T-Motor DroneCAN Power Set

T-Motor ESCs that support DroneCAN talk over a CAN bus, driving the motors and reporting RPM, voltage, current and temperature at the same time. Details differ between models, so check the vendor manual; the steps below are the general wiring and configuration flow.

Hardware connection

Wiring for a single power set: the thick red and black wires go to the battery; the three thin wires CAN_H / CAN_L / CAN_GND go to CAN1 on the controller.

▲ Single-set wiring

Multiple power sets chain in order on the same CAN1, with a 120 Ω terminator in the far end.

▲ Daisy-chain wiring

NOTE

Confirm the model you bought is the CAN / DroneCAN version. On some models CAN and PWM are two separate versions.

Controller parameters

Parameter	Value	Notes
CAN_P1_DRIVER	1	Assigns driver 1 to the CAN1 port
CAN_D1_PROTOCOL	1	DroneCAN protocol
CAN_P1_BITRATE	1000000	Matches the 1 Mbps default of these ESCs
CAN_D1_UC_ESC_BM	15	Channels 1~4 for a quad; 63 for a hexa, 255 for an octo
CAN_D1_UC_ESC_OF	0	Offset when the ESCs sit on channels 5~8, saves bandwidth
CAN_D1_UC_ESC_RV	0	Bitmask of reversible ESCs; keep 0 on a normal multirotor
MOT_PWM_MIN / MOT_PWM_MAX	1000 / 2000	Matches the output range to the ESC input range
SERVOx_FUNCTION	33 ~ 36	Motors 1~4 map to 33~36; no assignment means no CAN command is sent
BRD_SAFETY_DEFLT	0	Disables the safety switch during debugging so throttle is not blocked while disarmed

WARNING

Restart the controller after changing CAN parameters. An unassigned SERVOx_FUNCTION is the most common cause of "the motor does not move at all".

Assigning CAN channels

CAN_D1_UC_ESC_BM is a bitmask where bit n corresponds to output n; tick it and that output goes out over CAN.

▲ Channel bitmask

Airframe	Channels on CAN	Value
Quad	1 ~ 4	15
Hexa	1 ~ 6	63
Octo	1 ~ 8	255
Only some of the channels	Add the bits	—

Channel numbers must match M1 ~ M8 on the controller; channel 1 is M1.

Setting the ESC ID

Every ESC needs a unique ID on the bus, mapped one-to-one to its motor channel (motor 1 → ID 1, motor 2 → ID 2, and so on).

The animation below shows the whole process: connect, select the ESC node, click Menu to open the parameter window, change ESC_NODE_ID to the target number, then click Write Params to save.

▲ Changing the ESC ID

WARNING

Remove the propellers before changing IDs or direction, or before updating firmware.

Verifying the motor setup

Wiring: all ESCs connected to CAN and powered, PWM signals not connected to the controller, ground station connected.

1. Check that the ESC information shows up correctly on the status page.
2. In the motor test page under optional hardware, check the direction and order of the motors.
3. For setups driven by both PWM and CAN: unplug CAN and test PWM alone; then unplug PWM while the motor is spinning and check whether it stops or stutters, to confirm the redundancy works.

Telemetry is read on the status page:

▲ Telemetry data

Reading	What to check
esc1_rpm	In hover, motor RPM should be within 10% ~ 15% of each other
esc1_volt	Should match the battery voltage; a big drop is usually thin wire or a poorly crimped connector
esc1_curr	At the same throttle, the motors should read close to each other
esc1_temp	Read it against ambient temperature; a steady climb means checking cooling and prop matching

Firmware update

• Firmware for these ESCs usually updates only through the vendor's tool; third-party tools cannot flash them.
• Several ESCs can be updated over the same CAN bus, but only one node updates per power cycle, so power-cycle repeatedly as prompted.
• After the update, power-cycle again and confirm the version number is correct.

Debugging notes

• Some models do not report status on power-up; they only start sending data periodically after receiving a CAN throttle command. Seeing no telemetry before the motor test is normal.
• No throttle is output until the safety switch is released. During debugging you can temporarily set BRD_SAFETY_DEFLT to 0, or press the safety switch until it stays lit.
• Use motor test to confirm the direction of each motor; when the direction needs changing, do it in the vendor's tool.

Telemetry and logs

• Live data: the ground station status page shows RPM, voltage, current and temperature for every ESC.
• Onboard log: recorded as CESC messages, covering RPM, voltage, current, temperature, power percentage and error count for post-flight analysis.