Hi there, I’m Markus from germany, and totaly new in programming and controllers .
I would like to realize a bugwiper project for my glider/sailplane, wich is a kind of electronic winch pulling the bugwipers along the leading edge of the wing.
On the research on how to do it, I stepped onto your website.
Now a few questions or demands I need maestro to control.
The Maestro will control the ESC conected to the motor.
A three position springloaded rockerswitch 1-0-1(in fact will be connected to maestro as two switches) should trigger the following action:
The programmed sequence should be:
-Acceleration from 0 to 100% in three seconds
-certain time on full speed
-deceleration to 0 in 1,5 sec
-direction change
-acceleration to 100% in 1,5 sec
-decceleration to 50%
-stop
1.Switch momentarily to the UP position shoul start the programmed sequence on one channel.
2.Switch pushed down momentarily should abbort the programmed sequence and reset it to the beginning without starting it new, unless i will push it up again
AND
3.will also send a signal to the esc to slowly pull the winch in as long as I have it pushed DOWN.
4.A switch meassuring the line tension should pause the sequence when detecting no tension on the line but should not cancel the option to pull the line in slowly when the three position switch is pressed down!
In fact it will be 3 switches influencing one channel!
Is maestro able to do this?
If yes, the question is: Will I be able to do this?
Looking forward to your answer…Cheers Markus
You might be able to do something like that with the Maestro; there are a couple ways you might consider going about it. You could try writing a script on the Maestro that does all the things you want; however, this could be a bit complicated. To see if this is something you are interested in trying, you could try looking through the “Example Scripts” section of the Maestro’s user’s guide to get an idea of what it would take.
Alternatively, you could use a separate microcontroller (like an Arduino or our Arduino-compatible A-Star 32U4 programmable controllers) to process the switches and send serial commands from your microcontroller to the Maestro for controlling the servos. You can find the documentation on the Maestro’s serial commands in the “Serial Servo Commands” section of the Maestro’s user’s guide. You could also have your sequence in a subroutine within a Maestro script and use the commands from the “Serial Script Commands” section to trigger the sequence.
Thx for your answer… So I will dig deeper into programming. I’ll have the whole winter.I think it is more easy to program the maestro directly. Is there maybe a catalogue with available commands or just the examples.
Cheers Markus
It sounds like you are leaning toward writing your own Maestro script; I recommend starting from the “The Maestro Script Language” section of the user’s guide to gain some familiarity of it. The “Command Reference” section has a list of commands along with a brief description of each.
Thanks… That’s what I’m looking for… Just one more question. Is it possible to power the maestro via the BEC of the Esc just with plugging the esc to one of the outputs or will this damage the maestro.?
You should be able to power the servo power rail on the Maestro from your BEC by connecting the power and ground rails on the Maestro to the BEC power and ground. If you want the Maestro itself to be powered by the BEC, you should double check that the voltage is within the Maestro’s 5V to 16V operating voltage range. If it is, you could connect it to Vin as well to power your system from one supply. Please note that if you are using a Mini Maestro 12-, 18-, or 24-channel servo controller, you can make this connection by placing a shorting block on the VSRV=VIN pins. More information about different options for powering the Maestro can be found in the “Powering the Maestro” section of its user’s guide.
