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By Kevin McAleer, 3 Minutes
The PCA9685 servo driver is an essential component in robotics for controlling multiple servos simultaneously. It’s a 16-channel, 12-bit PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controller with an I2C interface, making it perfect for projects like our robot arm, where precise movement and control of several servos are required.
To control servos with the PCA9685 using your Raspberry Pi, you’ll need to make the following connections:
Additionally, you’ll connect an external power supply to the PCA9685 to power the servos, ensuring to share a common ground with the Raspberry Pi.
Here’s a simple diagram showing how to connect the PCA9685 to the Raspberry Pi and servos:
[PCA9685] [Raspberry Pi] VCC -----------> 5V GND -----------> GND SCL -----------> GPIO 3 (SCL) SDA -----------> GPIO 2 (SDA) [External Power Supply] + (5-6V) -----> V+ (on PCA9685) - ------------> GND (shared with Raspberry Pi)
Before we can control the servos, we need to initialize the PCA9685 board using Python. Here’s how to do it using the Adafruit PCA9685 library:
from Adafruit_PCA9685 import PCA9685 # Initialize the PCA9685 using the default address (0x40). pwm = PCA9685() # Set the PWM frequency to 60Hz, good for servos. pwm.set_pwm_freq(60)
You now understand what the PCA9685 servo driver is, why it’s beneficial for robotics projects, and how to connect it to your Raspberry Pi. In the next lesson, we’ll delve into how to program the Raspberry Pi to control the servos connected to the PCA9685 for precise movements of your robot arm.
Review the connections between the Raspberry Pi and the PCA9685 and set up a basic circuit as described. Ensure your setup is ready for the next lesson, where we will start programming movements.
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