Book Image

Learning Javascript Robotics

By : Kassandra Perch
Book Image

Learning Javascript Robotics

By: Kassandra Perch

Overview of this book

There has been a rapid rise in the use of JavaScript in recent times in a variety of applications, and JavaScript robotics has seen a rise in popularity too. Johnny-Five is a framework that gives NodeBots a consistent API and platform across several hardware systems. This book walks you through basic robotics projects including the physical hardware builds and the JavaScript code for them. You'll delve into the concepts of Johnny-Five and JS robotics. You'll learn about various components such as Digital GPIO pins, PWM output pins, Sensors, servos, and motors to be used with Johnny-Five along with some advanced components such as I2C, and SPI. You will learn to connect your Johnny-Five robots to internet services and other NodeBots to form networks. By the end of this book, you will have explored the benefits of the Johnny-Five framework and the many devices it unlocks.
Table of Contents (11 chapters)
10
Index

Wiring up servos and motors


Wiring up servos will look similar to wiring up sensors, except the signal maps to an output. Wiring up a motor is similar to wiring up an LED.

Wiring up servos

To wire up a servo, you'll have to use a setup similar to the following figure:

A servo wiring diagram

Tip

The wire colors may vary for your servo. If your wires are red, brown, and orange, red is 5V, brown is GND, and orange is signal. When in doubt, check the data sheet that came with your servo.

After wiring up the servo, plug the board in and listen to your servo. If you hear a clicking noise, quickly unplug the board—this means your servo is trying to place itself in a position it cannot reach. Usually, there is a small screw at the bottom of most servos that you can use to calibrate them. Use a small screwdriver to rotate this until it stops clicking when the power is turned on.

This procedure is the same for continuous servos—the diagram does not change much either. Just replace the regular servo with...