Reference Design For Drone Electronic Speed Controllers

Its versatile communication interfaces, power efficiency, and advanced motor control features make it an excellent choice for high-performance motor applications.

Design engineers developing drones require efficient, reliable, and compact electronic speed controllers (ESCs) to ensure optimal motor performance, longer flight times, and seamless integration with flight control systems. A reference design for an ESC provides a pre-engineered solution, allowing engineers to accelerate development, reduce design complexities, and enhance overall system efficiency. By leveraging a well-optimized ESC reference design, engineers can focus on refining motor control algorithms, improving power efficiency, and ensuring compatibility with various three-phase brushless (BLDC) or PMSM motors. This approach not only reduces development time and costs but also ensures higher reliability and performance, making it an essential tool for drone design and development.

The STEVAL-ESC001V1 reference design by ST Mircroelectronics is a high-performance reference design for electronic speed controllers (ESCs), developed explicitly for entry-level commercial drones. It is engineered to drive three-phase brushless (BLDC) and permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM), operating with 6S LiPo battery packs or an equivalent DC power source, while supporting up to 30A peak current. Designed for seamless integration, this ESC reference design ensures efficiency and reliability in drone applications.

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A key feature is its ability to enable quick motor and propeller setup using the STM32 Motor Control Software Development Kit (MCSDK), which includes the ST Motor Profiler (X-CUBE-MCSDK). The system employs an advanced sensorless field-oriented control (FOC) algorithm, integrating three-shunt current reading, speed control, and full active braking to optimize motor operation. This results in smoother performance and increased efficiency, which is crucial for drone stability and battery longevity.

To improve safety and durability, the ESC incorporates a battery eliminator circuit (BEC) operating at 5V, an NTC sensor for temperature monitoring, and overcurrent (OCP) and overvoltage (OVP) protection circuitry. Its compact design and high current-handling capability make it an ideal choice for small, lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including professional drones. The ST Motor Profiler helps optimize motor performance by quickly identifying motor parameters, ensuring precise control. With STMicroelectronics’ sensorless FOC algorithm, the design guarantees longer flight times and optimized dynamic performance, which are essential for drone operations.

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It features a highly efficient power stage, incorporating low-Rdson STripFET F7 power MOSFETs, a high-performance STM32F303CBT7 microcontroller with an Arm Cortex-M4 core, and L6398 gate drivers. This combination delivers robust power management, fast processing speeds, and accurate motor control, making it suitable for demanding applications. Beyond drone applications, the STEVAL-ESC001V1 is also suitable for radio-controlled (RC) vehicles, including electric cars, helicopters, and trucks, as well as any three-phase BLDC or PMSM motor-driven system. 

ST Microelectronics has tested this reference design. It comes with a bill of materials (BOM), schematics, assembly drawing, printed circuit board (PCB) layout, and more. The company’s website has additional data about the reference design. To read more about this reference design, click here.