Servos, also called "360 Servos" work very similarly, so you can use them just like a position servo. Instead of the absolute position, a continuous servo will adjust its speed with different pulse widths

This example uses the PWM feature of the GPIO library to generate the pulses for the servo. The PWM frequency is set to 60 Hz so that the servo will receive a pulse roughly every 17 milliseconds.

The length of the pulse is changed by adjusting the duty cycle over the fairly narrow range of 3 to 14.5 percent. These figures were estimated and then tweaked a bit to give a maximum range of the servo being used.

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If you wanted to, you could attach three more servos to the GPIO pins P8_19, P9_14 and P9_16. They could all share the same external 5-6VDC power supply without any problem.

About the Author.
As well as contributing lots of tutorials about Raspberry Pi, Arduino and now BeagleBone Black, Simon Monk writes books about open source hardware. You will find his books for sale here at Adafruit.

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