Tello brushless conversion

Thailand_Tello_Ken · May 3, 2020

Sonofpolaris said:
Im willing to do this ive got nothing better to do right now then to save up for the mavic air 2 apply for phds and figure this out with anyone willing to help.

Awesome! You'll need to know some terminology.

1. ESC (noun) Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) is an electronic circuit that acts as the interface between the pilot's commands and the individual drone motors. There are several types of ESCs in the market, but brushless motors require a 3-phase ESC.
2. PWM (noun) Pulse Width Modulation technique, It is used to convert the digital signal into an analog by varying the width of the Pulse . They are used to set the LED brightness or to run motors or anything which require analog inputs .

The OP who fabricated everything goes by the username "Mud". His last post was Jun 30, 2018 . In that post he described his problem that he needed help with:

"If knew the pins of the raw PWM signal, I could connect the 4 "thesteve" converters I already have. But still, the escs won't arm but go into some kind of programming mode. I am guessing there would need to be an adjustment made in the BLheli software running in the escs. Or use other brushless escs which expect the same startup signal sequence."

IMO, Mud is having problem with the aforemented problems in bold. I assume we would need to ask someone if they know about figuring out (1) the pins of raw PWM signals, (2) how to arm an ESC or (3) how to adjust the BLheli software in order to connect the coverters that Mr. Mud was using.

Other users who were interested in this project included: @vzr @Storyline @Cliffs tello @rebuildt

Due to the huge amount of work that is going into this project, perhaps we can do something special to incentivize Mud to continue his work? If you consider the cost of replacing your OEM brushed motors and paying for the precision soldering, it would be cheaper for us all to chip in and support our local genius, Mr. Mud. Also, it's bad for the environment and a waste of good parts to dispose of the Tello just cause we don't want to pay for getting those weak brushed motors replaced.

Sure, we can buy a Mavic Mini or other, but the tell is better because (1) the pictures are great (2) the video is instagram-worthy and (3) it's a non threatening size that people see at "cute" and therefore we can get away with flying it in places that we couldn't with a bigger drone. No one wants to be around a drone that looks like it can chop off someone's finger.

Sonofpolaris · May 3, 2020

Thailand_Tello_Ken said:
Awesome! You'll need to know some terminology.

1. ESC (noun) Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) is an electronic circuit that acts as the interface between the pilot's commands and the individual drone motors. There are several types of ESCs in the market, but brushless motors require a 3-phase ESC.
2. PWM (noun) Pulse Width Modulation technique, It is used to convert the digital signal into an analog by varying the width of the Pulse . They are used to set the LED brightness or to run motors or anything which require analog inputs .

The OP who fabricated everything goes by the username "Mud". His last post was Jun 30, 2018 . In that post he described his problem that he needed help with:

"If knew the pins of the raw PWM signal, I could connect the 4 "thesteve" converters I already have. But still, the escs won't arm but go into some kind of programming mode. I am guessing there would need to be an adjustment made in the BLheli software running in the escs. Or use other brushless escs which expect the same startup signal sequence."

IMO, Mud is having problem with the aforemented problems in bold. I assume we would need to ask someone if they know about figuring out (1) the pins of raw PWM signals, (2) how to arm an ESC or (3) how to adjust the BLheli software in order to connect the coverters that Mr. Mud was using.

Other users who were interested in this project included: @vzr @Storyline @Cliffs tello @rebuildt

Due to the huge amount of work that is going into this project, perhaps we can do something special to incentivize Mud to continue his work? If you consider the cost of replacing your OEM brushed motors and paying for the precision soldering, it would be cheaper for us all to chip in and support our local genius, Mr. Mud. Also, it's bad for the environment and a waste of good parts to dispose of the Tello just cause we don't want to pay for getting those weak brushed motors replaced.

Sure, we can buy a Mavic Mini or other, but the tell is better because (1) the pictures are great (2) the video is instagram-worthy and (3) it's a non threatening size that people see at "cute" and therefore we can get away with flying it in places that we couldn't with a bigger drone. No one wants to be around a drone that looks like it can chop off someone's finger.

So I've read and reread over User muds attempt on and off over the last three months, and there is a real lack of documentation of his process, Ie, no clear shots of the solider work done on the tello board, for example he did not show placement of a diode on the tello board, and he did state that he was not able to access the BLHELI SOFTWARE to be able to make the adjustment to turn on PWM signal input and to Invert the signal from positive to negative as shown in the youtube video.

So that being said id like to devise a way to be able to update the esc controller using an arduino to help run the blhelisuite so we can adjust the settings so that we are able to truly replicate what is shown in this video before saying the concept does not work.

because from my understanding if the PWM signal to drive the brushed motors is analog we should be able to convert that signal using an ESC for brushless motors.

Sonofpolaris · May 3, 2020

maybe we could try doing something like this to the ESC to interact and modify the settings before we connect the ESC to the tello

volate!lo · May 3, 2020

Thailand_Tello_Ken said:
We all know the benefits of brushless motors and a carbon fiber frame.

Please tell me. Because I don't see many benefits

Sonofpolaris · May 4, 2020

volate!lo said:
Please tell me. Because I don't see many benefits

IM BORED AF, good enough? XD

Sonofpolaris · May 4, 2020

Can someone help me find a 4 in 1 ESC in EUROPE that work on 1s LIPO batteries

volate!lo · May 4, 2020

Sonofpolaris said:
IM BORED AF, good enough? XD

Probably the best and most valid reason so go for it

Because a brushless conversion will not improve Tello's characteristics, except maybe a marginally better climb rate.

Thailand_Tello_Ken · May 4, 2020

volate!lo said:
Probably the best and most valid reason so go for it

Because a brushless conversion will not improve Tello's characteristics, except maybe a marginally better climb rate.

In all seriousness, what would you like to see improved on the Tello? For me, I want brushless motors because higher torque for navigating against wind, more efficient use of power (better battery due to less friction), lower maintance costs - brush motors are very expensive to replace due to service costs, carbon fiber propellers (for aesthetic purposes), longer lifespan of motor and for the motors to not overheat as much.

Thailand_Tello_Ken · May 4, 2020

Sonofpolaris said:
Can someone help me find a 4 in 1 ESC in EUROPE that work on 1s LIPO batteries

In Europe? I'm American... So, In @volate!lo We Trust!

Thailand_Tello_Ken · May 4, 2020

Sonofpolaris said:
Can someone help me find a 4 in 1 ESC in EUROPE that work on 1s LIPO batteries

I found these in Aliexpress HERE

volate!lo · May 4, 2020

Thailand_Tello_Ken said:
In all seriousness, what would you like to see improved on the Tello? For me, I want brushless motors because higher torque for navigating against wind, more efficient use of power (better battery due to less friction), lower maintance costs - brush motors are very expensive to replace due to service costs, carbon fiber propellers (for aesthetic purposes), longer lifespan of motor and for the motors to not overheat as much.

I am not sure you will see better battery time after a conversion but I'm no expert.
You will however not see much better punch against the wind as the attitude is what limits the forward speed. Just adding more torque would generate more lift, which the FC would counter by reducing RPMs.
Personally I never had to replaced a Tello motor, but others have done that often. Nobody believes the lifespan of my Tello motors. I have however replaced bent cages of brushed motors.Overall I don't consider the motors to be the main problem of Tello.

Improvements I'd like to see are much simpler and easily fit within the same price bracket: 1080p camera, onboard SD card or memory, manual camera tilt like Dobby, a true compass.

Sonofpolaris · May 6, 2020

do you think it would be possible to add a larger battery on the tello?

ckears · Jan 19, 2021

Thailand_Tello_Ken said:
In Europe? I'm American... So, In @volate!lo We Trust!

these Turnigy 5A 1S Brushless ESC

ckears · Jan 19, 2021

As the tello can be programmed , as a S.T.E.A.M Educational tool, i would gather you would have to do some coding to get it work with other motors. and other esc etc, look into python.

Paddy · Mar 31, 2022

Bro we need updates what happened to the project did u get it to work I'm trying to do the same but scaling the whole thing up so it can carry a GoPro easily and for longer time unfortunately in my country (india) the flight controllers which have the stability as compared to tello are expensive .. seriously the stability of tello both indoor and outdoor is beautiful ..

Paddy · May 21, 2022

Update I did a lot of research and ended up on its not possible for now unless we find a way to access and edit tello's FC firmware ...;_;
Also if u a planning to build an entire new drone look into ardupilot program ... Lots of amazing and powerful flight controllers with many autonomous features ...