When installed, the USB servo controller appears as a serial port to the host computer. Programming is therefore as easy as sending commands to a serial port, and as an added benefit, the servo controller is compatible with many existing programs. The servo controller can be connected to additional serial devices, such as our Pololu serial motor controllers and thereby function as both a servo controller and a USB-to-UART bridge. The servo controller is compatible with USB 2.0 standards, and driver support will initially be available for Windows 98 through XP.
With its dual USB and UART interface, the servo controller can at first be used with a PC to quickly develop motion sequences with the advantage of graphical interfaces and quick program changes. For projects without dedicated PCs, such as small autonomous robots, the final motion sequences can then be transferred to an embedded controller, which can communicate with the servo controller over the standard asynchronous serial connection.
With the trend toward removing serial ports from new computers, the Pololu USB 16-Servo Controller provides one of the most simple, small, and economical alternatives to standard serial servo controllers.
For connecting the controller to your PC, we stock the USB A to mini B connector cable (see link above). We also have a non-USB serial 8 & 16-servo controllers and we stock a variety of RC servos.
Feature summary
Control 16 R/C hobby servos
Dual USB and UART interface
Independent speed and range for each servo
0.5-microsecond resolution
50 Hz update rate
Upgradable firmware
Small size of 1.9"x1.0"
Driver installation instructions
Before you connect your Pololu USB servo controller to a computer, you must install its driver by following these steps:
Do steps 1-6 only once, even if you are planning to connect multiple servo controllers or Pololu USB-to-Serial adapters. These pre-installation steps need only be carried out once, and the USB servo controller and USB-to-serial adapter drivers are the same.
1. Download the driver.
2. IMPORTANT: You must extract the files in usc01a.zip into a temporary directory. DO NOT attempt to double-click or run any of the files until you have extracted them.
3. Open the temporary directory and run setup.exe. The "Install Driver" dialog will open.
4. Browse to the directory in which you would like the driver to be installed and click "Install".
5. In Windows XP, a "Software Installation" dialog will appear twice, warning you that this driver has not been tested by Microsoft; click "Continue Anyway" both times.
6. When the installation is complete, a "setup" dialog that says, "Installation Successful" will appear; click "OK".
Follow steps 7-10 for each new servo controller you connect to your computer:
7. Connect the Pololu USB servo controller to your computer; Windows will detect the new hardware and open the "Found New Hardware Wizard".
8. Select the automatic software installation option; if multiple drivers are found, you will be prompted to "select the best match for your hardware" from a list. Select the one for the Pololu USB servo controller.
9. The "Hardware Installation" dialog will appear, warning you that this driver has not been tested by Microsoft; click "Continue Anyway". The installation should then complete; click "Finish".
10. You will have to repeat steps 8 and 9 again (you have to install one driver for the USB device and another for the serial device). After that, you are ready to use the USB servo controller!
Some software will not allow connection to higher COM port numbers. If you need to change the COM port number assigned to your USB adapter, you can do so in the Windows device manager.