One of the crucial tasks in getting the quadcopter flying is programming the ESCs, or Electronic Speed Controllers. They store a variety of parameters, not all of which I entirely understand, but all of which need to be set for each ESC. The Turnigy Programming Card pictured above makes this process easy. Simply connect the ESC to the card, load the settings, and repeat. I created this little job aid as a quick reference for the appropriate settings.
Brought many of the parts for the project home – it’s much easier for me to work in my shop, where I have all of the tools and ventilation that I need to work efficiently.
Spent a couple of hours soldering wires and EC3 connectors – these are little gold bullet type connectors – to the Electronic Speed Controls (ESCs) and motors. Lots of fiddly cutting, soldering, and twisting of wires, but I made good progress, finishing all 8 of the ESCs and enough motors for one of the ELEV-8s. I may just push through and try and get the rest of the motors wired up, as once this task is completed I can set to work assembling the airframe.
Still waiting on the batteries, video transmitter and POV camera – hopefully that stuff will show up next week some time.