Control Zero Classic

[dkemxr (Dave)]

There is a HWdef for it.
Control Zero Classic

Ready to go:
Target

[tyllurius (Jeromin)]

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?

[dkemxr (Dave)]

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

[tyllurius (Jeromin)]

I like the idea of direct replacement of old Pixhawk 1, but for my purposes I’d prefer the newer ‘style’ 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?

[Quadzilla (brandon macdougall)]

• 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.

[Quadzilla (brandon macdougall)]

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.

[Quadzilla (brandon macdougall)]

I got my arming switch back… no more on the bench beep beep.

[rwalte25]

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).

[dkemxr (Dave)]

What is BRD_PWM_COUNT set to?

[rwalte25]

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

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

mRo Control Zero Classic Pin Mapping Anomaly

Has anyone flown a Control Zero Classic with anything more than 4 outputs? TL;DR: changing BRD_PWM_OUT on a Control Zero Classic directly affects the number of pins available to motors instead of what is available as GPIO. RCOUT message shown on boot shows the following relationship: RCOUT = BRD_PWM_OUT instead of the traditional {total#pins}-BRD_PWM_OUT. I’m working on an octo and it seems anything past the first 4 motors receives no response (ESCs do not respond on boot or to motor tests, no…

[dkemxr (Dave)]

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

[rwalte25]

Sorry for delayed reply, was away from my units over the weekend and did’t want to feed what I’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)

[dkemxr (Dave)]

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 that’s my guess, I don’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)

[rwalte25]

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?

[dkemxr (Dave)]

@rwalte25

but the numbering is still wrong

I think the key phrase in the Hwdef is “to match HAL_PX4 we number the GPIOs for the PWM outputs
starting at 50”

Pixhawk1:

ControlZero Classic:

I don’t know the answer to your other questions. It’s a very different Flight Controller board stuffed into a “Classic” housing.

[rwalte25]

@dkemxr thanks for all your help, I’ll see what happens in the air and still owe feedback on peripherals.

[Vagelis (Vaggelis)]

tldr
what does coming to a end mean?

will there be a situation similar to APM 2.5/2.6 that no newer firmware will be built for it ?
or just the hardware wont be available anymore?

[dkemxr (Dave)]

It means Mro isn’t making them anymore. There are other knock-offs and the ever present 2.4.8’s around. In the meantime firmware Pixhawk1, like many other F4 based FC firmware continues to be updated.

[Ethan96]

could u share more detail data of this product? thanks

[Quadzilla (brandon macdougall)]

Overall it’s a good board not subject to a lot of vibration sensitivity like some boards just mount directly to the frame. I running beta right now on a VTOL.