MultiWii

Hi,
I've got one simple question about calibrating ESC. I've found this procedure in aeroquad manual.

1. Connect the ESC to the throttle channel of the receiver. Have a motor connected to the ESC as
the motor will provide beeps necessary to hear the calibration steps. DO NOT attach the
propeller or anything else to the motor; simply have the motor connected to the ESC.
2. Turn on the radio and put the throttle stick to maximum position
3. Now connect the ESC to the battery
4. The motor should beep a 1 2 3 beep followed by two short beeps. Immediately after the two
short beeps, put the throttle stick down all the way, the motors should make 3 short beeps
(representing the 3 cells of the battery) and then finally make a 1 long beep, indicating that the
throttle range has been set (calibrated).


Is this acceptable procedure for calibrating ESC (without FC)?

Regards
Bartek

depends on the esc. the turnigy plush and hk ss can be calibrated this way. also, i think you need to make sure that the throttle range is 1000-2000us before calibrating the escs.

So this method is generally correct and is not required multiwii to do it.
I set EPA on my JR9303 - range is ~1013-1980.
Thanks

This procedure is a "little bit" incorrect if you intend to use with MultiWii because in the sketch is declared min and maxthrottle values​​, and also mincommand. In according to them, communication between the FC and the ESC works. In addition, effects on behavior have the parameters like mincheck and maxcheck. Of course, calibration is carried out but the scope of the ESC will not be fully utilized and you can't achieve full resolution of your RC transmitter throttle stick. Better way is to do the calibration with FC assist using arm/disarm combinations of sticks. Well, first activate Arduino, next arm the motors, after that give the full throttle and at this point power up the ESC, after some beeps move throtlle down immediatelly with disarm combinations. This way you get the full res of your TX system, also looking for prepared values in the sketch for needed range of PPM signal on throttle channel. Of course the most wanted way is to do the calibrations for all ESC in the same time (each one during this ONE procedure are connected together to FC and powered all in the same moment) because if you do this for each ESC separately you can get different in u(micro)sec values

Hi Rurek
I know that you will answer
I've changed radio, my first flights was on Jr9303. But i have little time so i've copied models from 9303 to 9XII (it has little more functions and digital throttle trimmer and looks cooler for me ).
Receiver is still same, but i will try this procedure.
This method has one big advantage - you can calibrate all ESC's in the same time.

i have the HK 18/20 SS and was testing al this procedures, but all engines run on different speed i cant get them to run equal, any hints what to do with them apart form putting them in the rubbish box?

Any hint appreciated

Hi
if you will do as described above it should be working.
First time I calibrated each ESC connected to receivers throttle channel. Try this.
If then your engines will run on different speeds i think there's something with yours ESC.

hi i have hk 18a turnigy plush esc my question is is there a gadget for calibrating all escs at once like the gaui330x

ripcurl0-0 wrote: is there a gadget for calibrating all escs at once like the gaui330x

No There is no such gadget in in the code.

Use Y-cbables as gadgets and connect all esc to throttle cahnnel on the reciver. ;o)

/Patrik

thanks patrik that makes sense

if there was a way to set the PID's so that when you went full throttle all motors would goto MAXTHROTTLE and stay there that'd be cool. I havn't found a way to do that yet (maybe if you 0 all the pid settings?) because when you go full throttle they get close to 1850 then move around a bit or slowly go down from 1850.

i have found i can calibrate my esc's all at once by powering the FC seperately from the ESC's without having to mess around with any of the wiring. use at your own risk and take your props off! I use rctimer 30A esc's and I think they loose their max throttle settings on occasion.



#define MOTOR_STOP in the code.

Activate the FC and go full throttle then quickly then plug in the ESC's so they see MAXTHROTTLE. once they detect it go min throttle. Done. Power down, remove #define MOTOR_STOP if you like and then test fly.



Another way - I dont know if this is a good way but has worked for me. This can also be a handy way to set the ESC programming options.

#define MOTOR_STOP and #define MINTHROTTLE 1850 in the code. Power FC seperately from the ESC's. Activate the FC (throttle will be 0) and go full throttle then then plug in the ESC's so they see MAXTHROTTLE. once they detect it go min throttle. Done. Power down, remove #define MOTOR_STOP amd reset minthrottle if you like and then test fly.

what's "FC"?

FC = Flight Control

the whole calibration thing makes no sense when the system is fly-by-wire. Calibration should be done by SW only so the range will be strictly 1000-2000 (or 1150-1850 or whatever one sets in the code) without involving transmitter and receiver at all.
THEN, fly controller should be calibrated to the TX/RX range. This is the only deterministic way to ensure that all ESCs behave the same and that throttle control is accurate..

It is a safety issue. If the FC reboots and the ESCs are Armed, someone can get hurt.

That's why it should be done properly - one time boot flag in EEPROM that gets cleared after calibration. Arducopter does it this way and it works...

prblem is i suspect that some ESC's that automatically recalibrate themselves based on the max throttle thats seen. that can be a problem for those of us that have 6 or more motors / esc's that are hard wired.

Hello
I just wrote a program to set up "beeping ESC", it's for arduinio.
Does anyone wont it?
Iam using it with Mystery cloud-80A 4x but it will works with all china ESC.
Iam working on english GUI in Visual C# but you can control it over terminal in arduinio too...

sure im interested