*Blheli Configurator Windows 10
*Blheli Download For Windows
*Blheli S
*BLHeli32 pass-through protocol allows you to configure and upgrade your ESCs without having to disconnect them from your vehicle. You can plug a USB cable into your autopilot and run the BLHeliSuite32 software for Windows to configure your ESCs. ArduPilot firmware supports the pass-through protocol with BLHeli32 only.
*BLHeli Configurator takes a small yet most relevant part of BLHeliSuite functionality and makes it available on all platforms that are able to run Chrome Apps, without any burden of configuring ports in Wine, running Windows in a VM and like.
BLHeli Suite is the most feature rich application for setting up the BLHeli and BLHeliS ESCs. It is still maintained and time to time is updated. BLHeli Suite runs only on Windows platform. (BLHeli32 Suite however is available on Win, Linux and MacOS platforms).
We have official BLHeli_32 confirmation from BLHeli Developers. Let’s find out what it is about, what advantages it brings, and what changes there are moving forward.
BLHeli is an ESC firmware, and BLHeli_32 is the 3rd generation after BLHeli and BLHeli_S.
BLHeli_32 is written for ESC‘s that utilize 32-bit MCU (STM32F0 Cortex-M0 at 48MHz), unlike BLHeli and BLHeli_S ESC’s that runs on 8-bit processors. BLHeli_32 does not work with 8bit Atmel or Silabs ESC’s.
Check out this article to learn about ESC firmware.
The 32bit processor on BLHeli_32 ESC has faster clock speed than the 8bit processors in BLHeli_S ESC’s. But BLHeli_S has already set the bar high for performance, it would be interesting to see how much better BLHeli_32 is than BLHeli_S.
With the increased in processing power, faster input signals with lower latency and higher update rate would be possible in BLHeli_32, such as Dshot1200 or even faster protocols! (Read about DShot)
The most exciting news about the 32-bit platform is the possibility of future functionality and features that simply wasn’t possible on 8bit ESC’s, including
*programmable PWM frequency of up to 48KHz
*Auto-timing for higher efficiency and realiability
*Current limiting (with built-in current sensor on ESC)
*Adjustable “Brake on Stop” force
*Improve direction change in Bidirectional mode
*ESC Telemetry
*Configuring from FC using DShot commands
48KHz PWM frequency and Auto motor timing have been reported to improve flight performance noticeably.
Note that these features are just ideas from the developer (aka sskaug) at the moment and haven’t all been implemented yet. Some of these sound familiar from the KISS 24A ESC’s. Anyway we should discover more about the new possibility as development continues.
The previous BLHeli and BLHeli_S are open source, however the developers have decided to close source the new 32bit firmware. Their names might maintain the same prefix, but we were told BLHeli_32 has been created from scratch. (BLHeli and _S are both Assembly based while BLHeli_32 is C based) ESC manufacturers will have to pay BLHeli developers a licence fee directly to use their 32bit firmware, therefore expect some increase in ESC price.
When asked why the project has become close-source, sskaug replied:
From starting as a personal project to make my mCPX helicopter brushless, BLHeli as come a long way. Some of the major milestones were when we decided to pursue the multirotor segment as well, still as a hobby project, where people flashed various (non BLHeli) ESCs with BLHeli FW. Still moderate activity and efforts. But then at some point, probably starting with the Littlebee, manufacturers started making dedicated ESCs for BLHeli FW. Which I think was a major step forward for the community, as now we have a plethora of very good ESCs for multicopters. Then there was a new milestone where we decided to pursue BLHeli_S, as smoothness of BLHeli was still inferior to other ESCs in the market. And by this time we had close to 20 manufacturers doing BLHeli_S! Supporting which is actually a significant workload.
So then came the next milestone – what was next? ARM 32bit MCUs were a pretty obvious choice, as they are flooding the market from various manufacturers and are getting quite cheap. But at least for me, I was at a point where I did not want to undertake the workload I knew would come without some returns. So this is where we are now, closed source with a modest fee for some returns on the work we actually do. While still supporting many manufacturers and keeping the generally low cost profile of BLHeli.
Hopefully BLHeli_32 will also serve the community well, and bring ESC performance and the hobby as a whole even some more steps forward.
One thing remains the same is using BLHeliSuite for flashing and configuring ESC’s, which is known to be incompatible with Mac and Linux but only Windows. BLHeli Configurator Chrome App was created to tackle this issue by third party developer Andrey Mironov,. But we found out that it won’t support BLHeli_32 since it’s close-source.
Here is how to connect to BLHeliSuite32 via FC passthrough.
BLHeliSuite will require an internet connection in order to flash/update firmware and configure settings, that probably means you can’t do it at the field easily. The serial number of the ESC has to be validated at the manufacturers, this is to prevent clones or illegal use of their firmware.
Here is a full list of ESC’s for mini quad, you can look up which ones support BLHeli_32 firmware.I compiled the specification of all ESC’s for mini quad in this spreadsheet so you can compare them more closely.
In order to run BLHeli_32 firmware, the ESC must be designed specifically for the firmware. That means 32bit ESC’s that already existed before the firmware was released might not work with BLHeli_32. Also note that some 32-bit ESC’s might only run their own factory firmware, so make sure you check before purchasing.
In August 2016, Google announced its intent to discontinue support for Chrome Apps on all platforms other than Chrome OS. The plan was to start discontinuing apps starting in mid-2017 with most apps being completely unusable in early 2018. The driving factor behind this decision was that Chrome apps were “not being used” – Google cited that less than 1% of users have ever installed a Chrome app.
This sucks for the miniquad world – we may very well be the 1% of users Google was talking about. Most of us use at least 3 Chrome apps regularly: Betaflight Configurator, BLHeli Configurator and Blackbox Explorer.
This week it looks like the hammer has dropped. All three apps can no longer be found on the Chrome Store using the built-in search functionality, and we suspect permalinks to them will be going offline shortly. Fortunately, the amazing developers in our community have not been asleep at the wheel – a workaround is available.
Betaflight Configurator and Blackbox Explorer are now available as standalone applications. They can be downloaded from the following locations:Betaflight Configurator
Betaflight configurator can be run as a standalone application on Windows, Mac and Linux. It can be downloaded from the releases page on Github:https://github.com/betaflight/betaflight-configurator/releases
Once downloaded, unzip the application somewhere on your computer. There is currently no option to install Betaflight Configurator as a conventional application. You must double click the executable from the unzipped folder to start the app.Betaflight Blackbox Explorer
Betaflight Blackbox Explorer can be installed as a standalone application installer for Windows and Mac. It can be found under the dist/ directory on Github:Blheli Configurator Windows 10
Download the set-up executable for your OS and install as normal. The application can then be started from your OS’ launcher.BLHeli ConfiguratorBlheli Download For Windows
As of 12/11/2017, BLHeli Configurator is not offering a standalone app. If this is not rectified by Google’s closure date for the app store, Windows users can go back to using BLHeliSuite. If an app becomes available, we will post it on this page.Blheli SRelated Posts
