TipsAndTricks

Tuning for rock crawlers

Sine startup mode is designed for use in crawlers. In this mode, all three phases are energized using sinusoidal commutation. Since BEMF sensing is not available in this mode, there is no way to determine a rotor's position unlike in trapezoidal 6-step commutation (trap mode), hence throttle controls rotation speed rather than duty cycle. When travelling from sinusoidal to 6-step commutation and back, certain conditions (battery power rating, motor KV, load, etc.) may lead to an edgy transition that needs to be balanced out. The following general approach can be used for tuning:

• Reset settings to defaults.
• Enable bidirectional throttle by setting throt_mode to 1 (forward/reverse).
• Make sure the motor runs well in trap mode. You may need to adjust motor PWM frequency and/or other settings in some corner cases.
• Enable sine startup mode using sine_range.
• Set desired power level using sine_power. Use caution because higher values may lead to overheating.
• The duty_min setting can be used to smooth out transition between sine startup and normal drive.
• Should duty_min exceed duty_spup in some rare cases, the latter has to be set to the same value as the former.
• Set drag brake using duty_drag if needed.

Tuning for RC cars

Proportional brake mode is designed for use in RC cars. In this mode, proportional motor brake is engaged the first time throttle goes into reverse. General steps:

• Reset settings to defaults.
• Enable proportional brake mode by setting throt_mode to 2 (forward/brake/reverse).

Migrating from AM32

• See Targets to determine the target names for your ESC and download the latest release here.
• Flash the corresponding bootloader installer using AM32 ESC Config Tool or ESC-Configurator:
  • INSTALL_BOOT1_PA2-rev2.bin
  • INSTALL_BOOT1_PB4-rev2.bin
  • INSTALL_BOOT2_PA6-rev2.bin
  • INSTALL_BOOT2_PB4-rev2.bin
  • INSTALL_BOOT3_PA2-rev2.bin
• Disconnect the signal line and power cycle the ESC. (IMPORTANT!!!)
• Proceed to firmware update.

Firmware update

The most convenient and hassle-free way to update the firmware is to use an ESCape32 Wi-Fi Link board. Ubiquitous and cheap C3 Super Mini and S2 Mini boards are available on AliExpress and Amazon. Please see the Wi-Fi Link page for more information.

Alternative steps:

• Download ESCape32 Update Utility.
• Connect to the ESC as described in Installation: Step 5.
• Power-off the ESC.
• Run the update utility (it will start probing or counting depending on selected connection type).
• Power-on the ESC immediately.
• Wait until the operation is complete.

Examples:

# Use option "-d" to override path to serial device
# Use option "-f" to force update in case of one-way connection
escape32-update [-d /dev/mySerialDevice] [-f] ...

# Print ESC info
escape32-update

# Flash firmware
escape32-update firmware.bin

# Flash bootloader
escape32-update -B bootloader.bin

# Disable write protection
escape32-update -P0

# Enable bootloader write protection
escape32-update -P1

# Enable full write protection
escape32-update -P2