Do I really need an ESC ?
For a DC Motor, as throttle control really whats the point of the ESC, doesnt the motor just take power and a signal wire like a servo ? (idk I am just getting started with RC model setups etc.. etc..) I would think you would have your power going across 2 of your wires, and then you would have a third for signals that you would just pulse the motor with ? No ??
Comments
No, a regular DC motor usually has two connections. Depending upon the polarity on how you connect the power (+ and -) the motor will turn in one direction or the other if you reverse the connection. The speed will vary by either the voltage applied (higher voltage = faster) or you can use a technique called PWM which can use the full voltage but it is only on a certain amount of time. It will typically be controlled by an H-Bridge.
A servo also has some extra circuitry for a control signal and most have an internal H-Bridge, The pulse width of the signal will set both the direction and speed (or position) of the servo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-bridge
http://www.seattlerobotics.org/guide/servos.html
There is a ton of information and sites online that cover motor control, H-Bridges, servos, etc.
-- Never mind, I finally found somewhere to lay out the info for me. Just to save someone else some time though.
What I found is you control an ESC the exact same way you control a servo with the microcontroller you just send the esc the pulses and then it pulses the motor at the correct amp rating as the prop or w.e is obviously incapable of supporting 10+ amps or w.e.
In addition, a 'good' ESC will also provide protection for your batteries and electronics which is probably the most important thing once you start drawing that kind of current.
Do most ESC have a diode ( i think that's correct ) that stops the motor from becoming a generator after power is dropped from motor but armature/driveshaft ( this could be wrong label as well) is still spinning, or is this something else I would have to account for / or should anyways ?
Yeah, I have spent the past few hours googling brushless motors, I am starting to get a better understanding of what is going on. Parallax was just my first stop, because I was confused on the whole MCU vs ESC thing ( and its the only MCU company I have ever used ) . I was overlooking the fact that the motors could be pulling a ton of current for a MCU. I work with an electronic engineer on a daily bassist so that helps ( sometimes, his answers can be so far out their that I have problems grasping what he is talking about. so sometimes I don't bother and just try to figure it out my self ) I am an application database programmer, that is now being tasked with taking over a lot of low level coding / projects for another coworker that recently passed. I have to deal with time clocks sounding alarms at breaks, fires, security..... so forth. Some other things I will be doing around the shop will involve a lot of motors, so that's why I am trying to figure out all that's involved. Most of the projects are simple enough I can conquer them with just the use of the basic stamp. And if i get proficiency enough in this, I might try to start doing it on the side to supplement my income. But, none the less thanks for all the input, this got me going in the right direction on finding out what I needed to know.
P.S. I am not an English major, I do try to have good grammar and proper sentence structure, but I have very lacking qualities to say the least in the English department.