# Power for a Parallax board



## consultlkr (Sep 9, 2008)

I'm in the process of building my first animatronic bucky skull using three (3) Futaba S3004 servos and the Parallax USB controller. At this point, I think I know enough to be dangerous, particularly when it comes to supplying power to the servers.

I know the board needs DC power, so I'm assuming that I can power it with any AC/DC power adapter that supplies around 4.5-7V's, but does it matter how many Amps? 

It also appears that the card will need 2 wires screwed into the power, so I'm assuming that I should cut the plug end off the power supply and strip the outer coating to reveal the red/black wires and then strip each wire so they can be "inserted & screwed" into the board. Is this correct - or am I out in left field?


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

You are correct about everything you said,kind of, the Parallax board gets its power from the USB port, usually around 5V. The external power you screw into the board is for the servos only...and yes, AMPs matter. Make sure your power supply has enough current to run the servos, figure 1 amp per servo.


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## consultlkr (Sep 9, 2008)

Thank you. One of the designs I'm modeling my project after uses a 5v 1000mA power supply for 5 servos, so I'm still a bit confused about the Amp requirements, but it sounds like if I get something around 3 Amps I should be OK.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

I would think so.


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