What is BLHeli Suite?

Main Feature: MCU: STM32F722RET6 IMU: 2x ICM20689(SPI) Build-In: BlueTooth wireless adapter DJI FPV Air Unit Supported. BlackBox: 32Mb onboard Flash BLheli32 50A ESC 4in1 3-6S Integrated LC Filter Simple installation method, compact space Support:Sbus,PPM,CRSF,DSMX,iBus.

• RPM filtering with BLHeliS for free. BHeliS firmware is OpenSource software product. It evolved from BHLeli firmware that was running on the relatively slow Atmel MCU’s. It’s development almost stopped in year 2017, when the devs started a new BLHeli32 branch with closed source, licensing and etc. BLHeli32 ESC firmware introduced the so called bidirectional DSHOT protocol that enabled.
• We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us.
• BLHeli32 is the third generation BLHeli code, following base BLHeli and BLHeliS. When we are talking about the BLHeli32, its one main feature of Dshot compability over Dshot1200 is always mentioned. But what is Dshot1200 and what have made it a better ESC protocol? WHAT IS DSHOT ESC PROTOCOL?

BLHeli Suite is powerful program for flashing, setting up and configuring your BLHeli or BLHeli_S ESCs.

Why do you need BLHeli Suite ?

There a several reasons you may need to use the BLHeli Suite (or BLHeli Configurator). This is list of some:

• Reverse the rotation of the motors (Props In or Props Out);
• Upgrade the BLHeli firmware on your ESC
• Change the BLHeli ESC parameters

BLHeli Suite or BLHeli Configurator?

BLHeli Suite is the most feature rich application for setting up the BLHeli and BLHeli_S ESCs. It is still maintained and time to time is updated. BLHeli Suite runs only on Windows platform. (BLHeli_32 Suite however is available on Win, Linux and MacOS platforms)

BLHeli Configurator is simpler, but user friendlier than BLHeli Suite.

BLHeli Configurator Chrome App is the same BLHeli Configurator, just it was originally distributed only as Chrome App. BLHeli Configurator Chrome App was last updated in the 2017. So this Chrome app is probably is abandoned. But it works and might be sufficient for you.

I would recommend the BLHeli Configurator for beginners and BLHeli Suite for advanced users.

How to download the BLHeli Suite and BLHeli Configurator?

You can download the BLHeli Suite (also the BLHeli_32 Suite) from here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/dx6kfaasyo24l/BLHeliSuite

You can download the BLHeli Configurator Cross-platform application from here: https://github.com/blheli-configurator/blheli-configurator/releases

How to install the BLHeli Suite and BLHeli Configurator?

No special installation is required. You just need to unzip the contents of the BLHeliSuitexxxx.zip to any folder you want.

How to connect the BLHeli Suite to ESC ?

Start BLHeli Suite. Select the interface “SILABS BLHeli Bootloader (Cleanflight)” if you are connecting to the ESC via the flight controller (ESC is connected to the FC). Then select the port number that the flight controller is connected to and hit Connect button.

If you have sucessfuly connceted to the ESC, then the next step is reading the settings of the ESC or ESC’s. Hit the Read Setup or

The result will be shown in the dialog box.

How to reverse the rotation of the Motor?

In BLHeli Suite you need to connect to the ESC, then Read Setup and change the Motor Direction by moving the slider to the position 2 (Reversed).

Don’t forget to hit the Write Setup after you’ve made the changes. Have in mind that BLHeli Suite writes the changes for the selected ESC, so you need to select or unselect the ESC below.

Otherwise BLHeli Suite will write only to the first (master) ESC.

Blheli_32

In BLHeli Configurator you can also change the Motor Direction by selecting Normal or Reversed (Bidirectional and BidirecitionalReveresed is used for 3D setups).

Blheli_32 Mac

• List of brushless whoop/toothpick flight controllers
  This is the list of brushless tiny whoop/toothpick style flight controllers with brief description
• Guide: Splash screen, background and model images in OpenTX radio
  OpenTX radios like Jumper T16 or Radiomaster TX16S have big color LCD screens, capable

The BLHeli developers have released the new code and added the S to set it apart from the base code, the S represents something special.. the next generation of ESC firmware. But what makes BLHeli__S firmware so special and is it worth upgrading yet? And will it actually make a difference to your multirotor flight performance? Read more to find out.

Key features of BLHeli_S

• Hardware PWM – smoother and more responsive motor response
• Always use damped light (Regenerative Breaking) for better multicopter control
• Code supports sync loss prevention – tuneable parameters to make your ESC work well in the most demanding applications (not just FPV racing)
• High resolution throttle steps
• Supports Oneshot125 (125-250us), Oneshot42 (41.7-83.3us), Multishot (5-25us) protocols
• Automatically detects input signal protocol on ESC power up
• Beacon Function – your ESC will start beeping after a set time of zero throttle to help you find your quadcopter.

Why is hardware PWM better?

Since the initial release of BLHeli, hardware has improved so the new code is designed to take advantage of the new hardware improvements with the most signification being hardware generated PWM which gives much better performance. This is the most noticeable improvement of BLHeli_S as your motors run smoother, quieter and are technically more responsive too.

Because the hardware generated PWM signal is synchronized with the micro controller clock on the ESC, the motors run more silently and efficiently (with less high pitch squeal). This also enables much more precise throttle steps depending on the ESC hardware (micro-controller and PWM driver type), however the range is between 512 steps and as much as 2048 steps with high end ESC’s.

The hardware PWM also allows you to control very high speed motors (up to 500k eRPM with some hardware). With the older BLHeli firmware and software PWM, the maximum speed signals can be sent to the motor was 16Khz. With the hardware PWM, your ESC can send signals at about 36Khz which is rather insane. Because your motors are getting updates much faster the control is much more precise and smoother response.

Are 32 bit ESC any better?

Many of the new BLHeli_S esc’s coming to the marker actually use a 32bit processor. This means that each ESC has alot more processing power to do more advanced stuff. Currently most of the 8 bit ESC’s running BLheli are still not reaching the processing capacity so why have the developers started using 32 bit microcontrollers on the ESC’s?

The main reason is because 32bit ESC’s are easier to program, the 8bit code is written in C and Assembly (can be a real pain to work with), but the 32 bit allows programming in C++ which is abit easier. This means that this combination of easier programming language and more processing power will make adding novel features abit easier.

Can I upgrade my BLHeli ESC to use BLHeli_S?

No, this is not currently possible as BLHeli_S is designed to run on new ESC hardware, to take advantage of the hardware PWM driver. Current ESC’s that run BLHeli use software PWM and do not have a dedicated hardware PWM driver so they cant use BLHeli S.

Conclusions

When you first turn on your motors with BLHeli_S ESC’s you will notice how smooth and quiet they run, but for me that is where the differences end. With the current BLHeli S ESCs on the market they dont translate into additional performance on static thrust tests compared to some of the other leading ESC such as DYS XM ESC series. I know DYS are releasing some new ESC’s to support BLHeli S called the XS series.

Once you are up in the air flying I could not tell any difference in performance. It is worth noting that I am not exactly the best FPV pilot you can just about manage the odd flip in a wide open area. So perhaps more experienced racing pilots will be able to feel the improvements (let me know). The active breaking definitely improves the responsiveness of your quad, but that is an also option with regular BLHeli ESCs.

At the end of the day I would say its probably not worth ripping out your BLHeli ESC’s just yet, but if you are building a new quad then its a good idea to get some BLHeli_S ESC’s since I am certain we will see some novel features added to the BLHeli code in the near future.

If you have any experience with the new firmware and ESC’s or comments please let us know below!

New version naming convention

The new BLheli S firmware will have the naming convention of A_L_10_REV16_0.HEX

• The first letter denotes the pinout of the Micro controller (MCU) on the ESC. Currently A,B,C,D,E,F,G
• The second letter is the MCU clock speed. L for 24MHz, H for 48Mhz
• The two numbers denote the MOSFET switching deadtime, if the FET has adaptive switching then 00 is used
• The REV is the actual code version, the bigger the number the more recent the code is.