360 Degree Servo Mod | Flite Test

Free your servos from their degree limits! Continuous rotation servos spin freely and let your imagination skyrocket.
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[@ghall05]

I love when you guys actually get down to the technical detailed stuff! More videos like this please!

[@kreech68]

I am sure that I speak for thousands of people out there when i say that I look forward to my email notifications for the two videos of the week. And, I am sure that I speak for thousands of us when I say that I/we love Flite Test. You epitomize all the good things about a hobby. "Making memories", if I may add "by making stuff" (and then playing with it! ) There is nothing that I need right now from Flite Test, but I will buy another t-shirt the next time I am at the hobby shop. The knowledge and enjoyment that I get from these folks is priceless. I feel that we should all do our own little part to help these guys. They spend all of their time trying to help us. Thank you to the Joshes, Alex, Peter, David, Eric, and all the rest, including wives (especially) and family. Sincerely, Sean O'Keefe

[@Morpheus852]

Thanks at FT! Just rewatching this episode and I'm very glad it is explained with all the details!

[@williammoses6460]

I've repaired the gears on a dozen servos. When my brain loses its short term memory function I will open up another servo to use as a model so the gears go in correctly. I have an ancient copy of Radio Control Model magazine with an article on how to do this. Peter's explanation is just as useful. Practice on an old standard servo; they're bigger,hence easier to work on. Nice job on an arcane subject.

[@MohitDewan]

This was the most awesome video in recent times from FliteTest.

[@websitesthatneedanem]

Finally a video that shows step by step!

[@hbunnie1120]

This was a lot different from the normal videos.... fantastic... LOVE it .. good hobby tips.... Thank You

[@Teach_EM]

So much easier than soldering on some resistors, thanks for the video!

[@sethwojciechowski9634]

best episode yet, ive been looking for an easy way of doing this without buying anything

[@habiks]

Instead of centering the potentiometer, remove it and use 2 same valued resistors instead.

[@jogz123]

Isn't that more work? What is the function of the pot? Does it work like this, when there's power to the motor, we read the resistance. Based on the resistance we control the logic/movement/position

[@jq5890]

Nice mod :) Also loving the Periscope live videos guys, keep em coming. :)

[@hallyhall400]

Peter rocks! Keep rocking my friends.

[@dalekranker1285]

Man you guys are the whip thank you so much lov the show again work perfect for a project I have Ben trying to do you have no idea

[@briguy9915]

Awesome vid guys. This trick worked like a charm!

[@k4s3l]

Knowledge is power :D You guys are awesome :) Thanks for shearing:) Best regards from Poland :)

[@RCflyer729]

awesome tip! I have been doing this for years for making rc robots.

[@BOKI797]

Alex & Peter that is a Nice Video on the Servos making them for Continuous Motion ! Great Video Thanks Dave B. Illinois

[@chrisquigley486]

Thank you Peter!

[@EEMtube]

nice tutorial again! As engineer you should distinguish between '360 deg' vs 'contin. rotat.' It is not the same. A 280 deg. tutorial based on common servo would be great!

[@SYNFPVPILOT]

Great project. Thanks for sharing.

[@peterwoo2489]

Better tutorial than what David showed us two years ago! Thanks for sharing but... come on, RC Explorer !!!

[@julianchadwick6038]

great videos keep up the good work

[@justinschmucker7204]

I tried it and it worked so thanks a lot and make more videos like this

[@ulaB]

Nice quick tip.

[@honestview]

I am making a camera slider with a continuous servo and a servo tester. Q. is there any way I can make it stop or change direction when it reaches the other end? of course I can Wire it so that there is contact on the end of the route, or place a button which it will touch and press, but what signal should it output?

[@phillipspellman1003]

Is there a way to do this and get nice speed control? the way you have done it would only give speed control when the input is not outside the P band for the PID control (or the equivalent). It would also vary with load. Perhaps there is something you could replace the pot with? that gives a resistance proportional to the shaft speed?

[@albertodomenech7881]

How would you modify the servo to spin 2-3 turns only in each direction?. Like a sail winch servo may be. Using the servo limit or travel adjustment. ?. Any help is appreciated thanks all before hand

[@rcplanes3131]

Nice, it will be useful ! Thanks ;)

[@sabre0smile]

Having followed this guide, I"m having trouble getting the servos to stop. Alone they stop okay, but I'm using a mixer, as I have in the past, to make robot control easier. -After short time manuvering both servos will continue to drive at a slow rate. Did I do something wrong or is this not an issue you've had?

[@mohamedyahya4014]

Well done guys.... I'm asking what is servo motor work find with 70cm servo arm to hold a weight of 5kg

[@paulsharpe7740]

hi grate video I've done this before for model boats and robotics, I then went to the next step try swoping the potential resister with a multy tern trimming pot you get 15 to 20 terns ,then fit a cog or threaded rod and you get endless uses. or have the pot on a short cable and you can get feedback at the pivotal point .hopefully this will be of interest to someone .

[@EdwardChew]

Cant be used for 360 pan tilt since it doesnt stop once you go to either one direction

[@robertevans6481]

cool mod like the camera mount one the best and sounds like a great video mount to,like that was said in video..

[@ojastayal1551]

So I'm gonna get down to doing this but I don't have the appropriate drill bit. Can I somehow bypass that step? Maybe using hot needles or something?

[@Djbassbitz]

Gonna build this for a follow focus system

[@zbigniew4370]

That's very usefull, i have couple of old serves

[@KaliLove707]

My Left Eye Enjoyed this

[@Chorochronchotor]

You are so awesome!

[@hiwayM9]

A peek in to the mind of a r/c McGyver. I can see how a bunch of these could make for a lot of fun rigging up frights for Halloween. Something as simple as a bunch of ghosts hanging from trees that were all controlled by radios would be a lot of fun for scaring trick or treat participants as they walked by the house.

[@do00p]

Those seem better for use as MIDI controlers rather than CAD CAMM CNCS you have any ideas on how to hack into the potentiometer part and make it so you can get that value. To the microcontroller?

[@alerx94]

i tried doing this on a tower pro 9g servo, thing is that once i glue the potentiometer and put the case back on the servo will start to spin slowly in one direction, i then have to trim it a bit to stay put but then after a minute it starts spinnig again. any idea on how to solve this issue?

[@brianroco1093]

Nice trick!

[@sajivshah5502]

On the 9 gram are u supposed to put glue only on the brass shaft or on the moving circular base too?

[@ulaB]

+Sajiv Shah That depends on your servo :). The goal is to stop the internal potentiometer from turning, so it doesn't hit an endpoint.

[@soulfull6626]

Good job but how do you make the servo only do 1 single, full 360 rotation? I need one for a steering wheel mod I'm doing.

[@thqp]

I know this video is old, but I did this mod to my 360 servo, it spins for maybe 3-4 seconds, then slows down to a crawl. There is no grinding in the gears, and the potentiometer is properly centered. I use one of those cheap 30A brushed ESC's paired with a DUMBORC X4 radio/receiver combo, and a 7.2V battery.

[@grevel1376]

What servos are you using for that "car" robot? Thanks!

[@dkryptonut]

Just wondering, other than reduced complexity....what is the benefit of using a modified servo for continuous rotation vs say a brushless rc motor + esc? More torque from the servo because of the gearing? Or very little difference between the two?

[@ulaB]

+kryptonut Correct. You basically get a cheap geared motor.

[@gizmoguyar]

I'd like to add a word of warning for people that are planning to do this to their servos. At least for the 9g servos, the dead space will drift over time. What I mean by this, is that after modifying and reassembling the servo, it will sit there, powered, not moving, however after a few second it may start to move on it's own. Slowly at first, but then faster and faster. It drifts over time. This is probably not an issue when using it for a wheel motor (like in the little car), however when using in situations that require no motion (such as a sailboat winch) it's not the best idea. The way to get around this is a bit more complex. You have to modify the potentiometer such that it can move slightly due to the friction on the shaft, but make it stop about half way of the maximum travel in each direction. This will introduce negative feedback for the center of the servo's range, but allow the full, continuous rotation at the extremes.

[@subhamkr.sahana434]

Can u tell me where did you buy 360° metal servo motor? Please give me the link.

[@omiadhi]

Hai peter is it possible to use this modified servos in antenna tracker for pan

[@horsth9566]

The retract servo of my plane stopped working properly. It only turns in one direction. My new Spektrum NX8 had the servo speed reduced for a realistic retract sequence, which may gave damaged the servo!? Can you provide any suggestions as to how to repair the servo. The circuit board shows no visible damage. Thank you!!

[@duck3774]

Can i ask what's the name of that servo tester? And also can i ask what's the best balance charger?

[@Heshhion]

With this mod you could make a camera focus/look at one point and circle around that point with a fixed wing. This would be great for DIY search and rescue!!! (CAN YOU MAKE A VID OF THAT BUILD)???? PLS :)

[@marino5011]

Nice tip!!!

[@joaomarveloso1049]

Can it move only with one speed, or can this be adjusted?

[@quadcoptervision]

smart - great vid

[@slimdog72]

I want to make a gopro rotater to do time lapses. Do you guys have any links to something like this. I am not interested in the egg timer method. I would like to be able to adjust the speed. Thanks.

[@ulaB]

+slimdog72 You just saw that? Make the servo move a plattform, add a battery and a servo tester and you can change the speed of the rotation.

[@SEThatered]

I used to solder a resistor in place of a potentiometer that corresponds with the center position value, I guess super glue is less of a hassle.

[@lelemeu]

i love it I'll try this configuration, I hope for my forklift rc the servo power is enought.....

[@juistian]

Thanks!

[@AKorigami]

Hay Peter; I saw your waterproofing video and I am wondering if you think those techniques would work on an Apple watch...

[@zfotoguy71]

so, using this method to create a motor, can one have it to go in one direction, stop it for a set amount of time, and then run it in the other direction? Can it be placed on a 3 position toggle switch of the transmitter?

[@ulaB]

+Lee “iCrash” K Yes. :)

[@NZDrones]

so can you use it as a tilt pan servo for fpv ? if you can how do you stop it from spinning ?

[@ulaB]

+NZ. Drones It will stop spinning if it get's the signal to move to the "centered" position.

[@lakshaygupta9400]

is this gonna wrk with sg90 too? the same procedure? i mean i have already watched a lot of videos to how to make servo continuous but i dnt knw wat should i do.. some says do soldering or so.. so plz hlp me out here.

[@nextstorming3908]

this video has the the sg90, i think, w/o any soldering

[@jimmynegron9490]

You can make it with servos with 60kg of torque?

[@bwxmoto]

I really like these how-to vids. I wish you guys would fix your lighting, it is always very dark. Your lights are positioned wrong or not bright enough, or you are standing in front of them... or something!

[@publicname515]

Do they sell servos that are already modified in this way?

[@thijss1272]

you could use a servo esc as your motor esc, just same as in the video it work's for my boats (micro boats)

[@Chris-vc1dh]

is it ok to just remove the potentiometer?

[@gilgameshismist]

So basically it's turned a servo into a left or right turning geared motor without the servo capabilities of "knowing position". So it's not really a 360 servo, just a motor.

[@evren.builds]

A motor with built-in speed control?

[@ThalassTKynn]

If only you could still get position feedback from these, too. Could use it for robot radar (or lidar, sonar, etc).

[@jardner9691]

Peter is the best

[@Arkintercon]

Peter should make a landing wench from a mini quad lowing a small magnet so they can try and land the mini in high winds, much like the graple wench on a most maritime helio's. a hook on then end of some good 50Lb line and you could land on a kraken's back

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

I'm sure Peter's girlfriend is very nice, and not a *wench!* 😋 Now a much better grappling system would be to use a *Winch* instead....

[@jaxtenwiltbank3242]

when are you guys going to get more GRAUPNER GR-18 - 9 CHANNEL 2.4GHZ RECEIVER in your store?

[@CineSoar]

I'm finding that the potentiometer drifts with the 9 gram servo. I sent a 90 degree (centered) command when I glued the pot. When I start the motor 'cold' at 90, it might 'click' every few seconds, or even turn slowly. Then, after running for a minute, the 'stop' is now at 92. After 5 minutes, it starts running sporadically and "stop" is now at 91, or 90, or even 89. If you need a reliable 'stop', it's probably best to add a transistor, so that the 5V supply voltage is only applied, when a value other than 'center' (90 degrees) is sent. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to test a dedicated continuous motion servo, to see if they perform better (I'm guessing they added a bit of extra 'dead' zone' to avoid this issue). No free lunch, I guess...

[@tomelner]

"I can hold it and cut it off because I'm doing it fast ", awesome health and safety

[@NotGyra]

can the speed of servo controlable?

[@rallekralle11]

i just realized that the FT shinden was supposed to be released about a year ago. i really wanna build that plane...

[@ulaB]

+rallekralle11 Latest rumor is that the nnMIG3 and the FT Shinden will be released together this month. Around the 19th is what I'd guess...

[@rallekralle11]

Balu oh, nice.

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

Still no shindenen

[@startazz]

Quick tip,when taking anything apart that might be tricky to remember how to put it back together again,i always take a few photos that way it's a lot easier to put back together if you forget how it goes back. ;-)

[@letsflyfpv538]

Good tip I wanted to do this

[@HyzerFlip]

"Each servo design is different, so not all servo designs are the same."

[@y.z.6517]

"Each servo design is different" is the sufficient condition of "not all servo designs are the same". different=not the same!=not A the same So here's a more tautological version: Each servo design is different, so all servo designs are different.

[@frankydoodle5454]

could you use those as litle step motors? mabe to make a litle cnc drawing machine

[@ulaB]

+Franky Doodle I don't think so. While you can change the speed and the direction they are moving, they don't have any feedback control after you disabled the potentiometer. So they don't "know" at what position they are at.

[@aussiemikeysaru]

Question for Pete, when applying super glue, where exactly do I apply it at???

[@ulaB]

+aussiemikeysaru The idea is to stop the potentiometer from turning. So the superglue needs to do that :)

[@aussiemikeysaru]

+Balu Ok...First of all...thanks for the reply. So I did 2 servos. First one basically don't turn either way as smooth as the video shows. It seems to be turning with friction and I can feel the motor heating up. I did another one with a different approach and now it turns 1 way fine, but when I reverse the direction, it does the same thing, it does not spin smooth and will slowly built up heat, but not as fast as the first one. Anyone can point out what I did wrong here???

[@ulaB]

+aussiemikeysaru Did you center the poti before glueing it in place? Is there anything else that might block the movement?

[@bsanchez281]

thats awesome

[@tankumaat]

though if you go for dumb 360 servo you can just remove stopper and use direct current after inside electronic parts are pulled out wires connected only to motor itself directly, just remove potentiometer too.

[@the_real_foamidable]

Very cool... I use this to build a robot with an arduino nano

[@Soojuice]

No Monday video?

[@feeling4691]

Do you think I could make a tilt rotor with this?!?!

[@MelHaynesJr]

as a filmmaker, I always wondered if there was a way to make a DIY follow focus. The ones on the market are thousands of dollars. Is this powerful enough to turn a lens focus ring?

[@BaufritzFPV]

+Mel Haynes Depends on the size of the servo, but I guess so, yes.

[@darkfoxxbunyip]

+Mel Haynes You can get pretty hefty, strong servos. The metal gear ones can take the heaviest load without breaking teeth. Ask your local hobby shop, servos generally have a number of grams specified, this refers to the force it can move. Servos are pretty cheap, tho the heavier ones can get a bit more expensive. Another option might be sail winches, special servos that don't have the 'stop' this video shows how to disable, used in RC sail boats as winches for the sails and rigging. I am unsure how their price varies as opposed to modding a normal servo tho.

[@juschu85]

In a follow focus system you have to be able to save and recall focus points, right? It doesn't look like you can still tell this servo to go to a certain position, since the servo needed the potentiometer to do this. So in my opinion it's not a servo anymore and a follow focus system is not possible. What you need is a stepper motor which they also use in DIY 3D printers like the RepRap printers. A stepper motor also doesn't know its absolute position at first, but it knows its relative position. It knows "when I go x steps in that direction, then I turned y°". So you have to use end stops, just like in 3d printers.

[@MelHaynesJr]

+Darkfoxx Bunyip thanks for the info. Good to know

[@MelHaynesJr]

+juschu85 i never even considered save and recall points. I would just be happy to be able to just run it off a thumb wheel. My local hobby shop recruited me to help out with some aerial photography and I kept asking him if he could build something that would focus the lens while in the air. This video was a great help in showing what can be done. I guess I have to walk first and then fly. Thanks for the tip on 3D printers too

[@thecrazerkid2146]

Im playing with a servo while watching and i forced it to go 360 by pushing it i broke the the plastic and im done

[@ChristieNel]

Oh, I've done with my servos before.

[@mitsuman007]

Do as I say, not as I do; right Peter?

[@dominikkok8752]

can you please make a short rewiew on flybeam from hobby king becaus its my birthday soon and i dont know if it worth it

[@martinsalko1]

or you can just replace the pot with two 10k resistors.

[@bobwebber8521]

Junko Ochiai We were doing this 40+ years ago do you think rcflightest copied us?

[@hotliner]

... nice solution guys :-) ... works for a lot circumstances ... but it's not working like a normal servo any more and returns into neutral position after the control does it ;-)

[@chimp3376]

David Winderstil would be spinning 360' in his grave right now :)

[@mattlarracas2847]

How am I suppose to control the rotation of the servo on a transmitter?

[@ulaB]

+Matt Larracas You control it like any other servo by connecting it to a channel on the receiver. It's continously rotating and not stopping at a determined position anymore though.

[@mattlarracas2847]

+Balu can I control the direction of it?

[@ulaB]

+Matt Larracas Yes. Because the potentiometer is fixed in one position after glueing it, the electronics inside the servo thinks it is centered all the time. If you move the transmitter stick from the mid point, you tell the servo to move to a new position - either left or right. So the servo starts moving towards that position - the further the stick has moved, the faster the servo tries to get there. But since the potentiometer can not move anymore, it won't recognize that position and keep turning unless you move the stick back to the mid point - where the servo believes to be at anyway. So you can change speed and direction by using the transmitter.

[@mattlarracas2847]

+Balu I've tried but nothing is happening. the servo still is moving 360 but it's not changing dorection.

[@ulaB]

+Matt Larracas Hm. It should. Peter's does it at around 5:50. Are you using the thrust channel by any chance?

[@pierced0399]

I am building a quadcopter with a 3d printed frame. Can you show us how to put this mod on a compact quadcopter??

[@DFX2KX]

+Pierce D03 as a camera mount or something?

[@pierced0399]

i dont know

[@frillneckedlizard8529]

it actually seems quite easy