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The twelve-channel Mini Maestro takes serial servo controllers to the next level by incorporating native USB and internal scripting control.
Whether you want the best servo controller available (0.25μs resolution with built-in speed and acceleration control and pulse rates up to 333Hz) or a general I/O controller (e.g. to interface a sensor to your USB port), this tiny, versatile controller will deliver.
Overview
The Mini Maestro are the newest of Pololu’s second-generation USB servo controllers. With three control methods—USB for direct connection to a PC computer, TTL serial for use with embedded systems, and internal scripting for self-contained, host controller-free applications—and channels that can be configured as servo outputs for use with radio control (RC) servos or electronic speed controls (ESCs), digital outputs, or analog inputs, the Pololu Mini Maestro is a highly versatile six-channel servo controller and general I/O board in a highly compact (0.85" × 1.20") package. The extremely accurate, high-resolution servo pulses have a jitter of less than 200 ns, making this servo controller well suited for high-precision animatronics, and built-in speed and acceleration control make it easy to achieve smooth, seamless movements without requiring the control source to constantly compute and stream intermediate position updates to the Mini Maestro.
This fully assembled version of the Mini Maestro ships with 0.1" male header pins soldered as shown in the product picture .
A USB A to mini-B cable (not included) is required to connect this device to a computer.
Features
- Three control methods: USB, TTL (5V) serial, and internal scripting
- 0.25μs output pulse width resolution (corresponds to approximately 0.025° for a typical servo, which is beyond what the servo could resolve)
- Pulse rate configurable from 1 to 333 Hz
- Wide pulse range of 64 to 4080 μs
- Individual speed and acceleration control for each channel
- Channels can also be used as general-purpose digital outputs or analog inputs
- One channel can be PWM out with frequency of 2.93kHz to 12MHz
- A simple scripting language lets you program the controller to perform complex actions even after its USB and serial connections are removed
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- Free configuration and control application for Windows makes it easy to:
- Configure and test your controller
- Create, run, and save sequences of servo movements for animatronics and walking robots
- Write, step through, and run scripts stored in the servo controller
- Virtual COM port makes it easy to create custom applications to send serial commands via USB to the controller
- TTL serial features:
- Supports 300 – 250000 kbps in fixed-baud mode
- Supports 300 – 115200 kbps in autodetect-baud mode
- Simultaneously supports the Pololu protocol, which gives access to advanced functionality, and the simpler Scott Edwards MiniSSC II protocol (there is no need to configure the device for a particular protocol mode)
- Can be daisy-chained with other Pololu servo and motor controllers using a single serial transmit line
- Board can be powered off of USB or a 5 – 16 V battery, and it makes the regulated 5V available to the user
- Compact size and light weight
- Upgradable firmware
Application Examples
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| Micro Maestro as the brains of a tiny hexapod robot. |
- Serial servo controller for multi-servo projects (e.g. robot arms, animatronics) based on BASIC Stamp or Arduino platforms
- PC-based servo control over USB port
- PC interface for sensors and other electronics:
- Read a gyro or accelerometer from a PC for novel user interfaces
- Control a string of ShiftBrites from a PC for mood lighting
- General I/O expansion for microcontroller projects
- Programmable, self-contained Halloween or Christmas display controller that responds to sensors
- Self-contained servo tester
Documentation and other information
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