Connecting to a DroneCAN Network
You can connect to multiple DroneCAN networks simultaneously and connect to multiple ESCs per network.
Connect your compatible Flight Computer or SLCAN adapter via USB to your computer. The configurator supports connecting through the MAVLINK or SLCAN protocols. The configurator has been tested with and is known to work with the following devices:
Flight Computers
- Cubepilot Cube Orange
- Cubepilot Cube Black
- Holybro Pix32 v6
SLCAN Adapters
- Zubax Babel
If you have a flight computer or CAN adapter that you think we should add to this list please contact us.
DroneCAN network options are accessible by clicking the cog button next to the Connect DroneCAN Network button. These options may not apply to every flight computer or CAN adapter and the default values will apply to most use cases. Options are saved between configurator sessions.
If the Dynamic Node ID Allocation (DNA) server option is enabled but a DNA server already exists on the network, the configurator's DNA server will automatically turn off.
Click on the Connect DroneCAN Network button to open the COM port selection dialog. This dialog will look different depending on if you are using the configurator in a browser or the offline version. Depending on which page of the Configurator you are on there may be multiple 'Connect' buttons for convenience.
Select the correct COM port. The COM port selection dialog will look different depending on whether you are using the downloaded (left) or the online (right) version of the configurator.
Some Flight Computers will show up as two COM ports depending on their configuration. You may need to try both to see which port is the MAVLINK protocol.
After connecting to the DroneCAN network, unless on the Drive page, the DroneCAN node selection dialog will open. By default this dialog filters out nodes that are not Hargrave Technologies ESCs and nodes that are already connected to. Simply select the nodes you would like to connect to and click the connect button. These nodes will then be connected to and behave the same way in which ESCs connected over USB do.
If you have closed the node selection dialog or would like to connect to another ESC, go to the connection management area in the top right, and click the + ESC button next to the relevant DroneCAN network.
In the connection management area in the top right, expand the DroneCAN network you would like to disconnect and click on disconnect. This will disconnect any ESCs that are connected through this network.
In the connection management area in the top right, expand the DroneCAN network you would like to toggle the DNA server for and click to toggle.
