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I am making a life-size robotic dog, and i am having trouble with getting it to walk as it is too heavy for my 4 micro sg servos. Can i make the servos more powerful with more power? If not i can just see if i can make the dog lighter. Many thanks

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    $\begingroup$ Can you provide more information about the servos? Maybe the datasheet or the approx weight to move. $\endgroup$ Oct 23, 2020 at 21:10
  • $\begingroup$ Size the load (dog) according to the power of the motors OR size the motors needed according to the load (dog). $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Oct 24, 2020 at 4:43
  • $\begingroup$ Putting more than the rated power through any motor will cause it to overheat and become damaged. Make the dog lighter, replace the servos, or both. $\endgroup$ Oct 24, 2020 at 7:52
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    $\begingroup$ I suggest you get a torque wrench and see how hard you have to turn these linkages to get it to move as fast as you want. Then buy an appropriate motor. I suggest that most of the weight will need to be batteries and motors. $\endgroup$
    – Tiger Guy
    Oct 26, 2020 at 8:02
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    $\begingroup$ life size robotic dog is meaningless ... chihuahua or great dane? ... please edit your post with a description of the actual dimensions and weight $\endgroup$
    – jsotola
    Mar 19, 2022 at 21:46

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I think when you refer to 'servo motor' you mean an ordinary radio-control-model sort of servo: enter image description here

The reference 'servo motor' would normally mean an industrial motor with closed-loop control: an industrial servomotor

If by 'Can i make the servos more powerful with more power?' you mean, if you use a higher voltage, will the device be more powerful, the answer is generally yes, but within limits.

Model servos typically have a fairly wide range of acceptable voltages, and are typiclaly run at voltages from 4.8V (i.e. nominally four NiMh/NiCd cells) to 7.4V (i.e. nominally two lipo cells). Typically, the higher the voltage, the greater torque and the greater speed you get from the servo, potentially at the cost of more heat and somewhat shorter life.

For example, this page shows differing performance for a range of (rather more expensive than the one illustrated above) servos, at variously 4.8V to 7.4V. Futaba USA servo chart. In the chart 'TQ' is torque and 'speed' is actually the time it takes to traverse, so smaller value is faster.

However, four micro servos are not going to have enough power to operate a lifesize dog, regardless of what voltage you apply.

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