
UNDERSTANDING THE ELECTRONIC PIECES 25
the servo
motors
NXT robots can move in many different ways—they can
grasp, race, walk, swivel, and do much more—and that capa-
bility comes from using the NXT servo motors (Figure 3-6).
Although LEGO motors have existed for some time, the three
(identical) servo motors in the NXT set are entirely new.
The servo motor uses a built-in rotation sensor or
tachometer to precisely control the motor’s output shaft
(leftmost part of Figure 3-6). Attached to the output
shaft are two circular orange parts—which we’ll call shaft
heads—that rotate with the output shaft. By connecting
LEGO pieces to the shaft heads, you ...