ART
BEAUTY & WELLNESS
CRAFT
CULTURE & HISTORY
ENTERTAINMENT
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD & DRINKS
GREEN FUTURE
REVERSE ENGINEERING
SCIENCES
SPORTS
TECHNOLOGY
WEARABLES
Driving a Servo Motor — SIK Circuit 8
Ed

Created by

Ed

17. March 2026FI
67
0
0
0
0

Driving a Servo Motor — SIK Circuit 8

Control a servo motor to sweep through positions. Learn about the Servo library, include directives, and how to precisely control motor position from 0 to 180 degrees.

Instructions

1

Parts & Introduction

A servo motor can be precisely positioned between 0 and 180 degrees. Unlike a regular motor that just spins, servos hold their position — making them perfect for robotics, pan/tilt mechanisms, and control surfaces. This experiment introduces the Servo library.

Parts Needed

  • 1x Arduino Uno + USB cable
  • 1x Breadboard
  • 1x Servo Motor (with 3-pin header)
  • 8x Jumper Wires

The servo has three wires: Red (power), Black (ground), White (signal).

Materials for this step:

SparkFun Inventors Kit - V3.2SparkFun Inventors Kit - V3.21 kit
Arduino Uno R31 piece
Breadboard1 piece
Servo Motor1 piece
Jumper WiresJumper Wires3 pieces

Tools needed:

Computer with Arduino IDE
2

Hardware Hookup

Wiring Instructions

  1. Connect 3 jumper wires to the servo's female 3-pin header for breadboarding.
  2. Connect the Red wire to 5V.
  3. Connect the Black wire to GND.
  4. Connect the White wire (signal) to Digital Pin 9.

Power Note: Servos draw significant current. If the servo twitches and the Arduino resets, use a wall adapter instead of USB power, or power the servo from a separate 5V supply.

Materials for this step:

Servo Motor1 piece
Jumper WiresJumper Wires3 pieces
3

Arduino Code

Open the Arduino IDE and upload the following sketch to your Arduino board.

servo_motor.inoarduino
/*
SparkFun Inventor's Kit
Example sketch 08 — SINGLE SERVO

Sweep a servo back and forth through its full range of motion.

Hardware connections:
  Servo RED wire (power) to 5V
  Servo WHITE wire (signal) to digital pin 9
  Servo BLACK wire (ground) to GND

This code is completely free for any use.
*/

#include <Servo.h>

Servo servo1;

void setup()
{
  servo1.attach(9);
}

void loop()
{
  int position;

  // Quick moves to specific positions
  servo1.write(90);    // Go to 90 degrees
  delay(1000);
  servo1.write(180);   // Go to 180 degrees
  delay(1000);
  servo1.write(0);     // Go to 0 degrees
  delay(1000);

  // Slow sweep to 180 degrees (2-degree steps)
  for(position = 0; position < 180; position += 2)
  {
    servo1.write(position);
    delay(20);
  }

  // Slow sweep back to 0 degrees (1-degree steps)
  for(position = 180; position >= 0; position -= 1)
  {
    servo1.write(position);
    delay(20);
  }
}

Materials for this step:

Arduino Uno R31 piece

Tools needed:

Computer with Arduino IDE
4

Test & Experiment

What You Should See

The servo quickly moves to 90°, 180°, and 0° (1 second each), then slowly sweeps from 0° to 180° and back.

Troubleshooting

  • Servo not moving: Even with colored wires, it's easy to plug a servo in backwards. Check connections.
  • Twitching/resetting: The servo draws too much power from USB. Use a wall adapter or separate power supply.

Experiments to Try

  • Add a potentiometer (from Circuit 2) to control servo position with a knob.
  • Change the step size and delay to experiment with speed and smoothness.
  • Build a simple pan/tilt mechanism with two servos.

Materials

5

Tools Required

1
  • 13
    Computer with Arduino IDE
Estimated Total
$145.00

Related blueprints

Other builds that share materials, tools, or techniques with this one.

Driving a Motor — SIK Circuit 12electronics/electromech1 shared material
Using a Flex Sensor — SIK Circuit 9electronics/electromech1 shared material
Reading a Temperature Sensor — SIK Circuit 7electronics/electromech1 shared material
Using Relays — SIK Circuit 13electronics/electromech1 shared material
Flex Sensor Glove — Control 5 Servo Motors with Hand Gestureselectronics/electromech1 shared material
Driving an RGB LED — SIK Circuit 3electronics/opto1 shared material

CC0 Public Domain

This blueprint is released under CC0. You are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use this work for any purpose, without asking permission.

Support the Maker by purchasing products through their Blueprint where they earn a Maker Commission set by Vendors, or create a new iteration of this Blueprint and include it as a connection in your own Blueprint to share revenue.

Discussion

(0)

Log in to join the discussion

Loading comments...