An Arduino based multiprotocol Servo/ESC Tester
Here at Reefwing Software our interests include robotics, IoT, and drones. These types of projects inevitably involve using servos and ESCs (Electronic Speed Controllers) which we would like to be able to test before we attach the Flight Controller or microprocessor which is running the show. Hence our interest in developing an ESC/Servo Tester.
You can buy ESC/Servo Testers but they are pretty basic with most only supplying PWM to drive your ESC or Servo.
We have written a number of articles explaining the hardware and software used for our Arduino based tester.
- Part 1: Explains how we used the Altronics MegaBox and an Arduino Mega 2560 to create a prototype multiprotocol servo/ESC tester.
- Part 2: Details how we designed a custom Arduino UNO shield to make construction simpler and cheaper. We also tweaked the code to make it compatible with the UNO.
- Part 3: Expands the code for the UNO shield to include the ESC control protocols FastPWM and OneShot125.
- Part 4: In the final part we add the DShot ESC protocol to our Servo/ESC tester. By protocol, we are referring to the agreed communication method between the Flight Controller and the ESC. One of the issues we found was that there doesn't appear to be a single document which clearly defines what the Dshot protocol is.
The final version of our firmware generates PWM (multi frequencies), OneShot125 and DShot600.