Brushless motor application

I am try to connect 2 brushless motors, each with there own ESC controller, to a potentiometer and a momentary contact switch. Also a brushed motor using a potentiometer and momentary contact switch. So the brushless motors should be able to be adjustable in speed and set on a momentary contact switch so I can pulse them on and off. Same goes for the brushed motor. Here is my wiring diagram as of now. I would like to use the smallest Arduino needed to do this. My question is, can this be done and which (smallest) Ardurino would do it best?

Think you will find you only need the one 5V+ supply line from the ESC's to the Arduino.
Signal and ground the same as drawn though.
Why a 14.8V brushed motor, unusual as normally it would be say 12V for example but would work ok on 14.8v pwm.
The rest seems ok.
Be prepared to deal with any noise problems that could arise as brush motors are noisy.
In that instance, it might be better to power the Arduino from the 14.8V lipo via a drop down converter module set to say 9V to the RAW terminal on the Arduino.

You do realise the Arduino has no control over the brushed motor..?

One thing to remember when coding is most ESC's require a certain operation of the control pot for the ESC to arm.

This usually follows, power up minimum throttle (pot), move pot from minimum to maximum setting and back again to minimum setting. Motors will then emit an "armed tune".

I had a piece of example code somewhere that would accomplish that, see if I can find it.

Edit: No luck finding the automatic arming code.
So, a couple of different ESC's and their arming arrangement covered in this video below, depending on which ESC you have.
You might want to start part way through the video as there is motor descriptions etc. in the first half which you may not need.( somewhere around 8.00 mark)

OK, I see what you mean about the 5V power, just need to join the signal for both esc's. I tried with one esc running both motors and they would lock up at higher rpms. So now using two esc's is much better.

As far as the brushed motor, it runs fine outside the esc/Arduino, but I was not sure if it could be incorporated in Arduino or not. It would have an advantage for me to be in there. I could set a trigger for 5 second burst mode.

Yes this is the issue I am having without an Arduino. I can use a simple Servo controller with the esc's to set rpms of the brushless motors , however when I break the signal with my momentary contact switch the esc goes into to some sort of start up mode (beep, beep, beep). So I am thinking, I have to send a "zero" signal to the esc's all the time to keep them happy and then trigger a signal (set to the speed pot, wherever it may be set) with a momentary contact switch. Then the motor would rev up to that set point. I have no idea if that is even possible.

I am not a electronics person and I have not clue how to get there.

Another option I am looking at is switching the load end on the brushless motor with relays or a contactor. All of which make my application much harder, due to their size.

I will review the video and thanks for your help thus far.

Hi,
OPs diagram,


Tom.. :slight_smile:

What are the boxes called "On/off latching" and "PWM" doing?

Is the intention that the motors will run as long as their "momentary switch" is held down and stop when it is released?

Is the brushed motor just switched On/Off or does its speed also need to be controlled? If you want it to be controlled by the Arduino then an additional relay or MOSFET circuit will be needed. You can't drive a motor direct from the Arduino.

But it all seems perfectly possible and any Arduino could do it. I often use the Nano which is fairly small and easy to program. The Pro Mini is another possibility but needs additional components to program it.

Steve

The On/off latching is simply a main power switch. PWM is controlling the speed of the brushed motor.

As for the brushless motors, Yes you are correct. "Is the intention that the motors will run as long as their "momentary switch" is held down and stop when it is released"

I want to be able to trigger them on and off with a (trigger switch) but they must respond to wherever the potentiometer is set to.

The brushed motor should be exactly the same way. The way I have it now works now but, if I can connect it to the Arduino I could maybe set up some programs to have it pulse for 2-3 seconds. Which would be like a 5 round burst mode.

This if for a Nerf gun and the brushless motors propel the balls and the brushed motor is for the ball feeder.

So the Nano would do it + a mosfet circuit.

There are some on Amazon. Would these work?, "Arduino Nano V3.0, Nano Board CH340/ATmega328P Without USB Cable, Compatible with Arduino Nano V3.0"

As far as the MOSFET circuit, would I need a shield for that or just a MOSFET chip?