🛞 Steering System – Servo Motor Control

👀 For detailed implementation, check out the Documentation PDF.

📜 Overview

The steering system of our autonomous car is controlled using a servo motor. The servo adjusts the front wheels' angle by modifying its PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) duty cycle, allowing for precise directional control. Operational amplifier compares the actual value of the servo and the target value of the smoothed PWM signal and controls the electric motor with positive or negative voltage until the target and actual values are identical.

This page explains:
✔️ How the servo motor is used for steering.
✔️ The implementation using FTM (FlexTimer Module) for PWM control.
✔️ Code snippets for setting steering angles.

⚙️ How the Servo Motor Works

A servo motor operates by receiving a PWM signal, where:

• A 1ms pulse width (~5% duty cycle) steers left.
• A 1.5ms pulse width (~7.5% duty cycle) keeps the wheels centered.
• A 2ms pulse width (~10% duty cycle) steers right.

PWM Signal Representation

📌 These signals are generated using FTM3 Channel 6.

                          Duty Cycle = ( Pulse Width / Period Length ) x 100

🔩 Implementation – Controlling the Servo Motor

The FlexTimer Module (FTM) is used to generate the required PWM signals. Below is an overview of how the servo control is implemented.

Pin Configuration

🛠️ Code Implementation

Setting the Servo Position

The function setServoPosition() updates the PWM duty cycle to control the steering.