Using a servo controller to control the servos

To make your arms move, you first need to connect the servo motor controller to the servos. The servo controller you are going to use for this project is a simple servo motor controller utilizing USB from Pololu, Pololu item #: 1354 available at http://www.pololu.com, which can control 18 servo motors.

Here is a picture of the unit:

Make sure you order the assembled version. This piece of hardware will turn USB commands from the Raspberry Pi Zero into signals that control your servo motors. Pololu makes a number of different versions of this controller, each able to control a certain number of servos. In this case, you may want to choose the 18-servo version so you can control all 12 servos with one controller and also add an additional servo to control the direction of a camera or sensor. You could also choose the 12-servo version. One advantage of the 18-servo controller is the ease of connecting power to the unit via screw connectors.

There...