# I want to relax the servos on the picrawler without shutting down the pi

**URL:** <https://forum.sunfounder.com/t/i-want-to-relax-the-servos-on-the-picrawler-without-shutting-down-the-pi/4561>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [April 19, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://forum.sunfounder.com/t/i-want-to-relax-the-servos-on-the-picrawler-without-shutting-down-the-pi/4561 "2026-04-19T00:40:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bubbaraines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@bubbaraines](https://forum.sunfounder.com/u/bubbaraines)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://forum.sunfounder.com/t/i-want-to-relax-the-servos-on-the-picrawler-without-shutting-down-the-pi/4561/1 "2026-04-19T00:40:07Z")

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On my picrawler, I have a need to relax the servos during runtime. Is there a way to programmatically do this in Pi5 using HAT5? If so, would simply positioning them again reengage?

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**Author:** ![SunFounder\_Moderator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SunFounder\_Moderator](https://forum.sunfounder.com/u/SunFounder_Moderator)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 6:42am UTC](https://forum.sunfounder.com/t/i-want-to-relax-the-servos-on-the-picrawler-without-shutting-down-the-pi/4561/2 "2026-04-20T06:42:22Z")

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The microcontroller inside the PiCrawler’s servo has a mechanism that automatically saves signals, so it can indeed only be released by cutting off power.

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**Author:** ![bubbaraines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@bubbaraines](https://forum.sunfounder.com/u/bubbaraines)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 11:12am UTC](https://forum.sunfounder.com/t/i-want-to-relax-the-servos-on-the-picrawler-without-shutting-down-the-pi/4561/3 "2026-04-20T11:12:28Z")

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Can you clarify please? Your response seems to indicate that the problem is in the servo. Is it the servo or the HAT5"? Also, in a response last year (see below), a moderator indicated to set the PWM to zero, but effectiveness is in question.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/sunfounder/original/2X/b/bc06ccd8ba97a415840d08a80b73cef7960490ca.png)

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**Author:** ![SunFounder\_Moderator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SunFounder\_Moderator](https://forum.sunfounder.com/u/SunFounder_Moderator)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 1:40am UTC](https://forum.sunfounder.com/t/i-want-to-relax-the-servos-on-the-picrawler-without-shutting-down-the-pi/4561/4 "2026-04-22T01:40:34Z")

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In our previous reply to you, we had already tested the MCU reset, and indeed it did not release the signal.

At the same time, we also tested other servo models, and those did release properly.

In other words, some servos have a signal‑holding mechanism in their microcontroller, while others do not.  
The PiCrawler uses a more robust servo — exactly the type that has this signal‑holding feature.