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Feature Comparison of Commercial R/C Servo Controllers

The following table shows that, dollar-for-dollar, the OricomTech XSCC20 / MSCC20 Servo Controllers, and WMC20 / WMC12 Walking Machine Controllers, are the most powerful pre-programmed R/C servo controllers available. The only more-powerful controller is the ServoPod, but this is much more expensive, and also requires custom programming by the user in high-level language.

device WMC20 WMC12 XSCC20 MSCC20 ServoPod Parallax Mini-SSC SD21 SV203C Servo 8T Serial-16 Servio SSC-32
I/O CHANNELS (Note 1)
servo channels 20 12 20 20 26 16 8 21 8 16 16 20 32
digital I/O (max) 29 18 29 20 26 - - 14 - - - 20 36
A/D channels (max) 8 5 8 5 16 - - - 5 - - 8 4
protected I/O lines Y Y Y Y - - Y - - Y Y Y Y
servo power noise filtering Y Y Y Y - - - - - - - - -
COMMANDS
number of commands 70 70 30 30 HLP 4 1 3 16 11 6 30 > 12
ASCII format cmds Y Y Y Y - Y - - Y Y - - Y
binary format cmds - - Y Y - - Y Y - - Y Y -
OPERATION
slave operation Y Y Y Y HLP Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
standalone ops Y Y - - HLP - - - HLP - - - -
behavioral control
(scheduled events)		 Y Y - - HLP - - - - - - - -
finite-state machine operation Y Y - - HLP - - - - - - - (some)
eeprom storable behaviors 126 126 - - HLP - - - HLP - - - -
HLL programmable - - - - Y - - - BAS - - - -
configuration store to eeprom Y Y Y Y HLP - - - Y - - Y -
COMMUNICATIONS
RS-232 2-way comms Y Y Y Y Y Y Rx - Y Y Rx Y Y
baudrate (Kbps) 1.2-115.2 1.2-115.2 1.2-115.2 1.2-115.2 0.6-115.2 2.4 or 38.4 2.4 or 9.6 - 2.4-19.2 2.4-19.2 1.2-38.4 1.2-115.2 2.4-115.2
RS-232 networkable - - - - HLP x2 x2 - x32 x8 x8 - -
other comm channels - - - - SPI,(USB) - - I²C SPI,IR - - - -
on-board RS-232
level translators		 Y Y Y Y Y TTL TTL - Y ? - TTL Y
PULSE CONTROL
best pulse resolution (usec) 1 1 1 1 < 1 2 4 1 4 4 1 1 1
ramping velocities 2040 2040 255 255 32K 63 - 255 - - 128 255 Y
acceleration control - - SS SS HLP - - - - - - - -
refresh rate (hz) 40-100 40-100 40-100 40-100 38-76 50 60 50 50-70 65-79 50 30 ?
ALARMS
alarm channels 12 9 1 1 HLP - - - - - - - -
low-voltage servo shutdown Y Y Y Y HLP - - - - - - - -
auto-reporting to host Y Y - - HLP - - - - - - - -
MISCELLANEOUS
firmware upgradeable Y Y Y Y HLP Y - Y - Y - Y Y
proto area for signal conditioning Y Y Y Y - - - - - - - - -
on-board voltage regulator Y Y Y Y Y 5V Y 5V Y Y Y 5V Y
1-Amp voltage regulator Y Y Y Y Y - - - - - - - (0.5A)
layout for 5-Amp auxiliary voltage regulator Y - Y - - - - - - - - - -
miscellaneous - - - - - - - BS2 - - - - -
list price (USD) $76.95 $62.95 $64.95 $49.95 $199.00
($249.00)		 $39.00 $44.00 $50.00 $59.00
($85.00)		 $39.95 $52.00 $99.95 $39.95
Notes:

  • 1. Total #I/O channels is typically traded-off between servos, digital I/O, and analog I/O.
  • 2. HLP = high-level language programmable (essentially a programmable microcontroller) - many features can be added per user custom-programming.
  • 3. TTL = RS-232 comms uses 0-5v levels, rather than usual +/- range.
  • 4. Rx = board has RS-232 receive channel only; will usually work both 0-5v and +/-12v levels.
  • 5. SS = soft-stop.
  • 6. BS2 = has carrier socket for Basic Stamp.
  • 7. BAS = can exeucte Basic programs stored in eeporm.
  • 8. 5V = requires regulated 5 vdc from off-board source.

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    © Oricom Technologies, updated June 2005