Servo motors rely on electronic pulses to control them. The pulses that they receive are extremely rapid, one is expected every 20 milliseconds, and are measured in length to determine how far the motor works. For example, if a pulse of 1.5 milliseconds is received the motor will turn 180 degrees. I am uncertain, however, that the I will be able to generate pulses this quickly using the system that I plan to use. For this reason I have been researching into servo controller. Unfortunately I was unable to find any in any shops, so had to resort to online for one. There were several options, but most of which had to be shipped internationally, either from Europe or America. As I was slightly pressed for time, I continued to try and find a suitable one located within the UK. Eventually I settled on one from Technobots.co.uk. The Pololu Serial 16-Servo Controller allows you to control up to sixteen RC servos from almost any robot controller or computer.
The interface to the servo controller is a standard RS-232 serial port, which meant that it would be possible to control it using the PC that I had planned to use in the installation. Multiple servo controllers can be connected to a single serial line, and they are compatible with servo controllers, meaning that almost an arbitrary number of servos and motors can be controlled with one serial line.
The unit cost £51.14 including the VAT and shipping, which although was relatively expensive was necessary to make the project work successfully. Upon arrival I was considered about the unit, as it was extremely small, and was not pre-assembled, meaning that there would be lots of precise soldering connections, something that I did not like the idea of.
http://www.technobots.co.uk/Data%20Sheets/3800-103.pdf
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