2018. 02. 02.

Current Sensor and Calibration - Oscar Liang

CURRENT SENSOR AND CALIBRATION

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2018. 02. 02. Current Sensor and Calibration - Oscar Liang

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Current sensor is often used in multirotors to monitor real-time current

draw and capacity consumption during flight in OSD or Telemetry. In this
article we will discuss the benefits of current sensor and how to calibrate
it to get more accurate readings.

Benefits of current sensor

Knowing your “amp draw” and how much “mah” has been used are very
useful.

LiPo battery consumption (aka “mah consumed”) tells you directly

when your battery is depleted. In my opinion, it’s a much better
battery indicator than voltage (VBAT) which sags with throttle
A good indicator if your battery is getting old and should be retired –
if voltage is reaching 3.5V from 4.2V, but your mah used is only
80% of the original capacity, then you know the pack is getting old
You can easily compare the current draw of different motor and
propeller combinations in real flights

Types of current sensor

Built-in Current Sensor in PDB and flight controller
External current sensor that connects between your battery and
PDB

For mini quad builds, I don’t recommend external current sensor, which
are heavy and large in size. They are probably more suitable for larger
builds like a 450. FC ro PDB with integrated current sensor and OSD are
becoming popular for tight builds like mini quads.

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Virtual Current Sensor

Virtual current sensor is a feature in Cleanflight and Betaflight. It doesn’t
require any of the current sensor hardware, but the current consumption
is purely estimated by throttle level. It can be a handy tool to have in your
quad if you wish to have current sensor capability but not have the
hardware.

Tutorial: http://intofpv.com/t-virtual-current-sensor-with-cleanflight-
betaflight

Wrong current readings?

Current sensors are useful, however sometimes these current sensors
came uncalibrated from factory. Even 2 identical current sensors could
give you slightly different results due to the resistance difference in the
circuit, therefore it’s important to verify and calibrate them.

If the data of current sensor is not correct, then there is no point of

having a current sensor at all. So you should calibrate it.

How to calibrate
Current sensors use a simple equation to allow users to adjust/calibrate
the output:

y = ax + b

a is the scale, and b is the offset.

(line diagrame of wrong current sensor, and power meter)

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2018. 02. 02. Current Sensor and Calibration - Oscar Liang

For example in Betaflight… here are some screenshots from Betaflight

configurator, and MWOSD configurator.

However I cannot suggest any offset or scale values since this is going to
be different in every situation. You will have to following the rest of this
guide to determine the correct value for scale and offset.

Ways of calibration
Since there are normally 2 variables we need to work out: scale and
offset, I found it easier to work out scale first, then the offset. And I
found offset can often be left at zero for most current sensors I’ve
worked with, so it’s really just a matter of changing scale.

There are 2 ways I normally use to calibrate current sensors.

Trial and Error

This is a safer way to calibrate your current sensor, and doesn’t require
any additional equipment. However it might take a little longer to get it
done.

Make sure you can display “mAh consumed” in your OSD

Fly a fully charged LiPo pack and land when “mAh consumed”
reaches a whole number, for example 1000mah or 1200mah or
1400mah…
Fully charge the Lipo (to 4.2V), and see how much mAh is put back
by the charger
You can calculate a new current sensor scale using this forumla:
new_scale = old_scale * (OSD_mAh_consumed /
mAh_charged)
Repeat the same procedure until the numbers from your OSD
matches that from your charger
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2018. 02. 02. Current Sensor and Calibration - Oscar Liang

Bench Test and Power Meter

This way can be quicker to work out the scale and offset values for your
current sensor. It requires you to strap your quad on the bench, attach a
power meter to the quad so you can measure the actual voltage and
current draw while running the motors.

However this way can be dangerous, therefore do this at your own

risk. You can make it safer by putting the opposite props on so
they don’t spin up but down.

You will need a power meter (watt meter) to begin with:

https://oscarliang.com/turnigy-7in1-mega-watt-meter/ or this
http://bit.ly/2pcP4Eg

I found it more reliable to use the motor tab in Betaflight to spin up the
motors. You can use your radio transmitter to arm your quad and throttle
up, but when PID controller is active, motors speed tend to change
constantly which can affect the accuracy of your current readings. Motor
tab gives you a more stable reading.

Compare the data from the power meter to the data from the OSD.

First you are going to notice there is small current draw when the motors
are idle, that’s normal because your FC, RX, ESC etc are drawing
current. If the difference between power meter and OSD is within 0.1A,
you can safely ignore it. If it’s larger than 0.1A, you can adjust the offset
to make it as close to the power meter as possible. Normally, offset at 0
works for most current sensors I have come across with.

Now spin up the motors and you are going to notice a high current draw.
Aim for a whole amp value on your power meter, such as 30A.

If you get a higher or lower value on the OSD, you should adjust the
scale. Change it by a small amount at first to see how much it affect the
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2018. 02. 02. Current Sensor and Calibration - Oscar Liang

result.

For example if you get 35A on your OSD, increase the scale by +50, and
now you get 27A in the OSD, and you know if by raising scale, you could
decrease the reading. And we can work out the proportion between the
current and scale: (27-35)/50 = -0.16A, for every scale increment.

In this example, we are still 3A lower than the expected value, so we

know we need to lower the scale in this example a little bit more by
3/-0.16 = -18.75.

And that’s it!

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In "Reviews and News" In "Featured"

Posted in Tutorial and tagged advanced on 8th April 2017 [https://oscarliang.com/current-sensor-

calibration/] .   3 Replies

3 thoughts on “Current Sensor and Calibration”

Brenden
17th January 2018 at 6:21 pm

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2018. 02. 02. Current Sensor and Calibration - Oscar Liang

my current sensor readout is backwards, how do i x it?

ViES
16th September 2017 at 12:32 am

By the way, for Matek FCHUB-6S the scale value speci ed in documentation. mateksys.com/?
portfolio=fchub-6s

Steven
1st September 2017 at 1:39 am

Okay I have wraith esc they have current sensing and matek fchub 6 w current sensing and

f7 can I connect my swift w osd to ight controller because it has ltering for camera or do I

have to connect to pdb to use current sensing capabilities?

Thank you,

Steven

I only check blog comments once or twice a week, if you want a quick reply you can post
your question on this forum IntoFPV.com... You might get a faster response from me there
(multirotor related only).

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