ESCs based on the VESC

The Citadel - Essential References for Esk8
1

A list of all the active ESCs based on the VESC®

This is a WIKI so feel free to edit links/info.

All specifications are per side. No current rating standard exists so take all current ratings below with a grain of salt

The VESC measures current by using high side/phase shunts or low side/battery shunts. These design choices affect reliability and voltages.

Typically, 3 phase shunts > 3 low side shunts > 2 phase shunts > 2 low side shunts.

Based on VESC 4

Shunt Design: Two low side shunts

10s and 12s FOC / BLDC. First public release of the VESC. 60k eRPM limit. Known for a possibility of frying DRV8302 chips when using 12s FOC.

HW4.xx ESCs S/D V Cont Peak Forum Notes F/W
Cheap Focer 1 Single 12s 30A 50A - Open Source SW
Flipsky FSESC 4.12 Single 10/12s 50A 240A -
Flipsky FSESC 4.20 Dual 10/12s 50A 150A -
MakerX GO-FOC Retro Single 10/12s 50A - Forum
MakerX GO-FOC DV4 Dual 10/12s 60A 100A Forum
Maytech MTVESC50A 4.12 Single 10/12s 50A 240A -
Maytech MTSPF7.5K Single 10/12s 100A 280A -
Turnigy SK8 V2 60A Single 12s 60A 120A
Turnigy SK8 V2 60A x2 Dual 12s 60A 120A Forum

Single MCU twin power stage VESC Branch

Shunt design for the Unity/Xenith: Two low side shunts
Shunt design for the Stormcores: Three low side shunts

After the V4 controllers were released, a lot of various projects were spawned trying to design a controller that could use 12s on FOC and not blow up. Jeffrey Friesen @Deodand and Charles Allix @Blasto worked with Enertion to design the FocBox Unity. It is a single MCU dual controller with 2 low side shunts that could reliably run FOC on 12s using the V6 DRV8301 and DRV8303 gate drivers. This controller was a huge improvement in terms of reliability and thermal performance when compared to the original V4 hardware… but it wasn’t perfect. The built in anti-spark system was known for failing and they would still blow up from time to time.

After Enertion went out of business, they partnered with Lacroix and using the knowledge learned from the Unity’s successes and failures, went on to design a new controller called the Stormcore. It featured 3 low side shunts, a robust anti-spark system, and higher voltage options using the improved DRV8323RS and DRV8353RS gate drivers.

One unique feature of these designs is that they can run a parallel firmware often called “super single” mode and use both sides to drive one motor, doubling the amp output. Other dual ESCs that use dual MCUs are not capable of this.

The FocBox Tenka is a Unity with half the fets removed and fully potted.

The BKB Xenith is the same as the FocBox Unity, but made by BKB using the original Unity design files. Minor noted improvements were a more robust internal anti-spark switch and more heatsink mass.

Single MCU dual drive ESCs S/D V Cont Peak Forum Notes F/W
BKB Xenith Dual 12s 80A 150A Forum Same as FocBox Unity
FocBox Unity Dual 12s 80A 150A -
FocBox Tenka Dual 12s 70A - - Removed half the fets & encased in epoxy
Stormcore 60D Dual 12s 80A - - Built in Bluetooth, anti-spark and IMU
Stormcore 100D Dual 18s 80A - Forum Built in Bluetooth, anti-spark and IMU

VESC 6 based designs (using 60 series FW)

Shunt Design: Three phase shunts

12s FOC/BLDC. 150k eRPM limit. DRV8301 based design. Generally more reliable than VESC 4 designs, and not known for DRV chip failures.

HW 6 ESCs S/D V Cont Peak Forum Notes F/W
Boundmotor X-Core Pro Dual 12s 100A - - MakerX DV6 Rebrand
Cheap Focer 2 Single 12s 35A 70A Open Source HW
EOVAN Generation II ESC Dual 12s - -
Flipsky FESC 6.6 & 6.7 Single 12s 60A 150A
Flipsky FESC 6.6 & 6.7 Dual 12s 100A 400A
FRC ESC Single 12s 80A 150A Forum
Flux ESC Single 12s 80A 150A
MakerX GO-FOC DV6 Dual 12s 100A 120A Forum
MakerX GO-FOC DV6 PRO Dual 12s 120A 180A Forum Higher current fets Custom
MakerX GO-FOC SV6 Single 12s 120A -
MakerX Mini-FOC/Plus Single 12s 50/80A - Forum
Maytech MTSPF6.6K Single 12s 200A 240A
Maytech SUPERFOC6.8 Single 12s 50A 240A
MBoards DUAL ESC 6.6 Dual 12s 100A - - Ant Rebrand
Motion Spin Single 12s 80A 150A Forum Uses a unique DRV chip
TorqueBoards Torque6 Dual 12s 80A 150A Forum
Trampa VESC 6 MK5 Single 12s 80A 150A -
Turnigy SK8 V2 80A Single 12s 80A 150A

VESC 75/300 based or similar

Shunt Design: Three phase shunts

16S-18S The design removed the DRV8301 chip which was limiting the VESC 6 to 60v. It has three phase shunts with independent gate drivers. Phase shunt designs provide very accurate current measuring, and all other things being equal, should improve reliability. It also provides a smoother acceleration from 0% to 100% speed.

75/300 based ESCs S/D V Cont Peak Forum Notes F/W
A200S v2 Single 16s 200A - 18 fet, designed for robots
BioX ESC Dual 16s 125A - Ubox Rebrand EU
Cheap Focer 3 Single 16s - 120A Open Source HW
Flipsky FSESC 75200 Single 16s 200A 300A A200S v2 based
MakerX GO-FOC HI100 Single 16s 100A 200A Small, 6 fet
MakerX GO-FOC HI200 Single 16s 300A 400A Forum A200S v2 based
MakerX GO-FOC HV200 Single 21s* 200A 300A Forum A200S v2 based
Maytech MTSPF7.12K Single 16s 200A 250A
Spintend UBox 75v Single Single 16s 100A 135A Forum Has IMU, for balance
Spintend UBox v2 75v Dual Dual 16s 100A 135A Forum ubox v2 300a fw.zip (363.9 KB)
Trampa VESC 75/300 Single 16s 300A 450A 18 fet
Trampa VESC 6 75v Single 16s 65A 130A Unreleased

*Trying to validate 21s rating as the INA240A1 current sense amp can only handle 80v.

VESC 100/250 based or similar

Shunt Design: Three low side shunts

This design allows for very high voltages. Removed the DRV8301 chip which was limiting the VESC 6 to 60v. Generally these use independent gate drivers.

100/250 based ESCs S/D V Cont Peak Forum Notes F/W
A50S v2.2 6s Single 6s 35A 50A
A50S v2.2 12s Single 12s 25A 40A
A200S v3 Single 18s 100A (10 min) 320A+ Small, 18 fet, used for robots
A400S v2 Single 20s 200A 600A Water cooled
ENNOID-ESC Single 20s 125A - Forum Bolt on connections
Flipsky 75100 FOC Single 20s 100A 120A Forum eBike size Custom
Flipsky 75100 Alu PCB Single 20s 100A 120A esk8 size. Improved design
Flipsky 75100 Alu PCB Dual Dual 20s 100A 120A esk8 size
HESC Micro Single 20s 300A
HESC Mini Single 24s 700A
HESC 120/600 Single 30s 1000A
HESC 2.0 Single 30s 1000A
Little Focer Single 20S 75A 120A Forum Has IMU for balance
Luna Ludicrous v2 Single 20s 100A 150A for BBSHD eBikes Custom
MakerX D60 Dual 13s - 160A Forum
MakerX D75 Dual 16s - 120A Forum
MakerX D100 Dual 21s - 100A Forum
Maytech MTSESC7.5R Single 18s 100A 200A -
Maytech MTSESC7.5HK Single 20s 400A 1000A Water cooled
Maytech MTSESC7.5DU Dual ? ? ? Unreleased
Raiden 7 Single 18s 140A 250A Forum Balance board style
Spintend UBox v2 100v Dual 22s 100A 135A - - -
Trampa VESC 100/250 Single 22s 200A 400A - 18 fet
Trampa VESC HD60T Dual 12s 75A 100A Forum
Tronic (RION) 250 Single 21s 250A 300A - IMU, BT Custom
Tronic (RION) 400 Single 28s 400A IG 400PA, 250BA, IMU, BT Custom
Tronic (RION) 750 Single 30s 550A 650A - 650PA, 350BA, IMU, BT Custom
Other VESC-Tool compatible ESCs S/D V Cont Peak Forum Notes F/W
BMESC BM60 Dual 12s - - Forum Unreleased
SmartESC Single 12s - - Forum VESC Firmware for Xiaomi M365 / Ninebot G30
VESC 6 EDU Single 6s - 50A Forum Independent gate drivers

TL;DR:

Non-VESC based ESCs used in ESK8s

|RC ESCs|S/D|V|Cont|Peak|Forum|Notes|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|Castle Designs Mamba XLX|Single|8s|150A|320A|Forum|Has brakes/logging|

Discontinued VESCs

List
ESC S/D V Cont Peak Forum Notes Version
Ant 6.6 Dual Plus Dual 12s 100A 200A - - -
BalancePro V6.6+ Gold Single 12s 120A - Forum Upgraded FETs, IMU V6
ESK8 1.2 Single 10/12s 60A 240A - EU, Direct fet V4
enertion VESC-X 1.3 Single 12s 50A 80A Forum Direct Fet, 12s FOC V4
enertion FOCBOX 1.6 & 1.7 Single 12s 50A 80A Forum Direct Fet, 12s FOC V4
Turnigy SK8-ESC V4.12 Single 10s/12s - - - - V4
Turnigy SK8-ESC V6 Single 12s 80A 150A Forum
VESC 6.2 Single 12s 80A - - Original Release V6
VESC 6.3 MK3 Single 12s 80A - - IMU added V6
VESC 6.4 MK4 Single 12s 80A - - V6
59 Likes
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me after running focbox singles at 12s

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also I think you forgot to set it to wiki mode

Edit: Added
focbox singles
cheap focer
little focer
spintend single

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Solid resource and much appreciated dude

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Very nice setup, and yeah gotta change to wiki mode

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Changed to wiki

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I guess the FocBox single should go in the Unity section as it was the foundation of the Unity and solved the 12s FOC issue without being a V4 or V6…

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true. added

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No, the Focbox single was basically a HW4 design and was running the 4.xx Firmware. It had nothing in common with the later twin designs.
I made some changes and split 75/300 and 100/250, since there is a big difference. 75/300 designs should use phase shunts, 100/250 based designs use 3 battery sided shunts. Depending on the motor, this can make a big difference. A200S for example uses 2 battery sided shunts as far as I can see.
These difference can play a big role, depending on the application and motor.

Also HD is not a HW 6 design. Uses battery sided shunts and different DRV chip. Wired differently and needs different FW.

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Elaborate

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I believe he already did. Check immediately after your quote.

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did you miss the FSESC 6.6 and 6.6+? as well as their mini/big variants?

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This ^^ not foundation of unity

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Can you help explain what difference the shunts on the battery or phase side make? I was under the impression that battery side shunts on the v4 lead to off timing measurements esp when running FOC and lead to the DRV chip failures/eRPM limits… but that appears to not be the case for later designs?

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https://vesc-project.com/node/403

Best is 3 phase shunts, followed by 3 battery sided shunts, followed by 2 phase shunts, followed by 2 battery sided shunts. 2 shunt designs do not react very linear on inputs. They tend to jump from 80% power level to 100%.
Quote BV: It will be linear to around 60% of full speed, then it will decrease for a bit up to around 80 % and then it will increase from 80% to 100%.

How good a ESC design is depends on many factors and powerstage/shunt layout is one big factor.

2 Likes
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Huh… no stormies

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^ top of the list

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imo, i don’t think writing the S count in the V column is accurate. others have tried 8s or 13s (both liion) on a unity, and there are also user who uses lifepo4 cells which has a different S count compare to liion in similar voltage range.

Stating the absolute max voltage would be a more appropriate approach for this database.

just my 2c, great thread btw, already bookmarked it

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Voltage is always a better measure.

Real voltage too — actual kg·m2·s−3·A−1 — not ebike-jive fake-voltages.

4 Likes
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adding on to my point:

user should never attempt to build any battery pack, when fully charged, close to the absolute max voltage, unless the user fully understand the risk he/she is taking.

1 Like