Gilderfluke&Co Sixteen Channel Servo Controller User Manual
GILDERFLUKE & CO. ¥ 205 SOUTH FLOWER ST. ¥ BURBANK, CALIF. 91502-2102 ¥ 818/840-9484 ¥ FAX818/840-9485
OPERATINGINSTRUCTIONS
for
SIXTEEN CHANNEL SERVO MOTOR CONTROLLER
and
SIXTEEN CHANNEL JOYSTICK AMPLIFIER
February 27, 1999
The 16 Channel Servo Motor Controller is used to adapt a 0 to 10 volt analog control
signal to the pulse width modulated signal required to control model airplane-style servo
motors. These can be used to animate light weight or short lived pieces of animation as
are often used in motion picture special effects. This type of servo motor is not reliable
enough to be used in most permanent animation applications unless your are willing to
replace them on a fairly regular basis.
The 16 Channel Joystick Amplifier is used to raise the small output swing of a joystick or
other potentiometer to a 0 to 10 volt level. It is often used in conjunction with the 16
Channel Servo Motor Controller. It can also be used to live puppet Atchley Mechanical
FeedBack (MFB) actuators, Electronic FeedBack (EFB) pneumatic and hydraulic actuators,
or any other type of device which requires a 0 to 10 VDC control input.
The Servo Motor Controller has 16 independent inputs and outputs. They can be used
with MACs full-sized animation control systems or with any other source of 0 to 10 VDC
control signals. Up to eight of these cards can be used directly with the outputs from each
analog output card in a full-sized PC¥MACs animation control system for up to 128 servo
motors per analog output card. A full-sized system can contain up to two of these analog
output cards to control up to 256 servo motors at one time.
The 16 Channel Servo Motor Controller is often used in motion picture special effects to
control servo motors through 'live' puppetry. In this case there is no computer or animation
control system used between the operator inputs and servo motor controller. The inputs
can come directly from a potentiometer if it is going to be moved most or all of its stroke.
When using joysticks and similar input devices, the potentiometer's wiper only travels a
small percentage of the overall stroke of the pot. To boost these relatively small voltage
changes up to the levels needed by the servo motor controller, the 16 Channel Joystick
Amplifier can be used.
A Joystick Amplifier can be paired with a set of joysticks and calibrated for a 0 to 10
VDC output. This rig can then be moved between a number of different animated figures
which are expecting this signal level without having to recalibrate them each time.
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- SERVO MOTOR CONTROLLER CONNECTIONS -
The Servo Motor Controller gets its power and data through a standard J-6/A data cable. The pin out
of this cable is as follows:
Pin #1 BROWN GROUND
Pin #2 RED 15 Volt DC Supply Input
Pin #3 ORANGE Channel 16 (0FH) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #4 YELLOW Channel 16 (0FH) Reference
Pin #5 GREEN Channel 15 (0EH) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #6 BLUE Channel 15 (0EH) Reference
Pin #7 VIOLET Channel 14 (0DH) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #8 GRAY Channel 14 (0DH) Reference
Pin #9 WHITE Channel 13 (0CH) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #10 BLACK Channel 13 (0CH) Reference
Pin #11 BROWN GROUND
Pin #12 RED 15 Volt DC Supply Input
Pin #13 ORANGE Channel 12 (0BH) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #14 YELLOW Channel 12 (0BH) Reference
Pin #15 GREEN Channel 11 (0AH) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #16 BLUE Channel 11 (0AH) Reference
Pin #17 VIOLET Channel 10 (09H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #18 GRAY Channel 10 (09H) Reference
Pin #19 WHITE Channel 9 (08H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #20 BLACK Channel 9 (08H) Reference
Pin #21 BROWN GROUND
Pin #22 RED 15 Volt DC Supply Input
Pin #23 ORANGE Channel 8 (07H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #24 YELLOW Channel 8 (07H) Reference
Pin #25 GREEN Channel 7 (06H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #26 BLUE Channel 7 (06H) Reference
Pin #27 VIOLET Channel 6 (05H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #28 GRAY Channel 6 (05H) Reference
Pin #29 WHITE Channel 5 (04H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #30 BLACK Channel 5 (04H) Reference
Pin #31 BROWN GROUND
Pin #32 RED 15 Volt DC Supply Input
Pin #33 ORANGE Channel 4 (03H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #34 YELLOW Channel 4 (03H) Reference
Pin #35 GREEN Channel 3 (02H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #36 BLUE Channel 3 (02H) Reference
Pin #37 VIOLET Channel 2 (01H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #38 GRAY Channel 2 (01H) Reference
Pin #39 WHITE Channel 1 (00H) 0-10 volt DC Analog Input
Pin #40 BLACK Channel 1 (00H) Reference
To connect a potentiometer to the input of the Servo Controller, you will need to provide a 10 VDC
reference and 15 VDC power supply. The 10 volt DC and negative references can be shared by all of
the potentiometers attached to a Servo Controller. Its current requirements are minimal, since about the
only current flow is that through the potentiometers. The same 15 volt DC supply that powers the 10 volt
reference can also be used to power the Servo Controller through one or more of the Ô15 Volt DC SupplyÕ
input pins.
When using direct potentiometer inputs to the Servo Controller, the pot must travel all or nearly all of
its stroke. If it doesnÕt, or you canÕt get all of the stroke you need on the servos, a Joystick Amp may be
needed. A Joystick Amplifier or the output from a PC¥MACs Animation Control System will provide all of
the voltage references and power supplies needed by the Servo Controller.
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GILDERFLUKE & CO. ¥ 205 SOUTH FLOWER ST. ¥ BURBANK, CALIF. 91502-2102 ¥ 818/840-9484 ¥ FAX818/840-9485
15 VDC supply
to Servo Controller Analog Input
(2) 1N4001 (typically) needed
on one input only. (These
provide the negative reference
voltage needed by the circuit.)
10 VDC
positive reference
10 volt
Regulator
negative reference
Potentiometer
(10KΩ typically)
If you need to reverse the direction of any of the potentiometer inputs, you can reverse the positions of the positive and negative references for that input potentiometer. A Double Throw, Double Pole
(DPDT) switch can be added if you will need to change it regularly:
15 VDC supply
to Servo Controller Analog Input
10 VDC
positive reference
10 volt
Regulator
Potentiometer
(10KΩ typically)
(2) 1N4001 (typically) needed
on one input only. (These
provide the negative reference
voltage needed by the circuit.)
negative reference
Back of DPDT switch
The pot must swing symmetrically around its middle point when this option is used.
The 16 servo motors are connected to the standard three pin sockets used by many brands of servo
motors. Some newer servo motors use a slightly different connector, and an adapter for this style of connector is available from the servo motor manufacturers. The pin out for these servo motor connections is
as follows:
SIGNAL
SERVO
+ SUPPLY
SERVO
- SUPPLY
The last remaining connector is for attaching the power supply which is used to power the servo motors. The power for these must come from an external source as they can potentially use a lot more current than the animation system can normally supply. Most servo motors run from a voltage between 3.5
volts and 7.5 volts. The lower the voltage the less strength and speed a given servo motor will have. A
higher voltage will give that same servo motor greater speed and strength.
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