How to control a ESC by DC voltage(like from a potentiometer or microcontroller DAC)?

[dispatch]

Hello everybody:

I've got a small PCB with a powerful controller chip on it, the chip has several DACs and digital I/O outputs but without a convenient pulse generating hardware. I'm thinking of using it to control 2 sets of GWS ICS-600 Li Brushed ESC + Mabuchi 550 motors, is there a simple way to modify the ESC so that it can be controlled by a DC bias voltage?

I've heard that ESCs take some sort of pulse input from the receiver as their current control references, what kind of waveform is it? There's a 8-bit 33 MIPs device on my PCB, if the analog voltage control don't work out, is 33 MIPS enough to generate a suitable waveform(with adequate update rate and, I don't know, maybe PWM resolution?) to control the ESC?

Thanx for your help :)

[Comatose]

33 mips is more than plenty - we do it all the time to commercial quality with 1 mips. But depending on what you're looking to do, a robot-targeted motor driver might work better.

For example, we make a dual motor driver that can run directly from analog inputs. Its two motors forward and reverse with regeneration, so seriously overkill for a plane but it'll do exactly what you're looking for. http://www.dimensionengineering.com/Sabertooth2X10.htm

Analog inputs aren't uncommon in the industrial and robotics arena. Hobby R/C stuff all runs from a standard 1ms to 2ms pulse refreshed every 20ms.