1

I am building a quadcopter with this schematic: enter image description here

It works very good but i have the pins on 3,5,6,9 = PWM pins. Is it possible to use "regular" pins instead? I will add more modules later on so i will most likely run out of PWM pins.

I could of course try it right now but i want to ask first so i could potentially avoid to destroy any items!

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

No, you need to use PWM in order to control the ESCs which, in turn, control the motors. If you need more PWMs you might add daugtherboard based on other ICs which might provide additional PWM outputs via I2C or serial interface.

In some non critical conditions (ESCs are critical for a quadcopter) you can simulate PWM by switching a plain digital pin HIGH and LOW very quickly, but that is not as reliable as using hardware PWM.

Improve this answer
3
  • Damn it! I am missing 1 PWM then. I use this BLE device: learn.adafruit.com/… and if you check the schematic they require 3 PWM pins which means that there are only 3 left for my 4 motors. do you think i could change a PWM to a regular pin from that BLE device instead?
    – Martman
    Jan 24, 2017 at 0:32
  • Ok i read it a bit more carefully now. Seems like i can change both REQ (pin 10) and RST (pin 9) after i upload code if i am not mistaken
    – Martman
    Jan 24, 2017 at 0:36
  • That's correct: they use pin 10 and pin 9 as plain digital, no PWM is required so by re-mapping those pins you can retain the PWM functionalities of pin 9 and 10 to your goals
    – Roberto Lo Giacco
    Jan 25, 2017 at 16:14

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.