Adafruit
DC Motor in Micro Servo Body
This tiny DC Motor in Micro Servo Body is an interesting motor - it's the same size and shape as our micro servo but it isn't a servo. It's more like...
This tiny DC Motor in Micro Servo Body is an interesting motor - it's the same size and shape as our micro servo but it isn't a servo. It's more like a DC motor + plastic gear-train in a box. It's not a super powerful motor, it would do well as a little robot wheel. It's also a lot less expensive than a micro servo (continuous or non-continuous) because there is no control board inside. Controlling speed is done by PWM'ing the power leads, controlling direction is done by swapping the power polarity - just like any brushed DC motor.
Runs from 4-6VDC, we've powered it with a Lipoly and 3 alkaline, or 4 NiMH batteries with success. You cannot control this directly from a microcontroller pin! You must have a H-bridge such as a L293D, TB6612 or a Motor shield, Motor HAT or DC Motor + Stepper FeatherWing.
Motor comes with 2x screws and 2x nuts for mounting to a chassis. No flanges or horns included - it's intended to mate with our little wheels, there's a screw to attach once they're plugged together. Build a robot vehicle of your own with these little motors driving it!
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a chip that runs your program and controls connected inputs and outputs. For this product, it is the part that reads buttons and sensors, drives the display and speaker, and communicates over Bluetooth.
- PWM
- Pulse Width Modulation is a way for a digital pin to simulate variable output power by switching on and off very quickly. It matters for controlling things like LED brightness, motor speed, or servo-style signals from a microcontroller pin.
- servo
- A servo is a motor with built-in position control, usually told to move to a specific angle by a control signal. It matters when you need repeatable movement, such as steering, arms, flaps, or linkages, rather than continuous spinning.
Find this product in
Robotics & Motion
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
