ESC Telemetry for T-Motors Thunder 300A 24s

Scautinaus · March 13, 2024, 11:01am

Hi Everyone,
I am trying to read the UART data postback of T-Motors Thunder 300A 24s ESC. Firstly, I successfully read the data from a single ESC to my PC using FTDI cable on RealTerm. However, I cannot read the data through CubeOrange on Mission Planner. I have connected the Telemetry lines of ESC to GPS1 (Serial 4) of CubeOrange. This is the data package format in the datasheet:
Data package format：SPD:XXXX TMOS:XXXX TMOT:XXXX TMCX:XXXXXXXXXXXXCURI:XXXX VOLT:XXXX PWAC:XXXX SYS:XXXXXXXXXXXX
DBG:XXXXXXXXXXXX。
SPD:XXXX RPM
TMOS:XXXX ESC temperature(℃)。
TMOT:XXXX Motor temperature(℃，retention data)。
TMCX:XXXXXXXXXXXX (debug retention data)。
CURI:XXXX Motor current( X 0.01 A) 。
VOLT:XXXX supply voltage( X 0.01 V) 。
PWAC:XXXX Power Ripple(ebug retention data) 。
SYS:XXXXXXXXXXXX (ebug retention data) 。
DBG:XXXXXXXXXXXX (ebug retention data) 。

Here is the datasheet for the ESC:
thunder_300a_esc_manual.pdf (102.5 KB)

Is there any way to read the data through Mission Planner, or do I have to make a driver specifically for reading the data?

amilcarlucas · March 13, 2024, 12:38pm

You need ArduCopter >= 4.5.0 and you need to use the Hobbywing/T-Motor telemetry lua script.

Scautinaus · March 14, 2024, 3:35am

Thanks for the reply. The data format package for Hobbywing is different than that of T-Motors. Will this PR work for T-motors?

amilcarlucas · March 14, 2024, 9:25am

Read the PR carefully, it DOES work for both. It IS the same format.

Scautinaus · March 15, 2024, 5:05am

It does work for T-Motors, but this Lua script is to be used with a Datalink V2. What if I have to take data from a single ESC, or let’s say without the Datalink V2?

amilcarlucas · March 15, 2024, 11:01am

Then there is hobbywing support, but not T-Motor support AFAIK.

Scautinaus · March 18, 2024, 3:24am

Thanks a lot for the help. I will try some alternative methods then, for T-Motor Thunder ESC.

Bruno19 · April 19, 2024, 2:10pm

Hi all,
I am using also the T-Motor Thunder 300A 24S ESC and actually wondering if I can send information through the cube orange or if I have to use a specific datalink.
Did you get chance to find a solution ?

Thank you,

amilcarlucas · April 19, 2024, 4:19pm

T-Motor Datalink v2 hardware is now supported by ArduPilot >= 4.5.1

Bruno19 · April 19, 2024, 5:01pm

Thank you for your reply.
However, it seems that T-Motor Datalink V2 is only for ESC Alpha, but not Thunder.

Scautinaus · April 21, 2024, 7:39am

Hi Bruno,
So far, I have retrieved data from a single Thunder ESC and displayed it in Mission Planner. To do this, I modified the Hobbywing Datalink lua script (link provided in this topic by @amilcarlucas).
Now I have to combine the data from all four ESCs.

Bruno19 · April 28, 2024, 1:47pm

Hi Scautinaus,

Ok, thank you.
Do you plan to purchase the Hobbywing datalink and cable it with your 4 ESC Thunder ?
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005005363841376.html

Mehmet_Turan · September 30, 2024, 12:44pm

Hi @Scautinaus,
Could you share us the lua scprict which you recieved data from Thunder ESC?

Anton_Yeremenko · January 9, 2025, 3:07pm

Hi Everyone
I had a similar problem with the T-Motors 200A 24S ESC. I tried to download the lua script but I didn’t get any data. I also tried getting data through the FTDI cable to the Putty terminal and again got nothing.
What could be another problem?
Ardupilot version 4.5.6. connected telemetry lines to Telem 2 CubeOrange

Scautinaus · January 10, 2025, 3:37pm

Hi Everyone,

I was able to get data from the T-Motors Thunder 300A 24S ESCs, by modifying the Hobbywing telemetry lua script.

Here is the lua script that worked for me: Thunder ESC Telemetry lua script

stas_verber · January 27, 2025, 4:59pm

Did you try to receive data from ESC just throw USB-UART converter directly in PC (PuTTy)? I tried and got nothing.

Do you think that, if I will connect ESC into CubeOrange telem port and use your script, it will work properly?

gsec · March 20, 2025, 9:21am

Great Work @Scautinaus !
I was trying to get the same with CAN-BUS as per T-Motor support, and got nothing useful from them.
I just want to make sure how I can solve my issue with your awesome work.
I need to connect the 3 wire cable (yellow,green,gray) to the datalink , and connect it to a free UART ?
Thanks in advance for your help.!

StrangerGuy · May 14, 2025, 12:19pm

I have the same issue, @Scautinaus how did you read the UART data postback using FTDI and RealTerm? I tried everything from changing COM ports to Baud rate can you please share the instructions for it?

Scautinaus · June 20, 2025, 3:42pm

Hi @StrangerGuy, The wiring is pretty straightforward for reading UART data directly through RealTerm.

Connect the TX of ESC to Pin 5 of FTDI cable
Connect VCC of ESC to VCC in FTDI, and same for GND

Now, when you power the ESC and send arming command through the flight controller, it should start sending data through the FTDI cable, keep the Baud Rate to 115200, and to check for COM ports, first disconnect the whole setup and then check which COM port is showing in RealTerm, then connect the FTDI cable, and a new COM port should appear in the menu.

Please share your setup images and any other material which might be helpful in fuguringg this out.
Do let me know the progress in your case, good luck!

Scautinaus · June 20, 2025, 3:50pm

Hi @gsec , I believe that you don’t need my code to get the data through CAN BUS protocol, it is stratightforward through the data link
You can refer to the following manual for TMotor Data Link setup: https://store.tmotor.com/images/file/20210917/TMOTOR_DataLink_210914.rar

Please let me know if you face any problem, happy to help!