I've been programming and testing an Arduino based quadcopter for the past 4 months. Until now I did not need to use an external power source for my sensors. Now I want to use the 'BEC' power from my electronics speed controllers.
Each of the 4 ESCs gives 5V @ 2A. I would set these up in a parallel circuit, which would give me 5V @ 8A (theoretically).
I also want to use a cheap chinese voltage sensor to sense the voltage from my 5000mAh 25-50c 11.1v battery. I'm not sure if it is safe to connect my batteries wires to my sensor with the 125A that it can put out.
My question is whether or not it is safe to have a common ground on Arduino with an 8A power supply AND if it is safe to use a 5V 8A power supply with these sensors.
Here is a problem that I've encountered before:
while powering my IMU off the BEC and sending motor PWM signals, my sketch would run for about 10 seconds then freeze. It was not until I powered my IMU off the Arduinos 5V power that I was able to run the sketch flawlessly. What could have been causing that?
I've made a diagram of my circuit in Fritzing (not actually tested yet due to fear of ruining my sensors). I'm using an Arduino Mega.