4 Servos / 4 High-Definition Transistors

A High-Definition Control Board

For Motion and Lighting

This module allows simultaneous management of motion and lighting, or different types of movements.

• Servo Outputs
  The 4 servo motor outputs enable precise positioning with standard servos or winch servos with exceptional precision thanks to an 8000 steps resolution. It also supports continuous rotation servos, which can reverse their rotation direction based on the received commands.
  
  
• PWM Outputs
  The 4 PWM outputs are also referred to as "Transistors" (as on the 8-Transistor board). They enable voltage gradation, making them suitable for controlling lighting systems, LED strips, DC motors, gear motors, electromagnets… All these actuators must be powered with a low voltage (5V to 48V). The outputs allow for brightness, speed, or intensity variation with a 16384-step resolution.
  

7-bit or 14-bit Resolution

The board can be configured in two modes: Classic and HD (High Definition).

In HD Mode (High Definition), servo motors are controlled with 8000 steps for high-precision movement and power transistors support 16384 steps. The fine-tuned gradation depends on the servos’ quality, some intrinsically cannot distinguish as many steps. This mode is ideal for controlling LEDs at very low brightness, preventing visible stepping effects in standard mode. Actual motion precision depends on the quality of the servos, as some may not support the full step range.

In Classic mode, using standard MIDI, the servo motors and transistors are controlled with 127 steps. This is the simplest mode when light or motion variations are mostly On/Off, quick, and without many intermediate values.

Interface-Z Actuator Boards

For more details on controlling servo motors, refer to the "Module 8 Servo" page.
For more details on the servo motors themselves, check the "Servomotor" page.
For more details on controlling actuators via transistors, refer to the "8 Low-Power Transistors" page.

Videos

Application Example

This module can be used, for example, to motorize a quadricromy: simply connect lamps of different colors (red, green, blue, white) to change colors at will and direct moving light with two coupled servo motors.

The PWM transistors can also control electromagnets and DC motors with variable speed adjustments.

Light and servo motor control via Usine at Interface-Z.

Technical & Practical Considerations

Connectivity & Mounting

• MIDI Input & Output (split): The output port allows chaining multiple boards together to easily control numerous actuators.
• 4 standard connectors, 3-pin headers, for servo motors.
• 4 two-wire terminal blocks for lamps (e.g. small halogen bulbs), DC motors, or other PWM-controlled actuators on the Transistor outputs.
• High-quality, durable terminal blocks.
• 3 two-way power connectors for PWM actuators, Servo motors (often 5V), and for the intelligent part (the control board itself).
• These terminal blocks are premium quality. They feature a clamping mechanism that grips the wire instead of crushing it at the bottom, ensuring a stronger connection.
• 2 mounting points with M3 holes.

Technical Specifications

Power Supply

- Board Power Supply: 8V to 12V DC
- Actuator Power Supply: 8V to 48V DC
- Servo Motor Power Supply: 4.5V to 6V DC, capable of delivering 8A

To enhance product quality, we have deliberately separated the three power supplies to prevent interference from the servo motors, which could otherwise cause uncontrolled vibrations under heavy load conditions.

These power supplies can, for example, come from a compatible switching power supply.

Power supply not included!

Position Recording Mode

The 4 Servos 4 Lamps board allows local saving of default positions and startup values, making it convenient for initializing the system with preset parameters.

Switch 8 on the board enables saving the positions of servo motors and saving the dimming state of PWM actuators. To save, set the switch to ON, then back to OFF. The next time you will power on the board, it will restore the last saved positions of the servos and the dimming of the PWM actuators.

Servo & Actuator Control

- All are controlled via MIDI Control Change messages.
- Extremely easy to control with software like Max and Pure Data.
- Supports up to 8 boards per MIDI channel and 16 MIDI channels available.
- Be aware of MIDI running status.