TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Published 2026-02-17
Friends who have done DIY or played with robots must have encountered this problem: it is easy to turn aservoto a precise angle, but if you want to make something continuously rotate, such as an automatically rotating display stand, ordinaryservos will not work. At this time, we have to invite today’s protagonist-the 360-degree continuous rotatingservo. When many novices first come into contact with it, they often find that if they are controlled by ordinary steering gear, it will either not move or keep turning stupidly and cannot stop at all. What is going on? Today let’s talk about how to use this thing.
When many people use a 360-degree servo for the first time, they will operate it in the same way as a normal servo. For example, if you want it to rotate 90 degrees, give a 1.5ms high-level pulse. It turned out that it did not stop at a certain position like a normal steering gear, but started to rotate directly. This is because their working principles are completely different. There is a potentiometer inside the ordinary steering gear, which can feedback the current angle in real time to form a closed-loop control. In order to enable continuous rotation, the 360-degree servo removes this position feedback. It only recognizes the "speed" and "direction" instructions you give it. Therefore, the core idea of controlling it must change from controlling the "angle" to controlling the "speed".
To make it spin, it is actually very simple. The key is to understand the concept of "neutral point". For a normal servo, give a 1.5ms pulse and it will stop at the midpoint. For a 360-degree servo, this 1.5ms pulse means "stop". When you give a pulse less than 1.5ms (such as 1.3ms), it will rotate in one direction. The smaller the pulse, the faster it rotates. On the contrary, if you give it a pulse greater than 1.5ms (such as 1.7ms), it will rotate in the other direction. The larger the pulse, the faster it will rotate. If you want it to stop, you just need to maintain the pulse signal accurately around 1.5ms. But please note that for different brands of servos, this neutral point may have slight deviations, which requires you to fine-tune it in the program.
The biggest feature of the 360-degree servo is that it makes projects that require "continuous rotation" extremely simple. For example, if you want to make a remote control car that can move freely, it is very suitable to use it as the driving wheel. For another example, make a self-rotating billboard, a mini industrial conveyor belt model, or a device that continuously scans like a radar antenna. It is very convenient to use and does not require complex driver circuits. It can be controlled directly by connecting to the IO port of the microcontroller. But be aware that its speed is usually fixed (can only be adjusted faster or slower through PWM), and its torque is relatively limited, so it is not suitable for use on heavy machinery that requires precise position control.
Let’s take the most common example as an example to practice the control process. The first step is wiring. There are generally three wires on the servo: the brown (or black) wire is the ground wire, connected to GND; the red wire is the power wire, and most small servos can be directly connected to 5V; the orange (or yellow) wire is the signal wire, connected to pin 9 (or other pins that support PWM). The second step is to write code. You need to use a library calledServo.h. First create a servo object, and then use.(9)insetup()to bind the servo to the pins. Finally, inloop(), use.(1500)to stop it, or adjust the value of 1500, such as 1300 to make it rotate forward, and 1700 to make it reverse.
When you go to Taobao or a parts store to buy a servo, don’t place an order just by looking at the word “360 degrees”. There are a few key parameters that you have to keep an eye on. The first is torque, usually in kg·cm, which determines how powerful it is. If your project is to drive heavier things, the torque cannot be too small. The second is the rotation speed, such as 0.2 seconds/60 degrees. This can be used to calculate how long it takes to make one revolution, which is critical for projects that need to match the speed. The third is the working voltage, the common ones are 5V and 7.4V. You have to make sure that your development board or battery can provide it with the appropriate voltage, otherwise it will not be strong enough or it will not turn at all.
Sometimes, after you connect the lines and write the code according to the tutorial, you find that the servo either doesn't move, shakes badly, or doesn't obey the instructions. There are usually three reasons for this. First, the power supply is insufficient. Especially when you use several servos, the 5V output port may not be able to operate. In this case, you need to connect an independent external power supply to power the servos, and connect the ground wire to the common ground. Second, the PWM signal is unstable. Remember that the exact function()is used in the code, notwrite()angle function. Third, the machine is stuck. Check to see if anything attached to your servo shaft is stuck. If the load is too heavy, it may also make a buzzing sound because it won't turn.
After seeing this, you should have a good idea of how to use the 360-degree servo. You might as well give it a try, starting with a simple rotating small fan or a car. I want to ask you, after reading this article, what is the first idea you want to realize with a 360-degree servo? Welcome to share your thoughts in the comment area. If you think this article is helpful to you, don’t forget to like it and share it with your friends who also like to do it!
Update Time：2026-02-17
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