Pixhawk and beeping e300 ESCs

Archive
1

Hi all,

I finished assembling a f450 kit (with the e300 opto ESCs) and am trying to use a pixhawk for flight control. Everything is wired together…correctly I hope.

I was able to get the pixhawk talking to APM-Planner on my linux box, downloaded firmware for a quad, and after binding the spektrum satellite receiver, I was able to run the radio calibration.

The current issue I’m having is beeping from the e300 ESCs when I power up from my LiPo battery. They are giving what I think is the ‘abnormal input signal’ until I press the pixhawk switch. At that point the ESCs start the ‘throttle not bottomed out’ ululation. My interpretation of these codes comes from:

download.dji-innovations.com/dow … .00_en.pdf

I was able to find this recent thread, which suggests that this issue is related to the RC_SPEED parameter:

viewtopic.php?t=6640&p=12862

I’ve tried several different settings for this parameter to no avail; I always get the behavior outlined above.

Does anyone have any tips? It’s highly likely I’m doing something silly, but I’m not sure what it might be.

Thanks,
Allan

2

[quote=“stranda”]Hi all,

I finished assembling a f450 kit (with the e300 opto ESCs) and am trying to use a pixhawk for flight control. Everything is wired together…correctly I hope.

I was able to get the pixhawk talking to APM-Planner on my linux box, downloaded firmware for a quad, and after binding the spektrum satellite receiver, I was able to run the radio calibration.

The current issue I’m having is beeping from the e300 ESCs when I power up from my LiPo battery. They are giving what I think is the ‘abnormal input signal’ until I press the pixhawk switch. At that point the ESCs start the ‘throttle not bottomed out’ ululation. My interpretation of these codes comes from:

download.dji-innovations.com/dow … .00_en.pdf

I was able to find this recent thread, which suggests that this issue is related to the RC_SPEED parameter:

viewtopic.php?t=6640&p=12862

I’ve tried several different settings for this parameter to no avail; I always get the behavior outlined above.

Does anyone have any tips? It’s highly likely I’m doing something silly, but I’m not sure what it might be.

Thanks,
Allan[/quote]

Hi

I’m on the same “boat” as you i.e. PixHawk + E300. It’s something that we’ll have to live it. Apparently while we don’t press the PixHawk switch, nothing goes to the ESC’s for safety reasons. You can leave the RC_SPEED at the the default 490Hz, because apparently although it says 490Hz, on the PixHawk it only sends 400Hz…jeez, what a good documentation…

You can see in the beginning of this video the beeping and it stops after the switch is pressed.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec6srDAq2EE[/youtube]

The only issue I had with this combo is that I’ve had to raise the minimum speed of the props when armed but with throttle stick at zero. From the propulsion side of things I’m ok now, although I have some new problems…like this other video.

viewtopic.php?f=80&t=7159

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQgAoOQ1Xng[/youtube]

The open sourceness of the APM/PixHawk and the self help of the community members might be somewhat overstated. I’ve placed several questions on this forum and almost anyone cared to answer, although some have seen them…live and learn.

viewtopic.php?f=82&t=7161

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=6638

diydrones.com/forum/topics/rc-ch … %3A1615267

3

Thanks for the reply,

Are you sharing a ground or routing power from the ESCs to the pixhawk or are you just using the signal connection for each one?

cheers,
allan

4

[quote=“stranda”]Thanks for the reply,

Are you sharing a ground or routing power from the ESCs to the pixhawk or are you just using the signal connection for each one?

cheers,
allan[/quote]

Hi

No modification on the ESC’s signal wire. As the ESC’s are optically coupled no risk with grounding loops or power, so all six plugs with the 3 pins each connected to the PixHawk. Kind of messy for my personal taste, but works great.

5

That’s my thinking and my setup as well, but I’m getting a throttle not bottomed out error from the
ESCs and I’m not sure why. Thanks for explaining the initial, no signal, error.

Still looking for a solution
thanks,
allan

6

[quote=“stranda”]That’s my thinking and my setup as well, but I’m getting a throttle not bottomed out error from the
ESCs and I’m not sure why. Thanks for explaining the initial, no signal, error.

Still looking for a solution
thanks,
allan[/quote]

Give me a few minutes to plug in mine to see the throttle settings I used.

I remember I had to swap channel 3 with 1.

I’m not using the Spektrum satellite, but the radio system is very similar. Spektrum DX9 and a OrangeRX receiver that has a SBus out (at the bottom of the picture)

7

[quote=“stranda”]That’s my thinking and my setup as well, but I’m getting a throttle not bottomed out error from the
ESCs and I’m not sure why. Thanks for explaining the initial, no signal, error.

Still looking for a solution
thanks,
allan[/quote]

I believe these are the relevant parameters, hope it helps you debugging:

RC1_DZ,30
RC1_MAX,1940
RC1_MIN,1122 I had to change this, otherwise at minimum throttle, while armed, the motors didn’t move right
RC1_REV,1
RC1_TRIM,1500
RC2_DZ,30
RC2_MAX,1940
RC2_MIN,1088
RC2_REV,1
RC2_TRIM,1500
RC3_DZ,30
RC3_MAX,1940
RC3_MIN, 1080
RC3_REV,1
RC3_TRIM,1500
RC4_DZ,40
RC4_MAX,1940
RC4_MIN,1088
RC4_REV,1
RC4_TRIM,1500
RC5_DZ,0
RC5_FUNCTION,0
RC5_MAX,1940
RC5_MIN,1088
RC5_REV,1
RC5_TRIM,1500
RC6_DZ,0
RC6_FUNCTION,0
RC6_MAX,1940
RC6_MIN,1088
RC6_REV,1
RC6_TRIM,1500

RCMAP_PITCH,3
RCMAP_ROLL,2
RCMAP_THROTTLE,1
RCMAP_YAW,4

THR_ACCEL_D,0.00000000
THR_ACCEL_I,1.50000000
THR_ACCEL_IMAX,500
THR_ACCEL_P,0.75000000
THR_ALT_I,0.00000000
THR_ALT_IMAX,300
THR_ALT_P,1.00000000
THR_MAX,1000
THR_MID,500
THR_MIN,130
THR_RATE_D,0.00000000
THR_RATE_I,0.00000000
THR_RATE_IMAX,300
THR_RATE_P,6.00000000
TRIM_THROTTLE,650
TUNE,0
TUNE_HIGH,1000
TUNE_LOW,0

8

Thanks Luis,
Changing the throttle min is what seemed to turn the trick for me in the end.

cheers,
allan

9

[quote=“stranda”]Thanks Luis,
Changing the throttle min is what seemed to turn the trick for me in the end.

cheers,
allan[/quote]

Same here :slight_smile:

After arming, all my 6 E300 motors with the props mounted rotate calmly, and total current of the 6 is less than 1 Amp. You can see that on one of my videos.

Glad I could help :slight_smile:

Luis