First attempt to create a cheap CNC

Well, here's why I needed those servos: I somehow decided I could build a cheap CNC out of Dremel drilling station. I bought some metal part for about ten bucks and two servos for about twenty bucks a piece.

Modifying servo for continuous rotation and adding digital encoder - part 2

Modifying servo for continuous rotation and adding digital encoder - part 1

Now we'll add encoding capabilities to the servo so it can report it's incremental or/and absolute position. I'll be using AS5040 - 10-bit Absolute Programmable Magnetic Rotary Encoder with Incremental, SSI, and PWM Output from ams (ex- austriamicrosystems and TAOS) with incremental mode on, but if you care to re-program the device, it can feed you step/dir data. And if you modify PCB you can also use absolute position (that can be read through SPI as well as PWM/analog output).

What you'll need:

Modifying servo for continuous rotation and adding digital encoder - part 1

I need servo motors with position feedback for a project. I chose to go with servos and later decided to integrate encoder right into servo - I've seen something like this before (e.g. here:  http://www.openservo.com/ )

As I need quite powerful servos, I chose all-metal Power HD High-Torque Servo 1501MG from Pololu. In part 1 I'll just document how I modified it for continuous rotation - it seems everyone did that at least once these days (well, not particularly everyone - my mom still hasn't done that).

Power HD 1501 Analog Servo