Level 2.
All other functions like the governor mode can be accessed
through the level 2 of the ProgCard by pushing briefly the two
left buttons simultaneously. (the level switching occurs on
release of the buttons)
For confirmation the menu LED is
blinking
now.
By pushing again the two left buttons you come back to level 1
exactly where you left level 1.
Act. Freew
heel (active Freewheel) allows best efficiency in the
partial load range whereby the ESC remains clearly cooler.
Governor Mode (
Gov.
/
Gov. Store
)
For the use of the governor mode in a helicopter, the
throttle stick range or the throttle curve (100%) must have
been calibrated as described in level 1. A throttle curve
point of e.g. 70% corresponds to a completely determined
head speed, which is held as long as possible for the ESC
due to the battery voltage.
If the battery voltage drops below a certain level, even a
full power setting won’t be able to reach the demanded
head speed if the voltage doesn’t allow it.
If this appears to be the case at the end of a flight, the
throttle curve should be reduced accordingly.
For both governor modes: don’t modify the P-gain, I-gain
and PWM switching rate initially! If you do so the control
loop parameters would also be modified.
Gov
ernor Mode is the classical head speed regulation for
helicopters. The setting of the throttle curve should be around
60 to 80% of the full throttle range.
The controller learns at
every
start the correspondence of the
throttle curve and the head speed. That is why there is a short
head speed increase just before reaching the demanded
speed. This can disturb the tail, but a slight pitching will settle
things down as the helicopter is not „glued“ to the ground
anymore.
Gov. store
is an extended helicopter feature, where the
correspondence of the throttle curve and the head speed is
done only at the first start (learning procedure). This head
speed is stored so that at every later start the head speed will
remain exactly the same.
If you modify anything in the power system, you’ll have to
select again the Gov store menu to perform a new learning.
Proceeding:
Place your throttle curve at the highest stage (e.g. 80%).
Let then the ESC start and stay a while at the final reached
head speed. A short rpm break down is to be normally noticed.
Stop and switch off the battery from the ESC. At the next
power up, start with the same or a lower throttle curve.
If the learning wasn’t successful or wrong, you can reset the
learning by selecting once again the Gov. Store.
The learning can even be done with nearly or exactly 100%.
Doing this will improve the correspondence of the throttle curve
to the actual head speed. But please be careful as this 100%
could lead to very high head speeds, and anyway don’t forget
to set back the throttle curve to avoid flying with full power.
fast (Gov.)
can be selected along with both governor modes.
This feature increases the control loop frequency and can be
used above a magnetic pole commutation frequency of 80000
per minute. (poles/2 x motor rpm)
To try only if the speed control is not completely satisfactory.
The advantages are that the P and I gains can be reduced
without getting a weak speed control. System resonances that
are in the control loop bandwidth are not excited anymore.
Important notice for the governor fine tuning.
The governor software default parameters are adapted to
most setups. Nevertheless, if necessary the following
parameters (P and I gain) can be adjusted.
P-Gain
is the proportional gain. According to this
parameter, head speed variations will be regulated harder
or softer.
Practically, it is the force of the control loop. (- weaker, +
stronger). With smaller helis, less then 1m rotor diameter,
this parameter shouldn’t exceed 1. With larger diameters
you can go to the max. A bad adjustment is reflected by a
wagging tail.
I-Gain is
the integral gain. According to this parameter,
remaining head speed deviations are corrected faster or
slower. It is an important complement to the P term: The P
control is fast, but cannot recover completely the
demanded head speed as it needs this deviation to exist.
The I-term remembers this small remaining deviation and is
able to remove it completely thanks to its „memory“.
Both parameters should be adjusted simultaneously. If you
can increase the P-term, you should generally also be able
to increase the I term and vice versa.
Too high settings can lead to a resonance between tail
gyro and governor. The result is then a very noisy or even
wagging tail that could lead to an out of control situation.
Therefore the adjustments on P and I should be done in
small steps.
By selecting again one of the governor modes, these
parameters are reset to their default values.
Startup Speed
is the spool up speed for helicopters and
planes.
PWM Frequency
is the switching rate used for partial load
operation. With low frequencies the losses are reduced,
but the motors run slightly rougher. With high frequencies,
it is the opposite. The optimum frequency may be found in
the user manual of your motor.
Startup
Power.
The higher the startup power, the faster
and harder is the start. With small propellers it isn’t a
problem, but with large ones, it can lead to a fairly rough
startup behavior.
Before you disconnect the progcard from the ESC, you can
verify your programmed settings by scrolling through each
menu line. But this is only a history of your recent settings
and doesn’t reflect the other settings of the ESC. For that
you have to read it in again.
Hint:
When you select a line where all LED’s are off (like the cell
count lines) and push Enter, the ESC is really read back
again. This is a way to control again the ESC settings
without disconnecting the power. (Works only on BEC
ESC’s)
After programming, please disconnect first the flight battery
and then reconnect the ESC plug into the receiver.
