Programming and Calibration of EZRUN 18A ESCs
Having worked out that the occasional cutout of one of the thrusters in the Pool Test was due to the
HobbyKing® ™ Brushless Car ESC 10A w/ Reverse ESCs overload protection rather than just an
inappropriately high battery protection voltage threshold, I replaced the electronic speed controllers with the
HobbyWing EZRUN 18A ESCs as used by the OpenROV project. Seeing as the original ROV design made
allowance for these this was an easy substitution. The big difference is in the programming and calibration
of these ESCs which don't conform to the typical calibration methods used and require a little more user
input.
This page describes the method for programming the HobbyWing EZRUN 18A ESCs, their settings, and the
subsequent calibration of the ESC using an Arduino. The Arduino was used to calibrate the ESCs to ensure
the control signals were compatible with the main ROV control sketches. Because of the need for user input
during the calibration sequence, the calibration process will not be able to be incorporated into the main ROV
control sketches as was originally intended in the development of the ROV control system.
Programming and calibration of the HobbyWing EZRUN 18A ESCs was carried out without the ESCs being
installed on the ROV electronics pod. Because the switch and “SET” button on the ESC are both accessible
when the ESC is installed calibration and programming can be done at any time.
Basic Specifications
Continuous Current: 18A
Burst Current: 50A
Resistance: 0.01Ω
Suitable for Battery Cells: 2S LiPo and 3S LiPo
BEC Output 6V/1A
There is a suggestion that 3 cell LiPo needs a cooling fan. This is not used in the OpenROV and hopefully
the thermal conductivity through the wall of the ROV electronics pod and the lower voltages associated with
the LiFePO
4
batteries will be enough to keep the temperatures within a tolerable level.
Programming the ESC
To program each HobbyWing EZRUN 18A ESC I hooked them up to a battery and Servo Tester as shown
below. The servo tester was set to the middle of its range to simulate a neutral throttle position. Initially the
ESC switch should be OFF.
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