What you will need

  • A base station computer with a Chrome-based browser

  • Flight Controller

  • USB-A-to-USB-C cable

  • A charged LiPo battery

What you will get

  • Four ESCs running the Bluejay firmware

Initializing the ESCs#

The four Electronic Speed Controllers (ESCs) translate the Flight Controller’s commands into the currents that drive the motors. In this section you will flash the Bluejay firmware onto the four ESCs using the esc-configurator.com web tool.

Danger

Remove the propellers and keep them off for the entire procedure.

1. (skip if not necessary) Flash Betaflight onto the Flight Controller (FC)#

Attention

This step should not be necessary because the Duckiedrone DD24-B ships with Betaflight BTFL 4.3.2 for the MAMBAF405_2022B target already installed on the FC. Follow this step only if this is not the case.

The ESC configuration tool does not talk to the ESCs directly, but reaches them through the FC. For this to work, Betaflight (target firmware BTFL 4.3.2) needs to be flashed on the FC. If the Duckiedrone’s FC does not already have Betaflight installed, go ahead and flash it.

Start by installing Betaflight Configurator v10.9.0 on your base station and opening it.

Next, open the Firmware Flasher tab from the left sidebar and set the options to match your board, as shown below. The Duckiedrone uses the Mamba F405 MK2 V2, so select the MAMBAF405_2022B target and the BTFL 4.3.2 firmware version.

Betaflight Configurator Firmware Flasher settings with MAMBAF405_2022B selected and firmware version 4.3.2

Fig. 50 Firmware Flasher settings for the Mamba F405 MK2 V2 (BTFL 4.3.2).#

Connecting the Flight Controller and loading it into bootloader mode#

Before you can write new firmware, the Flight Controller has to be in bootloader mode (also called DFU mode). When you plug the board in normally it boots straight into its regular firmware and will not accept a flash, so you need to hold it in bootloader mode while it powers up.

You put the board into bootloader mode with the small BOOT button on the Flight Controller. Locate it first:

Mamba F405 MK2 V2 Flight Controller with the BOOT button outlined in red

Fig. 51 BOOT button location on the Mamba F405 MK2 V2 Flight Controller.#

Remove power from the Duckiedrone if it is powered on. Disconnect the USB cable connecting the Flight Controller to the Raspberry Pi on the Raspberry Pi side. You will use this USB-A cable to connect the Flight Controller to your base station.

With the board still disconnected, press and hold the BOOT button while you connect the USB-A cable to your base station, and then release the button. The board is now waiting in bootloader mode.

Check

With the Flight Controller connected in bootloader mode, the port/target dropdown in the top toolbar of Betaflight Configurator reads DFU - STM32 BOOTLOADER, and the Connect button is grayed out, since the board is not reachable over the normal serial link while in DFU mode.

Betaflight Configurator toolbar with the port dropdown set to DFU - STM32 BOOTLOADER

Fig. 52 The Flight Controller is correctly in bootloader mode, as shown by DFU - STM32 BOOTLOADER in Betaflight Configurator.#

If the dropdown does not show DFU - STM32 BOOTLOADER, see Troubleshooting.

Attention

Do not press the "Connect" button in Betaflight Configurator during flashing. Betaflight talks to the board over the flashing interface, not the normal serial connection.

Loading and flashing the firmware#

Now that the board is in bootloader mode, download the firmware and write it:

  1. Click Load Firmware [Online] in the bottom-right corner. Betaflight Configurator fetches the BTFL 4.3.2 firmware for the target you selected and confirms it is ready to flash.

  2. Click Flash Firmware, also in the bottom-right corner, and watch the progress bar as it works through the write.

    Check

    The progress bar moves through "Flashing…", then "Verifying…", and finally "Programming SUCCESSFUL".

Once the flash finishes, the board reboots on its own into the new firmware, so there is no need to unplug it. You can confirm it worked by clicking "Connect": the top-left of the interface should report BTFL 4.3.2.

Loading the Duckiedrone board configuration#

A freshly flashed board comes up with the stock Betaflight defaults, which do not match the Duckiedrone’s wiring. In particular, the motor outputs and the serial port assignments have to be remapped before the ESC tool can reach the four ESCs. Duckietown provides these settings as a Betaflight CLI configuration file that is applied in one paste.

  1. With the Flight Controller connected in Betaflight Configurator (click "Connect" if it is not connected already), open the CLI tab from the left sidebar.

  2. Open MAMBAF405MK2V2.conf and copy its entire contents.

  3. Paste the contents into the CLI command box and press Enter. The commands run as a batch, and the file ends with save, so the board writes the settings and reboots on its own.

    Attention

    Do not disconnect the USB cable while the batch is running.

    Check

    The CLI output ends without reporting any command errors, and Betaflight Configurator drops the connection as the board reboots.

When the configuration is in place, click "Disconnect" so the serial port is free for the ESC tool in the next step.

2. Connect to the ESCs#

Note

Use a Chrome-based browser (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and so on).

  1. Make sure the motors do not have propellers attached.

  2. Check that the ESC board is wired to the Flight Controller. The ESC tool reaches the ESCs only through this connection, so the ribbon connector between the ESC board and the Flight Controller has to be fully seated at both ends, with all four motor leads attached to the ESC board.

  3. Disconnect Betaflight (if connected), or any other programs that might be using the serial port connected to the Flight Controller.

  4. In your browser, go to the ESC Configurator web tool.

  5. Click Select Serial Port in the top-right corner. In the prompt that appears, select the serial port that belongs to the Flight Controller. Its name varies by operating system and board. If multiple USB serial devices are connected, unplug the Flight Controller and observe which port disappears, then reconnect it and select the port that reappears.

  6. Once the port is identified, select it and click Connect.

    Browser serial-port picker listing the SpeedyBee F405 V3 port as ttyACM0

    Fig. 53 Serial port selection prompt.#

  7. Verify that the message Unique device ID received appears. This confirms that the ESC Configurator is connected to the Flight Controller.

    ESC Configurator status bar showing Unique device ID received after connecting to the Flight Controller

    Fig. 54 The ESC Configurator has received the Flight Controller’s unique device ID.#

    Attention

    The ESCs cannot draw power from the Flight Controller over USB. You have to connect the LiPo battery for them to power up and accept programming. If this is the first time you are plugging in the battery, be particularly careful to notice if anything is becoming particularly hot, and be ready to unplug the battery if so.

  8. Connect the LiPo battery to the Duckiedrone. The ESCs are now powered and ready to be read:

    ESC Configurator after the LiPo battery is connected to power the ESCs

    Fig. 55 The LiPo battery powers the ESCs for the following configuration steps.#

3. Flash Bluejay#

  1. Click Read Setup. The tool passes through the Flight Controller and reads all four ESCs. Each one comes up as a BLHeli_S ESC on layout J-H-15.

    Duckiedrone ESC default factory configuration as read by Bluejay

    Fig. 56 The Duckiedrone DD24-B ESCs ship with BLHeli_S on J-H-15 layout.#

  2. In the firmware selection, set:

    • Firmware: Bluejay

    • Version: 0.21.0

    • PWM frequency: 48 kHz

    Flashing the Duckiedrone ESCs with Bluejay

    Fig. 57 Upgrading the ESC firmware with specific Bluejay parameters.#

  3. Click Flash All and wait for all four ESCs to finish.

    Attention

    Do not disconnect the battery or the USB cable while an ESC is being flashed.

  4. When the flashing completes, click Read Setup once more and check that all four ESCs now report Bluejay 0.21.0.

    Confirming Bluejay on the Duckiedrone DD24-B ESCs

    Fig. 58 Validate that the correct firmware has been successfully flashed.#

(optional) 4. Disable the beacon#

By default the ESCs give off a beep after a while without commands, which quickly gets annoying. While you are still in the ESC Configurator, turn it off:

  1. In the Beacon Delay drop-down menu, select Infinite.

    ESC Configurator showing the Beacon Delay setting outlined in red

    Fig. 59 Set Beacon Delay to Infinite to disable the beacon sound.#

  2. Click Write Settings in the bottom-right corner to save.

Disconnect the LiPo battery from the Duckiedrone.

Your ESCs are now running Bluejay. Next, continue to Initializing the Flight Controller to flash the PX4 firmware.

Troubleshooting#

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

The ESC Configurator does not detect any ESCs after Read Setup.

RESOLUTION

The ESCs are not powered. Check that the LiPo battery is connected to the Duckiedrone, since the Flight Controller’s USB power is not enough to run the ESCs, and then click Read Setup again.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

On Linux, the ESC Configurator cannot open the serial port (Failed to open serial port).

RESOLUTION

This is a serial-port permission issue. On Ubuntu, add your user to the dialout group by running sudo usermod -a -G dialout "$USER", then sign out and sign back in (or reboot) for the change to take effect. If that does not help, inspect the group that owns the device with ls -l /dev/ttyACM0 (substituting the port you are using) and add your user to that group instead of changing the device permissions for every user.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

The port/target dropdown in Betaflight Configurator does not show DFU - STM32 BOOTLOADER.

RESOLUTION

The board booted into its regular firmware instead of the bootloader. Unplug the USB-C cable, press and hold the BOOT button again, reconnect the cable while still holding the button, and only release it once the cable is fully seated. If it still does not show up, try a different USB cable or port, since some cables are power-only and cannot carry data.

Troubleshooting

SYMPTOM

Other issues.

RESOLUTION

Contact our hardware team via email: hardware@duckietown.com