BLHeli for SiLabs ESCs

[Dylwad]

Awesome, Thanks Steffan!

I will be flashing some ESC's tonight!

Dylan

[ShaneJourdan]

This is such an amazing gift Steffan, you have made it so easy a child could do it, and trust me I needed it that easy. Thanks sooo much.

[decompyler]

Dude, this is pretty sweet! I think you just gave me a new project to embark on.

I'm a little foggy on the purpose of the governor in this application. Can someone please clarify why you would do this and what benefits it has? What is the difference of governing at the ESC vs maxing your throttle curve. Does it have to be in a 2s setup to be beneficial? Sorry for my ignorance.

[ShaneJourdan]

Originally Posted by decompyler

Dude, this is pretty sweet! I think you just gave me a new project to embark on.

I'm a little foggy on the purpose of the governor in this application. Can someone please clarify why you would do this and what benefits it has? What is the difference of governing at the ESC vs maxing your throttle curve. Does it have to be in a 2s setup to be beneficial? Sorry for my ignorance.

I will try and answer your question.

A governor is a awesome thing, reason being it can provide a constant headspeed. This can translate in to predictability and consistency in cyclic and collective inputs. It will try and eliminate BOG.

How does it work?, two ways predictive and reactive. The ESC program he has created is reactive. However both require head room.

So by setting a flat throttle curve I believe a calculation will be made as to what percentage of efficiency will be needed to provide the needed head room.

So lets assume 95% this would leave 5% to flatten out rpm dips. For example even if you set your throttle curve to 100% the software will only be providing 95% leaving 5% in reserve.

Typically this is done with SET RPM. But I don't see anywhere to apply a set rpm.

Another way to look at it and how it works on my CC ESC is set to three "Set RPM" modes.

1. Normal mode RPM 6800
2. Idle up 1 RPM 6900
3. Idle up 2 RPM 7050 > now this is the MAX RPM I can use and still have enough power left over ( overhead ) to keep this RPM under all loads. If the MAX RPM of 7200 RPM was used it would just bog.

Hope that convoluted explanation helps.

[amb1]

Wow, just wow, this is gonna be a blast! I've been doing some plotting with Dylan already on possible configurations, can't wait to get things rolling. Now the mailing times are our biggest hindrance...
Thanks for this generous gift

[pakk]

what kind of improvements are you guys getting going from sr120 to BL tail?

[amb1]

With my hp05 and 2.9t tail I can fly pack after pack withough the motor heating up or weakening so more consistent and as powerful as 120sr tail but lighter for much better aerobatics. That's just a couple of the things I most like- will be trying more motors in the near future...

[sskaug]

Originally Posted by decompyler

Dude, this is pretty sweet! I think you just gave me a new project to embark on.

I'm a little foggy on the purpose of the governor in this application. Can someone please clarify why you would do this and what benefits it has? What is the difference of governing at the ESC vs maxing your throttle curve. Does it have to be in a 2s setup to be beneficial? Sorry for my ignorance.

I will try to fill in a little on this, in addition to what DoctorJ has already done.

The main purpose of the governor is to keep a constant headspeed, regardless of load. And the headspeed is set by the throttle input from your TX. Headspeed versus throttle input can be seen from the spreadsheet in post #2. A TX throttle setting of 70% will give you a headspeed of 4700rpm, 75% will give 5050rpm, 80% will give 5500rpm etc.
When using the governor you set a flat throttle curve in the IU modes.

So, when the ESC knows which speed to run at (set by the throttle input) it constantly regulates the power to the motor to achieve this headspeed. Regardless whether the power output is 1% or 99%. It measures the deviation from actual speed and requested speed and applies a correction (this is the "reactive" action).
Typically you will select your motor and pinion so that the governor does not have to go to 100% power output, because then it has nothing more to give, and bogging will result.
A high KV motor and a large pinion will increase this headroom. But normally at the cost of lower efficiency (=flight time) and higher battery loading.

There is also a "predictive" mode in BLHeli ECSs. If you use the governor "arm" mode, the governor speed target is set during the arming sequence. And when starting the motor, the throttle input is ignored (as long as it is not zero). This way, the main to tail mix that exists in the 3in1 can be exploited (thanks to Roffey for all the details on the mix!).
In the governor "arm" mode the ESC itself runs in "reactive" mode, but the main to tail mix in the 3in1 provides an additional "predictive" input.
In this mode you will need to set a V-curve for IU throttle, and the shape of the curve determines the amount of "predictive" input. I haven't tried this mode myself yet, but found it intriguing and implemented it. Would be interesting to hear experiences on it...

To all of you, thank you for all the good words! Hope it brings lots of happy modding and flying

Edit: I was a bit quick here. The "predictive" action from the 3in1 mix will be on the tail. And not affect the governor. Although with some change to the software "predictive" input could be applied to the governor as well....

[zeeflyboy]

Dylwad - will you be selling flashed ESCs on your website?

[Spunjah413]

Good thing I bought another XP12A for backup. Time for some flash testing.

sskaug you are the man!

[kingiggy262]

Originally Posted by zeeflyboy

Dylwad - will you be selling flashed ESCs on your website?

Also, will you be selling some HP03 compatible Astroid delrin tail mounts for 2 and 3mm booms?

[wkim]

Great. It's just WOW.
Is WK-WST-10-LTC also compatible for this mode?
It seems like the flash has to be sil F330 or so.

Thanks.

[sskaug]

The Walkera escs use Atmel chips, and you can not use the code in this thread for them. For Atmel you have to follow the thread that is linked in the first post. Or find a SiLabs chip (F330) and follow this thread.

[4712]

Wow the new code, I did not get notice about this new thread...
So config Software for the toolstick will be ready in some days.

Steffen Please allow me some comments:

EEPROM_FW_MAIN_REVISION EQU  1  ; Main revision of the firmware
EEPROM_FW_SUB_REVISION EQU  0  ; Sub revision of the firmware
EEPROM_LAYOUT_REVISION EQU  6  ; Revision of the EEPROM layout

EDIT:You define some labels but the Linker will do nothing with it.
EDIT: I see: in the BLHeliTxPgm it is used...

After that, You initialize some EEprom Values like:

Eep_FW_Main_Revision: DS 1 ; EEPROM firmware main revision number

Why use "DS" ?
The Linker will not to anything to put it into the HEX File.

Here is my Version:

;**** **** **** **** ****
CSEG AT 1A00h            ; "Eeprom" segment
EEPROM_FW_MAIN_REVISION   EQU     1     ; Main revision of the firmware
EEPROM_FW_SUB_REVISION    EQU     0     ; Sub revision of the firmware
EEPROM_LAYOUT_REVISION    EQU     6     ; Revision of the EEPROM layout
Eep_FW_Main_Revision: DB  EEPROM_FW_MAIN_REVISION    ; EEPROM firmware main revision number
Eep_FW_Sub_Revision:  DB  EEPROM_FW_SUB_REVISION   ; EEPROM firmware sub revision number
Eep_Layout_Revision: DB EEPROM_LAYOUT_REVISION ;EEPROM layout revision number
Eep_Pgm_Gov_P_Gain:  DB DEFAULT_PGM_MAIN_P_GAIN ;EEPROM copy of programmed governor P gain
Eep_Pgm_Gov_I_Gain:  DB DEFAULT_PGM_MAIN_I_GAIN ; EEPROM copy of programmed governor I gain
Eep_Pgm_Gov_Mode:   DB DEFAULT_PGM_MAIN_GOVERNOR_MODE ; EEPROM copy of programmed governor mode
Eep_Pgm_Tail_Gain:  DB DEFAULT_PGM_TAIL_GAIN ; EEPROM copy of programmed tail gain
Eep_Pgm_Tail_Idle:  DB DEFAULT_PGM_TAIL_IDLE_SPEED ; EEPROM copy of programmed tail idle speed
Eep_Pgm_Startup_Pwr: DB DEFAULT_PGM_TAIL_STARTUP_PWR ; EEPROM copy of programmed startup power
Eep_Pgm_Pwm_Freq:   DB DEFAULT_PGM_TAIL_PWM_FREQ ; EEPROM copy of programmed pwm frequency
Eep_Pgm_Input_Pol:  DB DEFAULT_PGM_TAIL_RCP_PWM_POL ; EEPROM copy of programmed input polarity
Eep_Initialized_L:  DB 0 ; EEPROM initialized signature low byte
Eep_Initialized_H:  DB 0 ; EEPROM initialized signature high byte
 
;**** **** **** **** ****
CSEG AT 1A50h            ; "Eeprom" segment
Eep_BESC_MCU:     DB "#BLHELI#F330#"; identify Project and MCU used
;**** **** **** **** ****
CSEG AT 1A60h            ; "Eeprom" segment
Eep_Name:       DB "                "; 16x space
;**** **** **** **** ****

The last sections for use with the pc setup app.
Also every inc for the different BESC should write something into the HEX file, to identify the Layout to be used, when chose this file for flashing.

For XP-7A.inc ...

;**** **** **** **** ****
CSEG AT 1A40h            ; "Eeprom" segment
Eep_BESC_Layout:   DB  "#XP7A#"

Very nice work, kepp on!!!

[Dylwad]

Originally Posted by kingiggy262

Also, will you be selling some HP03 compatible Astroid delrin tail mounts for 2 and 3mm booms?

Yes, and HP03T motors

[pakk]

Originally Posted by Dylwad

Yes, and HP03T motors

[Dylwad]

Originally Posted by zeeflyboy

Dylwad - will you be selling flashed ESCs on your website?

Yes, still need to figure out the details though, and test some combinations. I will have XP-3A's available again soon too.

Dylan

[ZyBeR]

Is the programmer available on ebay?

[Dylwad]

Doesnt look like it

[4712]

Try Farnell or silabs...