ESC32 Q&A

[afernan]

ESC32 feed using the AQ FC.
I plan to feed the ESC32 (quad frame) using the 5v from the AQ FC (soldering the bridges in FC). Is that correct? Any drawback?
Thanks
Angel

[Kisssys]

No drawbacks, remember that you have 5 volts their now and don't hook up an ESC with a 5volt BEC and feed voltage back into the controller.

[LPR]

Hi Steve

On my charger the lipos get charged to 4.20v. The 6s A123 get a max charge of 3.60v which is 21.6v. 6 diodes is the safe way to keep 5s lipos or 6s A123 from being an issue.

There is one major problem with the programming for the ESC32. If the ESC32 loses signal from a RC receiver or an autopilot the motor it controls will continue to run. Most of the ESC I have shut off in a second or less as soon as there is no signal. I do have a 100 amp Jeti ESC that takes 6 seconds to shut down for signal loss and that has been a verrrrry long time when a 22" prop is spinning near your face.

The other safeguard most ESCs have, of not letting a motor spin till the signal is brought down below the minimum PWM, does not always work on these ESCs because of the potential to have power to the micro controller and power off the fets.
If power is turned on to the fets the motors will run at whatever the micro is set at. This is not a major concern but still worth noting. I plan to power the ESC32 micro from the board and the board from the main battery so it should not be a problem for me.

The videos of the AQ holding its position in wind is almost unbelievable. I'm very excited about this project and compared to other open source autopilot projects it has a very professional look to it. I will try to point out little issues I find but so far it looks very good.

Larry

[Kisssys]

My ESC32's in PWM mode quit running when the PWM pulse is removed while the motor is running. They quit in less than 1 second.

If the motor is running and power is removed from the ESC I guess it could get stuck with one phase on for a little while. Not sure about that or what it might do in I2C or One Wire or Can, but that all sounds like software and it can be fixed.

What are you basing these comments, have you experienced these problems.

Steve

[LPR]

Steve

I have ten ESC32. 8 are installed on an octo and I'm just learning on one of the spares. Using a Jeti box that outputs PWM I changed the RPM of a test motor (no prop). When I unpluged the Jeti the motor would keep running. Just now I connected a spectrum receiver and when I unplug the receiver the test motor stop.
SO you are right!!

I checked the potential to have a motor start when you reconnect power to the fets and that only happens when the ESC32 is controlled with the start button and you reconnect it in less then two seconds.
The programming of the ESC32 is very good, I just found a few little anomalies.

Is the calibration of the ESC32 working for the AQ GCS?
Larry

[Kisssys]

Larry,

I have flashed the ESC's with QgroundControl but that's it. I've always just connected via a serial communication program like hyperterm at 230kb.

I believe it's working, if I get a chance I'll try it out

Steve

[jabram]

wiki on ESC32 shows 3 blue wires connect to the motor



How do I connect a motor with RED Black and YELLOW colored wires ?

Kit contents:

ESC32, SMT-preassembled and factory tested board.
25 cm servo wire with open end.
Input power wires
330uF/35V lowESR capacitor
1*6 pin header for UART

I did not get any 6 pin headers with any of my 6 ESC32 just like I did not get a 6 pin header with AQ6

I did get a very wide piece of heatshrink

What is the wide heatshrink for ?

Is the ESC32 already flashed or do I need to flash it before use ?

[kinderkram]

You can use the ESC32 as-is - they come pre-flashed.
Just solder the wires and the blob for the 5v in and you're done. You only need pins if you plan to reflash them or calibrate your motor/prop combo for the closed loop mode. Make sure you already soldered the 5V pin on the board as described in the Wiki.

As for the motor wires: you need to find out which direction the motors should spin. If you need to reverse the rotation direction just swap 2 of the wires - no matter which.

[jabram]

[axelnied]