Control Zero Classic

Hardware Vendors mRobotics
1

Hi,

Your new Control Zero Classic flight controller has caught my attention. I saw some information on it in this article below. Has there been a product release date set?

PIXHAWK1 IS COMING TO AN END

Cheers!

2

Yes, Iā€™m very glad to see that there is a Control Zero solution which has more than 8 PWM outputs, as I need for a VTOL project. :smiley: And it is already buyable, isnā€™t it? But there is only rare information about it, no manual, not even a proper website description, only the shop site (which states it has 14 outputs, but it has only 12? :thinking:) Also rare activity on their blog lately.
Is anyone using this FC?

3

I did a pre order.

https://store.mrobotics.io/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=M10048D

STM32H743 MCU.

  • 14 direct driven PWM outputs for bidirectional dShot.
  • Dual full 8Mb FDCAN hardware support.
  • 32kb FRAM.
  • BMI088,
  • ICM20602,
  • ICM20948 IMUs,
  • DPS310 barometric sensor.

My Freind said the board runs cool that a good thing where i fly for sure.

4

Itā€™s an H743 with 14 outputs. No IOMCU so all Dshot capable. Like some other H743 boards. Similar stuff in a Pixhawk Case.

5

Does anyone know which of the PWM outputs share a common timer on this board?

6

There is a HWdef for it.
Control Zero Classic

Ready to go:
Target

1 Like
7

Excellent, thanks!
This is the table:
PE14 TIM1_CH4 TIM1 PWM(1) GPIO(50)
PE13 TIM1_CH3 TIM1 PWM(2) GPIO(51)
PE11 TIM1_CH2 TIM1 PWM(3) GPIO(52)
PE9 TIM1_CH1 TIM1 PWM(4) GPIO(53)
PD13 TIM4_CH2 TIM4 PWM(5) GPIO(54)
PD14 TIM4_CH3 TIM4 PWM(6) GPIO(55)
PA2 TIM2_CH3 TIM2 PWM(7) GPIO(56)
PA15 TIM2_CH1 TIM2 PWM(8) GPIO(57)
PB11 TIM2_CH4 TIM2 PWM(9) GPIO(58)
PE5 TIM15_CH1 TIM15 PWM(10) GPIO(59)
PC6 TIM8_CH1 TIM8 PWM(11) GPIO(60)
PD15 TIM4_CH4 TIM4 PWM(12) GPIO(61)

So, to be sure: I can use Dshot for example on PWM7, 8 & 9 and regular PWM on all other outputs, right?

8

Yea. Nice having a lot of FMU outputs w/o the IOMCU in the way. For some users anyway.

1 Like
9

I like the idea of direct replacement of old Pixhawk 1, but for my purposes Iā€™d prefer the newer ā€˜styleā€™ case (and cables etc.). So, to be sure again, is the Classic - by now - the only Control Zero with more than 8 PWM ouputs or is it somehow possible - official or unofficial - to get out more than 8 PWMs on the other Control Zero variants?

10
  • STM32H743 MCU.
  • 14 direct driven PWM outputs for bidirectional dShot.
  • Dual full 8Mb FDCAN hardware support.
  • 32kb FRAM.
  • BMI088,
  • ICM20602,
  • ICM20948 IMUs,
  • DPS310 barometric sensor.
11

Regarding Cables I setting one up today and they give you all the cables you need. I honestly never had an issue with the old or new conector. So far it been a 30 min setup including setting up Can.

12

zduct
zduct1920Ɨ1440 224 KB

I got my arming switch backā€¦ no more on the bench beep beep.

13

Has anyone flown one of these Classics with anything more than 4 outputs yet?
Having some difficulty with an octo not receiving signals for servos 5-8 (although functional on old mRo Pixhak1).

14

What is BRD_PWM_COUNT set to?

15

4, as it was on my traditional PH1 (mRo and Radiolink).

I have a deeper dive into what Iā€™m seeing here, to avoid jacking this thread:

16

What does the Banner message say in Mission Planner for configured outputs?

17

Sorry for delayed reply, was away from my units over the weekend and didā€™t want to feed what Iā€™m seeing before verifying again.

Old Pixhawk 1: BRD_PWM_COUNT = 4 | RCOut: PWM1-12 appears in messages on boot (total outputs 16, total - BRD_PWM_COUNT = 16-4 = 12, expected)
New mRo CZClassic: BRD_PWM_COUNT = 4 | RCOut: PWM1-4 appears in messages on boot (= BRD_PWM_COUNT directly, not expected)

Additionally motor 1 is on the first pin (right-most pin when looking head-on, labeled Aux1), not the 7th pin (labeled Main1)

18

Try BRD_PWM_COUNT 8. The Pixhawk has an IOMCU so the BRD parameter is setting the Aux outputs for PPM/GPIO. The Control Classic does not have an IOMCU so all outputs look like AUX outputs. At least thatā€™s my guess, I donā€™t have one of these boards.

The logic of this from the Hwdef file comments:

Now we start defining some PWM pins. We also map these pins to GPIO
values, so users can set BRD_PWM_COUNT to choose how many of the PWM
outputs on the primary MCU are setup as PWM and how many as
GPIOs. To match HAL_PX4 we number the GPIOs for the PWM outputs
starting at 50.
PE14 TIM1_CH4 TIM1 PWM(1) GPIO(50)
PE13 TIM1_CH3 TIM1 PWM(2) GPIO(51)
PE11 TIM1_CH2 TIM1 PWM(3) GPIO(52)
PE9 TIM1_CH1 TIM1 PWM(4) GPIO(53)
PD13 TIM4_CH2 TIM4 PWM(5) GPIO(54)
PD14 TIM4_CH3 TIM4 PWM(6) GPIO(55)
PA2 TIM2_CH3 TIM2 PWM(7) GPIO(56)
PA15 TIM2_CH1 TIM2 PWM(8) GPIO(57)
PB11 TIM2_CH4 TIM2 PWM(9) GPIO(58)
PE5 TIM15_CH1 TIM15 PWM(10) GPIO(59)
PC6 TIM8_CH1 TIM8 PWM(11) GPIO(60)
PD15 TIM4_CH4 TIM4 PWM(12) GPIO(61)

19

Yep, have BRD_PWM_COUNT set to 8 and now I can support 8 motors, but the numbering is still wrong relative to the board markings (motors 1-6 on AUX1-6, motors 7-8 on MAIN1-2).

Have not tested yet but I assume that GPIO peripherals (like LIDAR) will start on the remaining pins (in this case MAIN3+). Will report back when I can test.

Where are the other 2 pins in that definition (there are 14 pins present, but only 12 listed in hwdef)? Could I redefine the hwdef to align the outputs back to the board markings?

20

I think the key phrase in the Hwdef is ā€œto match HAL_PX4 we number the GPIOs for the PWM outputs
starting at 50ā€

Pixhawk1:
Pixhawk1
ControlZero Classic:
Control zero

I donā€™t know the answer to your other questions. Itā€™s a very different Flight Controller board stuffed into a ā€œClassicā€ housing.