"Adafruit 16 Channel Servo Driver" explained

[PauliusLiekis]

Q1

Could someone explain me why "Adafruit 16 Channel Servo Driver" can not be used to drive digital servos:
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-16-c ... i?view=all

Note this cannot be used for driving anything other than analog (1-2 millisecond pulse drive) servos. DC motors, AC motors and digital servos are not going to work.

I also find it weird that there is no that warning if you connect it to Arduino (i.e. not RaspberryPi):
http://learn.adafruit.com/16-channel-pw ... r?view=all

I though both Analog and Digital servos are based on PWM signal and the difference is in just how it works internally. Does that mean I can not connect servos like these: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__ ... c_58g.html ?


Q2

This tutorial http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-16-c ... i?view=all says that I need to use "Adafruit Pi Cobbler". Do I? For such simple scheme it looks like you could just connect it straight? My understanding that "Adafruit Pi Cobbler" doesn't do anything just provides convenient connection to breadboard. Am I wrong?

[adafruit_support_bill]

Q1 - There are digital servos and there are digital servos. 100% digital servos such as the OpenServo standard are designed for robotics and use i2c (or similar) digital protocol to communicate with and control the servo. These cannot be controlled with the servo driver. However, most commonly available 'digital servos' are designed for use with standard RC receivers which still use the 1-2mS analog pulse interface for control. I believe that the Turnigy servos fall into that category. These are suitable for use with the 16 channel driver board. (I've updated the warning)

Q2 - You can wire direct if you wish. The Cobbler is just to simplify breadboard connections.

[PauliusLiekis]

Thanks a lot, this clarifies things.

[brownlungs]

Good grief, I'm such a newbie I've spent all night looking for a way to post a question on the 16 servo pwm driver I just purchased. This is clearly not the place to start a new thread. Sorry and please accept my apologies.

Q1. I wired up my Arduino Uno as per example/tutorial and get a green LED to light. When VCC is wired to 5v on arduino. Tutorial says it should be Red(?). Then hooked up servo power supply and don't see the second LED turn on (Supposed to be Green). Got out the magnifying glass and can only find one LED on the board. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[adafruit_support_mike]

Could you post a photo of the board please?