Safety of powering XM motors with 4S LiPo batteries?

Issue:

Hello, may I ask if it is safe to power 26 XM540 and 1 XM430 motors directly from a 4S LiPo battery? I am concerned about the output voltage varying between 12 and 16.8 V depending on the charging status and whether it will damage the motors. I need 14.8 V for sufficiently large torques, so I prefer not to use a 3S LiPo battery. The battery is rated at 140 C for the electrical load and 5 C for charging, with a 4000 mAh capacity.


DYNAMIXEL Servo: 26 XM540 + 1 XM430


DYNAMIXEL Controller: U2D2


Software Interface: Dynamixel SDK in C++

You can safely operate these servos from the lipos by adjusting up the maximum voltage limit. If the 4S lipo is fully charged, you’ll likely receive overvoltage errors from the servo until they discharge a little bit.

However, a bigger concern would be driving such a long daisy chain from a single power supply. We recommend having additional power inputs every 4-6 servos in a chain in order to prevent power sagging, and the total amperage of your battery won’t last very long with so many servos connected.

Dear Jonathan, thanks a lot for the answers! We will try separating the motors into multiple chains and add additional batteries if possible.