DShot ESCs
Last updated
Last updated
DShot is an alternative ESC protocol that has several advantages over or :
Reduced latency.
Increased robustness via a checksum.
No need for ESC calibration as the protocol uses digital encoding.
Telemetry feedback is available/supported on some ESCs.
Can reverse motor spin directions via commands when needed (rather than physically moving wires/re-soldering).
Other useful commands are supported.
This topic shows how to connect and configure DShot ESCs.
DShot ESC are wired the same way as . The only difference is that they can only be connected to the FMU, and usually only to some subset of pins.
:::note You may want to check the actuator configuration screen to see what pins are available for DShot on your controller before wiring up! :::
Pixhawk controllers with both an FMU and an IO board usually label them as AUX (FMU) and MAIN (IO), respectively. These match the PWM AUX and PWM MAIN output tabs on the actuator configuration screen. For these controllers connect the DShot ESC to the AUX port.
Controllers that don't have an IO board usually label the (single) output port as MAIN, and this is where you will connect your DShot ESC. If the controller without IO has its own firmware, the actuator assignment will be to the matching PWM MAIN outputs. However if the same firmware is used for hardware with/without the IO board, such as for the Pixhawk 4 and Pixhawk 4 Mini, then actuator assignment tab used is the same in both cases: PWM AUX (i.e. not matching the port label MAIN in the "mini" case).
:::warning Remove propellers before changing ESC configuration parameters! :::
DShot comes with different speed options: DShot150, DShot300, DShot600 and DShot1200, where the number indicates the speed in kilo-bits/second. You should set the parameter to the highest speed supported by your ESC (according to its datasheet).
Then connect the battery and arm the vehicle. The ESCs should initialize and the motors turn in the correct directions.
The most important ones are:
Make the first motor beep (helps with identifying motors):
Retrieve ESC information (requires telemetry, see below):
Permanently reverse the spin direction of the first motor:
Retrieving ESC information after the dshot reverse -m 1 command without the dshot save -m 1 command will show:
after saving it with dshot save -m 1 command, reversed direction will become new normal direction:
To change direction again new dshot reverse -m 1 command needs to be sent.
Some ESCs are capable of sending telemetry back to the flight controller, including:
temperature
voltage
current
accumulated current consumption
RPM values
These DShot ESCs will have an additional telemetry wire.
To enable this feature (on ESCs that support it):
Join all the telemetry wires from all the ESCs together, and then connect them to one of the RX pins on an unused flight controller serial port.
After a reboot you can check if telemetry is working (make sure the battery is connected) using:
:::tip Not all DSHOT-capable ESCs support [esc_info](e.g. APD 80F3x), even when telemetry is supported and enabled. The resulting error is:
Check manufacturer documentation for confirmation/details. :::
Enable DShot for your required outputs in the .
If the motors do not spin in the correct direction (for the ) you can reverse them in the UI using the Set Spin Direction option (this option appears after you select DShot and assign motors). You can also reverse motors by sending an .
Commands can be sent to the ESC via the . See for a full reference of the supported commands.
Enable telemetry on that serial port using .
:::tip You may have to configure to get the correct RPM values. :::