Connect the Red Wire - SERVO - AGTECH

1. Insert the red wire into the Vin pin on the Arduino board.

STEM Connections

Connecting the red wire to the Vin pin connects the Servo to the positive terminal of the power source. Vin stands for Voltage Input and matches the voltage supplied to the Arduino board. 

Since the red wire is connected to Vin and the red connection on the Servo, the Servo is now being supplied with positive power.

• Generally, it’s not good practice to power Servos through the Arduino, but we are only powering 1 relatively small Servo. Therefore, 5V should also technically work, but we found that not every board consistently provides the amount of power the Servo needs to function properly. For this reason, we chose to use Vin in our activities. Vin, voltage input, is also 5 volts because the USB is delivering 5 volts from the computer. Vin has a higher current limit and appears to be consistent in providing enough power to the Servo.
• At the Thinkabit Lab, we encourage students to take notes on where the wires connect and ask students to write down “Red –> Vin” in case the wire comes out later and they need to refer to it. The red wire also represents electricity in (Red = Positive Electricity).

If you are using the Thinkabit Lab Notebook:
 

Have students fill in the first blank at the bottom of page 15:
Red Wire:     Vin (+)      

Vin has a wire stuck in it

1. Use 5V instead (Note: we have seen some cases where 5V does not control the Servo properly like Vin does).

2. Teacher uses a box cutter or pliers to get it out.

3. Replace the Arduino board.