I am working on my BS in EE. I am building a drone for some handicap member of my community. I am currently using a PDB-XT60 and HAKRC F405. I was driving my brushless stepper motor with a raspberry pi using a PWM. However I was informed that I would need to use the HAKRC F405 to control the drone because it has a built in gyro. I was able to vary the motor from 1100-1500 on the pi. I am currently in beta flight and the motor only spins at 1910 exactly. Does anyone know the cause of something like this?
Hi I am new to drone building. My motor only spins at 1910 in beta flight.
- Thread starter Conasty
- Start date
If I had to guess the ESC name it would be, 2-45LIPO. says RS 20A. I do not know which ESC protocol im running. Like I said I was driving them with a PWM off a logic signal on a Pi. When I transitioned it beta flight the motor only spins at 1910 out of the 1000-2000 range.
Give us a screen shot of your Betaflight Configurators Configuration tab, it could be that you are running the wrong protocol, or that you are running and analog protocol and haven't calibrated your ESC's. From what you describe you may be running Spedix ESC's, post a picture and we may be able to tell. It is hard to say what might be happening with so little information.
Ok, you are set for Digital ESC protocol, so no calibration needed. Not sure what could be going on, do all the motors not run until 1910? Therre is no simple answer for what you are seeing, at some number above 1000 the FC (HAKRCF405) should tell the ESC to start the motor, as the number goes up to 2000, the motor should increase speed smoothly until it is at maximum. When you do a motor test in BF, it bypasses the FC logic, gyro, and accelerometer and just tells the ESC to run the motor without regard for flight characteristics. It may be that you have a bad ESC, or that some damage was done running it with the Raspberry Pi, but I just don't know. I would try to set your ESC protocol to Multishot and do an ESC calibration (google for a Youtube video on how to do that) and then set it back to DShot600 and retest. Also, if you could get a short video to youtube and post the link to it here might help us to see what is happening.
I did not test all the motors because i do not have a proper connector at the moment. I tested two motors and both only make rotations at 1910. They would slightly move at some other levels but not spin. I will do the protocol swap and calibrate and see what happens.
If you don't have everything wired up completely and properly, that may have something to do with why things don't work correctly. The signal wires between the FC and ESC are extremely important for the FC to be able to give commands AND get feedback from the ESC's. I would suggest you finish getting things wired up.
Ok I adjusted it to Multishot, the motor ran correctly. The motor was spinning at a must slower speed before. When i changed back to DSHOT600 the motor would only run at 1910 again. Is there a reason I would be unable to use the multishot protocol?
I have stable connection, I just do not have them soldered down because I am still trying to figure out the wiring of a flight controller.
Depending on the ESC, it may not even support Digital ESC protocols, and you can of course run Multishot, but make sure you calibrate them 1 time per a video like this one.
oscarliang.com
How to Calibrate ESC When Using PWM Protocol - Oscar Liang
Master ESC calibration for your FPV drone with our easy step-by-step guide. Ensure smooth and responsive flights every time.
oscarliang.com
Ok I will do that for the time being. I follow those instructions. Also because im curious, what does the 1000-2000 range stand for. I assumed RPM but I was just guessing.
I would normally research however it seems like racing drones part I received do not have very good documentation in regards to datasheets. Here is the link to the part kit I ordered Amazon.com: LHI Mantis218 2019 Newest Race Quad ARF 218mm Carbon Fiber Frame F405 Flight Controller LHI 2206 2450KV Motor RS20A Lite ESC FPV Quadcopter Upgrade Version of LHI 220: Toys & Games. At the moment the only forum base information that has been useful is this thread, and the only wiring information I found other people doing in YT video, just not on the same parts as myself.
It's PWM (Pulse Width Modulation), the 1000-2000 is the number of Microseconds (I will abbreviate this as "us") that the pulse width is, when it is 1000us wide it signals to be at minimum, and when 2000us it signals it to be at maximum, and of course 1500us is the middle. The actual letter for Microseconds is the lower case letter "Mu" character and an "s" , but since that is hard to do on a computer anymore, we just use "us". Here is what a real Mu looks like so you know.
Also, in this hobby there is no real documentation for our quads, they all use parts that conform to "standards", so we learn the standards and look for parts that conform to those standards. That is one of the reasons why I do not like SOME of the RacerStar products, they do not claim what "standards" they conform to for all models. That being said, there are some really good RacerStar ESC's and pretty good motors, just not these particular model. Even though they don't say it in the documentation on that page you linked on Amazon where you bought this, they should be able to run DShot600, but yours don't appear to be doing so. They may be VERY old ones and so they are inexpensive, and that is why they have put them with this kit. Here is a small listing for the ESC's that they make, they all look exacly alike, but each claims different ESC protocols being supported, some support DShot150 and 300, some only support OneShot 125 or 42, and maybe Multishot. This is a reason to stay away from them besides the fact that they blow up really easy sometimes.
Also, many of us here know a lot about building quads, there are not really a lot of connections, so if you need help, we can help you understand what you need to hook up. Keep in mind though that sometimes you will get bad parts out of the box, so even when we get done building, it doesn't always work correctly and we need to get some replacements to get it flying. I don't know how much you paid for this, but I can almost guarantee you were overcharged, that quad is worth at most US$100. If you really want something fairly decent at a reasonable cost, consider the Eachine Tyro series since they are pretty good, nit great, but pretty good.
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