I wanted to be able to control the brightness of some LEDs from Ardupilot flight controller.
I wanted 0 to 100% pwm output from the FC pin to drive the gate of a FET, then you can control anything (LEDs/motors/solenoid/etc), but Ardupilot does not have that function.
Ardupilot has servo passthrough function, it passes a RC channel from the Rx through the FC to a output pin. This will require a brushed motor esc, most of them are larger than the size of the FC, and fitting them on a 5" quad is a bad choice. Then I found on AliExpress for $3 shipped, a servo motor esc (for continuous rotation servos).
I got one and have tested it on the bench, its got some issues that I was not expecting.
1. Most Tx/Rx will not output below 1000us and above 2000us, this means you will maximum get +/- 70% speed (see picture).
2. Lowest PWM output is 17.5%
3. Maximum 6V. Maybe possible to modify for my voltage by cutting the FET driver supply trace and feeding more voltage, but I have not found the datasheet to the FZMOS-5X (so-8 package).
Large zero thro dead band 1390 to 1591 (200us)
See the attached picture for the PWM info.
So with the limitations of 6v, 1A, 17% to 70% max output, it will work out of the bag and its low cost, tiny.
AliExpress INFO:
1pcs DIY Dual-way 1A Mini ESC 5V DC Brushed Speed Controller Module Winch Control Bidirectional Driven Circuit Board for DIY RC Part
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...36e34c4duQeMF3
Specification:
- Size: 12x8.5mm
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