

For many years this was a pulse width-modulated signal (PWM) which told the ESC how fast to spin the motor. Generally, for a 4S drone running 5 inch propellers, an ESC capable of 30 amp sustained current will work for nearly all applications like freestyle and racing.įPV Drone Electronic Speed Controller FirmwareĮSCs receive a throttle signal from the flight controller. Selecting an ESC for voltage, however, is much more straightforward, in that ESCs have ratings on them indicating the battery voltage (S) they can handle. Therefore, it is a good idea to design your drone for your specific need and application. Therefore, selecting the right ESC is important so that the FETS on the ESC don’t become damaged from the amperage and fail mid-race. This motor with an aggressive pitched prop can pull upwards of 40 amps. For these high-pitch propellers to spin at high RPM, pilots will select a motor with specifications such as 2207, 2450kv. Modern racing drones are nearly all using 5 inch propellers with a high pitch. Let’s say for example you are interested in drone racing.

In selecting an ESC, it is important to think about 3 main considerations. Although the features of the 32-bit ESC are nice additions, many current 8-bit ESCs continue to perform incredibly well running the widespread ESC firmware called BLHeli_S.Ĭhoosing the right FPV Drone Electronic Speed Controller for your Motor, Propeller and Battery Combination These ESCs are also capable of telemetry, whereby information from the ESC such as RPM, amp draw, and temperature are sent from the ESC to the flight controller. 32-bit ESCs are also capable of other features such as controlling light-emitting diodes (LED’s), changing direction of motor rotation for features like turtle mode (automatically righting a flipped drone with the motors). 32-bit ESCs can communicate with faster digital protocols, such as D-SHOT 1200 (compared to D-SHOT 600). As recently as last year, most ESCs were only using 8-bit processors, with only a few top-end ESCs like KISS being 32-bit. Most ESCs on the market are controlled by onboard 32-bit processors, running firmware called BLHeli_32 (pronounced B L Heli 32) or KISS. There are a few basic types of ESCs available. ESCs play a crucial role in the performance of the drone, therefore the ESCs hardware continues to improve. Like everything else in drones, the ESCs continue to evolve and adapt to the demands of the pilots.

Different Types of FPV Drone Electronic Speed Controller
