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This page contains a list of RC terms commonly used in the hobby. |
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Auto-LiPo Volts/Cell: Auto-LiPo Volts/Cell allows the user to set a cutoff voltage per cell in their pack. Most current battery manufacturers recommend 3.2v/cell (the factory setting on all Castle ESCs). However, some battery manufacturers recommend a slightly higher cutoff per cell. Using this setting you can adjust to the LiPo manufacturers suggested rating. You can also use this setting if you’d like to be a little easier on your LiPo batteries by shutting them down sooner. By cutting off the ESC at a higher voltage you will generally get a few more cycles out of the pack(s). |
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Back EMF: Abbreviation for Back Electromotive Force. This refers to the voltage that occurs in electric motors where there is relative motion between the armature of the motor and the magnetic fields from the motor’s magnets or windings. With sensorless ESC & motor systems this is also how the ESC determines the position of the magnet, and which direction to propel itself based on user input. |
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Battery Connector: A connector that is attached to the battery pack, and the opposing is attached to your ESC. They allow for easy changing of battery packs rather than having to direct solder the battery to the ESC prior to and after every use. |
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Battery Discharge Rating: Usually given with LiPo batteries (or lithium based batteries). Typically defined as a "C rating". Essentially the C rating is the resistance of the cells in the pack. The higher the C rating, the lower the resistance in the battery and the more power output you will get. |
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BEC: BEC stands for Battery Eliminator Circuit. There are 2 types of these: linear and switching. Linear BECs take the input voltage from the battery pack, drop down the voltage to the level the receiver & servos require, but to do this they burn off the excess voltage as heat. As such they are not very efficient, and generally can only be used in low voltage applications (up to around 12v). Switching BECs work by taking small bits of energy from the input side and moving them to the output side. An electrical switch (hence the name switching BEC) and a controller regulate the rate of energy transfer to the output. Because the bits of energy being moved, a switching BEC is much more efficient than a linear BEC, can handle higher input voltages, and can also have their output voltages be programmable. |
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Binding: The process of linking the transmitter to the receiver in order for them to be able to communicate with one another. |
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Blades: Can refer to the blades of a propeller, blades on a helicopter, or blades on a boat prop. |
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Brushed: A type of motor that internally commutates and RPM is controlled by direct voltage from the ESC. These motors are generally only used in rock crawling, and are an old technology but are still useful in some applications. |
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Brushless: A type of motor that is electrically commutated via an electronic speed controller. These are newer technology, are generally more efficient than their brushed counterparts, and have higher torque and power capability as well. |
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Brake Strength: Castle Creations software allows you to fine tune the brake for specific applications. The brake has two primary uses, to stop a folding prop on a glider to allow it to fold and to control downlines in 3D and precision aerobatics. Glider pilots should experiment to find which brake works best for their application. Brake Strength changes brake strength form soft (weak) to hard (strong) braking. |
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Brake Delay: Castle Creations software allows you to fine tune the brake for specific applications. The brake has two primary uses, to stop a folding prop on a glider to allow it to fold and to control downlines in 3D and precision aerobatics. Glider pilots should experiment to find which brake works best for their application. Brake Delay changes how long the brake takes to engage after full off throttle. |
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Brake Ramp: Castle Creations software allows you to fine tune the brake for specific applications. The brake has two primary uses, to stop a folding prop on a glider to allow it to fold and to control downlines in 3D and precision aerobatics. Glider pilots should experiment to find which brake works best for their application. 'Brake Ramp' ramps the brake up to the selected brake strength in a selectable amount of time. This allows you to run strong breaks without damage to gearboxes of firewalls. |
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Bullet Connector: A type of battery or motor connector that is typically gold in color, and used for making connections between an ESC and battery or between an ESC and motor. http://www.castlecreations.com/products/ccbullet.html |
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C Rating (battery): C rating is the maximum safe continuous discharge rate of a LiPo battery pack. If your battery says 35C on it, that means it can safely discharge 35 times the capacity of the battery safely. For example, a 5000mAh 35C battery will be capable of discharging 175A continuous (5000mAh/1000 = 5Ah, 5Ah x 35C = 175A) |
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Calibration: A process by which an ESC is taught what the maximum and minimum throttle inputs for a specific transmitter are. For cars you will have a full throttle, full reverse, and neutral calibration. For airplanes and helicopters you will only have a minimum and maximum. |
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Capacity (battery): A measure (typically in Amp/hours) of the charge that is stored by the battery. Higher capacity batteries will yield longer run times, and there are minimum recommendations for capacity (and C rating) for all r/c applications. In general for cars it is 1500mAh, for 1/10th, 1/8th, and 1/5th scale vehicles it is 5000mAh. C ratings for each application vary so be sure to check your manual or contact our tech support department for further information. |
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Capacitor: A capacitor is a passive electronic component that stores energy temporarily. It protects the rest of the components on an ESC by smoothing out the ripple on the input side. Ripple is generated due to the rapid operation of components on the ESC. |
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Castle Link Live (aka Link Live): Link Live is a way for the controller to communicate power system information to an external device, such as a a radio or computer using a USB interface, in real time. |
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CC Cap Pack: Capacitors connected in parallel on a circuit board that helps reduce the amount of ripple voltage in a system. It allows for longer battery wires to be used, or for high current applications where high ripple voltage will be generated. |
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Castle Link USB Programmer (aka Castle Link): A proprietary device used to plug your Castle ESC into your computer and make changes to the settings, update firmware, download and view datalogs (on applicable ESCs), and much more. http://www.castlecreations.com/products/castle_link.html |
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CHEAT Timing: Used to create more power from a sensored brushless motor. Can cause higher ESC and motor temperatures due to increased amp draw. When Castle Creations invented this software it was groundbreaking, now others are following suit. |
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Cogging: A term used to define when a motor is oscillating back and forth very rapidly, and will not start. |
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Continuous Amperage vs Peak Amperage: Continuous amperage is how much amperage the ESC can safely handle without overheating or damaging any of its components. Peak amperage is the ESCs ability to handle spikes in amperage that generally exceed its continuous rating. In general, Castle ESCs will handle double the continuous rating for 4 seconds or less. So a 200A ESC can handle 400A for 4 seconds or less. Castle Creations measures the TRUE continuous amperage rating of the ESC under very specific conditions. Others measure amps per phase (which is generally a useless piece of information). |
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Control Line: A type of flight that does not use a transmitter for control. Aircraft are controlled using a set of guide wires attached to the wing, and throttle is controlled via a timer. |
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Current Limiting: Castle Creations controllers have several forms of built in protection, one of which is ‘Current’. This setting changes how the controller protects itself from too much current, or inadequate batteries. Generally, for aircraft use, there is no reason to change this setting except to experiment. Helicopter use can put large but short load spikes on the system, and will benefit from changing this to either insensitive or disabled (to decrease the chances of the controller turning the motor off). However this will increase the risk to the controller from over current. Using a battery of too low a discharge capacity can sometimes engage this protection feature by creating ripple current. If you are getting premature cutoffs, and changing this setting to disabled cures them – look closely at your pack and connectors to be sure they are adequate for your application. |
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Current Cutoff Type: Changes the behavior of how the ESC reduces voltage when the cut off voltage is reached. |
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Cutoff Voltage: See “LVC” |
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Diode: A semiconductor with two terminals that allows the flow of current in one direction only. |
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Drag Brake: This is a setting in car ESCs that activates a brake when the trigger is brought to neutral. This can be programmed anywhere from 1% to an active drag brake (called 213% crawler full on) using a Castle Link USB programmer. |
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ESC: ESC stands for Electronic Speed Controller. It relies on a PWM signal from the receiver to give it commands and regulate the speed of the motor. |
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External Governor: External Governor is used when an external electronic system is being used to control the ESC throttle input in an attempt to maintain a specific RPM. From a stopped position, output power will slowly advance limited by 'Spool-Up Speed'. Once a steady rpm to throttle condition is detected, the ESC will give complete throttle control to the external system and allow throttle to change at very fast rates until the next time the ESC throttle input is moved to the OFF position. As a result, improper throttle inputs (after the initial spool-up period) can lead to excessive ESC current spikes and ESC failure! Also note that, once full throttle control is given to the external system, rapid RPM changes are possible. This can pose a risk of dangerous, uncontrolled RPM increases in response to commands from the external system. Endpoints with Auto-Rotate disabled: <1.11ms Arm/Motor Off/Reset slow spool-up, >1.89ms Full Throttle. Endpoints with Auto-Rotate enabled: <1.0ms Arm/Motor Off/Reset slow spool-up, 1.0-1.11ms Motor Off, >1.89ms Full Throttle. |
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FAA: Federal Aviation Administration http://www.faa.gov/ |
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Fan: Used to keep motors and ESCs operating at a lower temperature. |
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Firmware: Permanent software programmed into a read-only memory. Firmware is loaded onto an ESCs processor, and can be changed or updated using the Castle Link software. Firmware updates can add new features, fix bugs in older firmware versions, or keep the existing settings up to date with new technological advancements. |
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Fixed Endpoint Mode: Fixed-Endpoints will set zero-throttle and full-throttle points to fixed values so that the ESC does not have to learn from your transmitter. If you are using this mode, you will most likely want to change the EPA settings on your transmitter to allow full throttle resolution with the throttle stick. To do this, turn on your TX and set normal mode in the transmitter for a linear throttle curve (0,25,50,75,100). Bring your high side and low side endpoints on your throttle channel down to 25%, plug in the battery pack with the throttle stick at full (it won't start up), then bring your high endpoint back out towards (and sometimes past) 100% until you hear a single tone. Next, bring your throttle stick down to the bottom position and bring the endpoint out from 25% out towards (and possibly past) 100% until you hear the ESC arm. Unplug the battery pack, wait a few seconds, then plug back in and verify that the throttle is working properly. |
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Ground Loop: In an electrical system, a ground loop is an equipment and wiring configuration in which there are multiple paths for electricity to flow to ground. The multiple paths form a loop which can pick up stray current through electromagnetic induction which results in unwanted current in a conductor connecting two points that are supposed to be at the same electric potential, often, but are actually at different potentials. |
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Head speed: The RPM at which the rotor of a helicopter's blades spin. |
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Hexacopter: See “Multi-Rotor” |
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Inrunner: A type of brushless motor where the stator and windings are on the outside of the motor, and the magnet is in the center of the motor and attached to the shaft. The magnet and shaft spin together when power is applied. |
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LVC: LVC is an abbreviation for Low Voltage Cutoff. When your battery pack drops to the user-set cutoff voltage, the ESC will shut down power to the motor. It will NOT shut down power to the BEC, and the user will be able to control the vehicle until it comes to a stop. |
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Magnet: A type of rare earth magnet made from neodymium, iron, and boron. In R/C applications magnets are placed around the outside of the motor (outrunner) or surrounding the motor shaft (inrunner), and used in conjunction with an electronic speed controller (ESC) that generates an electro-magnetic field through the copper windings. |
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Magnetic Pole Count: The number of permanent magnets contained within a motor. These are always in sets of two (2P, 4P, 6P, etc). |
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MOSFET: MOSFET stands for Metal-Oxide-Field-Effect-Transistor. MOSFETs are what drive the motor, provide the brake, and also determine the amperage rating of the ESC. The higher the number of MOSFETs in parallel, the more amperage an ESC will be able to handle. |
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Motor Start Power: This setting controls how much power is allowed into the motor to get it started for the first few revolutions from a dead stop. Each power system, airplane and heli is different, so it’s best to start with a low setting first, and experiment to find which looks best to you from there. |
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Motor Timing: Motor timing advance changes the timing advance range used on the motor. Generally, low advance gives more efficiency and less power. High advance gives more power at the expense of efficiency (motor heat). Every system will respond to changes in advance differently. All Castle Creations controllers automatically determine the correct and best range of timing advance for any motor they are plugged into when running in sensoreless mode. You can move up or down within that range via these settings. |
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Multi-Rotor: A rotor aircraft with more than 2 rotors. They are controlled by a flight controller with multi-axis stability, can carry payloads, and are also used for racing. Commonly referred to as a "drone". |
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Multi-Rotor Mode: Multi-Rotor throttle types operate similar to Airplane throttle types, but the throttle input signal is filtered in a different manner. This setting allows the ESC to change the throttle OUTPUT at very fast rates. Improper, or rapid, throttle advance can lead to excessive ESC current spikes and ESC failure! If throttle input is rapidly changed at low load RPM, brushless motors can draw excessive current while accelerating the rotor and propeller which will quickly lead to both ESC and motor failure! This mode should only to be used in proven systems or by qualified system experts. Endpoints: <1.11ms Arm/Motor Off, >1.89ms Full Throttle. |
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Neodymium: Neodymium is a chemical element commonly used in the manufacture of the high powered magnets used in R/C motors. |
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Octocopter: See “Multi-Rotor” |
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Opto-isolated: In electronics, an opto-isolator, also called an optocoupler, photocoupler, or optical isolator, is a component that transfers electrical signals between two isolated circuits by using light. Opto-isolators prevent high voltages from affecting the system receiving the signal. |
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Outrunner: A type of brushless motor where the magnets are attached to the inside of the motor casing. The stator and windings are in the center of the motor. With this type of motor the stator stays in place while the outside of the motor case and shaft spin together when power is applied. |
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Parallel vs Series: In a parallel connection two batteries (or more) are connected such that the voltage going to the ESC/motor stays the same, but the capacity is effectively doubled. With a series connection the voltage is doubled while the capacity stays the same. C rating remains constant regardless of which type of connection you have. |
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Polarized Connector: Polarized connectors, when used properly, make it impossible to plug your batteries in with reverse polarity. They are keyed such that they can only be plugged into each other in one direction. Castle Creations manufactures these and sells them in several combinations. Please see our website for more information. |
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Power-On Beep: This setting enables and disables the power-on warning beep. The power-on warning beep causes the motor to beep every 20s if your ESC is left in neutral. This will alert the user if they accidentally leave their battery plugged in. |
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PWM: An acronym for Pulse Width Modulation. This refers to the PWM signal being sent from the transmitter to the receiver to drive your motor, servos, etc. |
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PWM Rate: This is a setting in Castle air ESCs that changes the frequency which the ESC sends power to the motor. With some motor types, the higher the frequency the more efficient the motor will run, but always at the expense of increased heat within the controller. If you decide to experiment with changes to PWM, use a wattmeter, a tachometer and a temperature gun to find out how changes affect your entire power system. An increase in PWM frequency will always increase the controller temperature. It may or may not decrease the temperature of the motor. |
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Quadcopter: See “Multi-Rotor” |
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RC or R/C: An acronym for “Remote Control” |
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Radio: See “Transmitter” |
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Receiver: The device in your model that receives the signals coming from your transmitter to tell you model what to do (increase/decrease throttle, operate servos, etc) |
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Resistor: Defined as an electrical component that limits or regulates the flow of electrical current in an electronic circuit. These are widely used on ESCs (Electronic Speed Controllers). |
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Reverse Polarity: This occurs when the positive and negative battery wires are connected in the opposite manner they should be. (ie- positive to negative and negative to positive, should be positive to positive, negative to negative). This will permanently damage the ESC (and potentially the battery, receiver, servos, etc). |
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Ripple (aka Voltage Ripple): Transient voltage spikes when the MOSFETs turn on and off. Excessive ripple damages capacitors and ESCs. |
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ROV: Remotely Operated Vehicle |
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Sensored: A type of brushless motor that uses a Hall effect sensor to determine motor magnet position. Primarily used in rock crawling applications or those where very precise, low speed control is needed. |
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Sensorless: A type of brushless motor that uses Back-EMF to determine motor position. Generally sensorless yields higher efficiency, but low speed startup can be problematic in some applications (rock crawling). |
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Set RPM Governor: See “Governor Mode” |
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Transmitter: The device you hold in your hand that transmits signals to your R/C airplane, helicopter, multi-rotor, car, or boat. |
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Throttle Dead Band: This is the width between neutral and throttle, and also between neutral and brake. A smaller dead band will result in a hair-trigger feel, a wider dead band will act as if it has exponential set in the transmitter. All radios has some amount of variability in their output signal at idle. As a result, if this setting is set for too low/small of a value, you may have difficulty getting the ESC to arm or stay in neutral. Also, the ESC may glitch uncommanded forward or reverse. |
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UAS: Unmanned Aerial System |
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UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle |
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UROV: Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle |
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Voltage Regulator: See “BEC” |
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Waterproof: Impervious to water |
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Water Cooling: Typically used on R/C boats to keep the motor and/or ESC from heating up. |
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Water resistant: Able to resist the penetration of water to some degree, but not entirely. |
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Windings: Copper strands that are wrapped through/around the stator of a motor. An electronic speed controller (ESC) energizes these windings to create an electro-magnetic field and interacts with the magnets to turn the motor shaft. |