OpenESC - GPL v2

[ekman]

So I have decided to build upon the user Reversers work found in this post: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=53398 and setup a GitHub repo https://github.com/OpenESC/OpenESC for the community to use. But before I set myself to work on converting their schematics to an Eagle CAD schematics, would someone here also have a look at their photograph to see if the work is something to build upon? It is supposedly built on Atmega8A and should be compatible with the Alien ESC firmware and programs but to my knowledge it should not be a direct copy, just compatibility. Here is the link to their picture: http://s13.postimg.org/5zb4t2d1z/foto_no_exif.jpg

What do you guys think, is it worth our time and is this something for the community to build on?

 

[jellehak]

Hey yes that's a good idea! I got a couple of them at home but the firmware is quite limited and closed. I will try to help writing some firmware and test it. Do you got the schematics at a higher resolution perhaps?

 

[jellehak]

I just reversed engineered the control board for a large part (of a 380 Amp model). It will be enought to write some custom firmware or port over BLHeli or SimonK. The control board stated "ESC-HV-MCU-2", and is probably used in multiple flier model/alien power ESC. It has a nice 6 pin ICSP so it wouldnt be hard to send firmware. At the heart is a ATMEGA8A microcontroller, has the servo cable connected thru a Phototransistor/photocoupler. Too bad the RX/TX is used for controlling the Half bridge drivers. Hereby it's not possible to get information during runtime (failure, speed, ..)

Some components on the control board:
ATMEGA8A = microcontroller
EL357N-G = Phototransistor/photocoupler
(3x) ir2103 = Half-Bridge Driver

Components on the power board:
3x 100V 220uF Cap RubyCon ZLF
7x 100V 330 uF Cap
?x MOSFETS

p.s. I haven't checked how the original bootloader works perhaps someone could submit some suggestions how I could read the original bootloader or firmware?

 

[casainho]

This hardware supports FOC?