Connecting T100 to R/C receiver

Hi!

I’ve just purchased T100 thruster with BlueESC, but got to a problem right at the beginning. I’d like to connect it with a R/C receiver and control it with radio cont… It will be installed on my boat (model). I have Futaba R137F receiver that works on 35MHz. Later I’ll control it via Arduino (but this is the second part of my project that will hopefully start once in the future).

I’ve connected two thick cables with LIPO 3S battery (right polarity), but got no light indicating connections. That is what worries me most!? Some very simple intructions would help me a lot.

 

Thanks a lot!

Andrej

@Andrej,

The BlueESC instructions are here.

I have 6 T100 Thrusters with the BlueESC. I used a servo tester to provide a PWM signal to each Thruster. I powered up the servo tester first before applying power to the T100 Thruster because the BlueESC has to have a neutral input (1500us) at start up to know where the PWM input neutral is.

Regards,

TCIII AVD

Thanks TCIII!

 

But I’ve already seen those instructions and thay didn’t help me.

I’m buliding a boat (mixture between air-boat and catamaran). If there is no idea how to connect T100 with BlueESC, I’ll stay with air-boat system. It is expensive experience with this T100 thruster, but i hope I’ll ‘survive’!

 

Regards!

Andrej

 

 

@Andrej - can you boil down how you are connecting things in a one line diagram for everyone to look at then we can recommend changes etc.

I see you are talking about an R/C unit, and Arduino etc. A one line would be excellent for us on the other end to picture what you have tried so far.

 

Hi!

I’ve connected thick cable that comes out of ESC to the battery (polarity is o.k.) and thin cable to R/C Futaba receiver receiver that was connected with power suply). Than switched transmitter on and put some throtle. I didn’t see any light flashing on LED.

That is basicly it!

Thanks!

@Andrej,

The BlueESC is designed for a car throttle input which means that neutral is at 1500 us, the range of reverse is 1000 us to 1500 us, and the range of forward is 1500 us to 2000 us.

Your R/C transmitter and receiver are probably made for a plane and the throttle range is 1000 us to 2000 us with no neutral. Also, the Futaba throttle range is backwards compared to all other R/C manufacturers and is 2000 us to 1000 us.

You need to use the elevator channel to test the BlueESC. It has the range of 1000 us to 2000 us with 1500 us a neutral when the joystick is centered.

Regards,

TCIII AVD

TCIII hanks for your reply.

But things are still the same. Is there any option for me to check if ESC is working at all.

I’m afraid that it’s damaged; I belive that there should be a light indication when I connect it with power suply?!

 

Thanks!

@Andrej,

The leds on the BlueESC flash briefly when I apply power and do not flash or light until I send a PWM signal to the ESC.

You need to have the receiver sending a 1500 us PMW signal to the ESC before applying power to the ESC this is because the ESC needs to know where neutral is when it starts up.

I recommend that you purchase a servo tester to provide PWM signals to the ESC for testing purposes rather than trying to use an R/C receiver.

I assume that you are using the red or yellow wire for the PWM signal and the black wire for ground?

I have 6 of the BlueESC T100 Thrusters and they all worked correctly when I first powered them up. I have tested their functionality with both PWM and I2C control signals.

Regards,

TCIII AVD

Hi Andrej,

I apologize that we haven’t responded to this directly yet! I definitely want to make sure this gets worked out and you get up and running! I have a few questions for you. If it turns out that the thruster is defective in any way, we’ll be happy to send a replacement to you immediately.

  1. Can you confirm that you are connecting the black signal cable wire and the red/yellow signal cable wire to the RC receiver plug? A picture would be very helpful to confirm correct connection.

  2. The BlueESC does not power your RC receiver! That means you have to connect at battery or BEC to the receiver so that the receiver gets power. Are you doing this?

  3. The BlueESC will usually show lights when powered up, but it might not if it is connected to an unpowered RC receiver. Do you see any lights at all?

Let me know how it’s connected! Pictures are always helpful.

Best,

Rusty

Hi Rusty and TCIII!

Tahnks for your comments.

I’m sending a picture of my setup. As you can see, there is no light indication, that this setup is o.k.

Batteries are full, I’ve checked them!

Thanks!

Andrej


Andrej,

Thanks for the picture! That definitely looks correct. If you don’t see any lights at all, then I fear that something may be wrong with the ESC. We’d be happy to exchange it with a new one and we’d like to debug that one as well.

If you’d like to do that, send me an email at support@bluerobotics.com and I will help you.

Best,

Rusty