PC Based Oscilliscope to tune servos ??

[robhrzic]

Can anyone out there tell me if i could possibly use a PC Based Oscilliscope to tune a servo motor for use with a G320, such as this on that I found on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-Channel-USB-Os...QQcmdZViewItem

Are there any (explicit) instructions anywhere as to how to go about doing this (tuning with a scope). Where do you connect the leads / probes? How do you setup the scope for the measurement?

I know that one can "tune by hand", but I would really like to use a scope to tune the servos. That way I may be able to have a bit more confidence that the servos are critically damped as they should be.

Since the servo tuning / electronics portion of my project is, by far, the most enigmatic and misunderstood for me (I'm have a mechanical backgound), I'd like to be able to confirm my tuning by hand or "guesstimate" with something that is a little more concrete (in ny eyes).

If I can't use this type of PC Based Oscilliscope, what type of scope would I need to do the job?

[keebler303]

That scope should be fine. Mariss explains pretty well in the manual how to hook it up. You are just measuring the analog error signal and watching how the error is corrected with an impulse disturbance. The plots in the manual show the volts/div and time scale used.

Good Luck
Matt