Connecting an ESC to an Arduino

Other Hardware Motors, Mechanics, Power and CNC
1

Hey,
I'm a complete newbie to Helis and electronics related to it, and am trying to build a quadrocopter(first one.) I want it's motors(brushless) to be Arduino Uno-controlled and have three doubts related to this:

  1. I have no idea about how to connect an ESC to it. I've read that it can be connected to one of the digital PWM pins and controlled using the Servo library, but, if this is done, wouldn't it, although it'll have a separate power source, draw current from the board and burn it, since the board provides only about 20mA?

  2. Are all ESCs programmable from an Arduino, or are only some microcontroller-programmable?

  3. (This might be stupid - ) I've checked out some ESCs on websites, but haven't seen their max voltage written anywhere. So do the ESCs also have a voltage limit or can the voltage supplied be the same as that for the motor?

I'd be really glad if anybody could answer these.
Thank you.

2

The Electronic Speed Control (ESC) looks to the RC radio as just another RC hobby servo. Similarly it looks to the Arduino as just another hobby servo. You can hook a hobby servo (or ESC) to any pin, not just PWM pins.

The signal line from the Arduino is 5V and has no connection to the motor voltage so it is safe for the Arduino.