ArduPilot contains a lot of *_POLES parameters:
- KDE_NPOLE
- SERVO_BLH_POLES
- SERVO_FTW_POLES
- ESC_HW_POLES
And some albeit vage explanation about it is given in the RPM documentation page.
Most outrunner brushless motor manufacturers specify a number like 12N14P.
Where 12 is the number of motor stator poles (always a multiple of 3) and 14 is the number of magnets in the (outrunner) rotor motor bell.
But it is not clear at all what ArduPilot is expecting:
- Nr. of poles ?
- Nr. of pole pairs ? Sometimes the AP documentation mentions poles, sometimes pole pairs.
- Nr. of Magnets in the bell?
So should one use the manufacturer N number? The P number ? The P number divided by two?
My interpretation is that one must use the P number.
@andyp1per , @hwurzburg is my interpretation correct?
It would be very good to explicitly explain in the AP documentation how to convert the manufacturer specifications into the number that ArduPilot is expecting in it’s _POLES parameters.