KDE Direct News Releases

New ESC firmware D460344 and above can calibrate the ESCs current sensing circuit. All ADC’s (Analogue-to-Digital Converters) introduce static errors to measurements. To calibrate the Current ADC on the ESC, find the ideal transfer function by following the steps below. 1) Begin by setting the Gain to 1 and the Offset to 0. Press the Send Settings button in the KDE Device Manager PC software. The current values in the ESC data log will now report the 12-bit ADC_value. 2) Run the ESC and motor from 1 to 10 amps by adjusting the throttle in 1 amp increments holding the throttle for...

KDE Direct ESCs, like most ESCs, will emit safety tones from the motor when the DC leads are connected to power. The ESC will beep the motor once per second, this indicates that the device is working properly and is powered on but does not have an arming signal. The ESC must be armed before it will spin the motor (Safe Start). To arm the ESC, set the throttle stick to the low position to send the arming signal via the throttle control lead (white, red, black wire). There are three different arming tones that can be set from the KDE Direct Device Manager PC...

  KDE Direct is committed to ensuring compatibility across a wide range of devices. That’s why we are excited to announce that the DroneCAN protocol has been added to the UVC series ESC firmware. DroneCAN is a decentralized CAN protocol used by ArduPilot and PX4 flight controllers for communication with CAN devices. Many CAN devices are currently used throughout the drone industry. This means customers currently using DroneCAN with their UAVs can now use KDE Direct ESCs without the need for additional setup or drivers. Setup instructions can be found in the DroneCAN Quickstart guide. This new firmware allows for...

  What's the difference between the single-rotor motor series and the multi-rotor motor Series? KDE Direct offers two different types of motors (single-rotor motors which are shaft drive and multi-rotor motors which are direct drive).  Can I use single-rotor motors for fixed wing applications? The single rotor motor series was originally designed with the intention of using gear boxes to reduce the nominal 16,000-24,000 RPM speed to a lower head speed of 3,000-4,000 RPM on RC helicopters and other geared applications. KDE Direct doesn't sell an adapter for mounting propellers to the single-rotor motor shaft. A yoke and collet style...

KDE Direct products come with standard wire lengths that have been tested for safety and compatibility between products. If the total length of DC wire between the ESC and battery is too long, then it will cause higher voltage spikes induced in the wires and on the input capacitors. These higher voltage spikes will cause the capacitors to heat up and cause premature wear on sensitive components inside the ESC. The best way to solve this issue is to keep the DC wires short and to extend the AC wires between the motor and ESC. Extending the AC wires will...