Originally Posted by robert@castle (Post 14781311)

The normal RC PPM signal is a constant 50hz pulsed signal that is high for a specific amount of time and then low for the rest of the cycle. The high time is between 1.0 and 2.0ms. In order for the ESC to arm it needs to see it's neutral position for several seconds. On car and boat ESCs this is 1.5ms. On Airplane, Multirotor, and Helicopter ESCs this is 1.0ms. On can and boat ESCs, a signal with pulses 2.0ms will spin the motor forward, and a signal with pulses of 1.0ms will spin the motor backwards or apply the brakes depending on how the ESC is configured.

Originally Posted by masterfo (Post 14782237)

Thanks so much for that information, i truly appreciate it. I will test it out later however i have a 2 big questions:
1.) when i start the program (on the arduino microcontroller) do i give it neutral pulse only (neutral pulse as in make the pin that the ESC is connected to HIGH for 1500 microseconds) to arm it?
I read somewhere that u need to give it another pulse to activate reverse or something, so do i give it another pulse of 1000 microsecond or some other pulse after or before the neutral pulse?

2.) Second question: how do i control the speed of the motor?
Please help me understand this better:
So because the pulse width is from 1 ms to 2 ms, does that mean that from
1.5ms->2ms pulse, the motor will go FORWARD. And a 1ms->1.5ms pulse will make the motor go REVERSE?

Originally Posted by masterfo (Post 14782237)

Thanks so much for that information, i truly appreciate it. I will test it out later however i have a 2 big questions:
1.) when i start the program (on the arduino microcontroller) do i give it neutral pulse only (neutral pulse as in make the pin that the ESC is connected to HIGH for 1500 microseconds) to arm it?
I read somewhere that u need to give it another pulse to activate reverse or something, so do i give it another pulse of 1000 microsecond or some other pulse after or before the neutral pulse?

Originally Posted by robert@castle (Post 14782292)

You need to send it neutral pulses continuously for a few seconds. The actual time really depends on the ESC.

The second pulse to activate reverse is not done during arming. When the motor is spinning forward, sending a reverse signal will apply the brakes. Once the motor is stopped then you have to send a neutral signal and then go back to a reverse signal before it will go in reverse. Depending on the speed controller, this functionality can be programmed out. Castle Creations ESCs call this Crawler Reverse Mode.



It is fully proportional to the pulse length.
A 1.5ms pulse is neutral.
A 2ms pulse is 100% forward throttle. A 1.75ms pulse is 50% forward throttle. A 1.6ms pulse is 20% forward throttle.
A 1ms pulse is 100% brake 100% reverse throttle. A 1.25ms pulse is 50% brake or 50% reverse.