Parameters & Commands

We will use the <odrv> as a placeholder for any ODrive object. Every ODrive controller is an ODrive object. In odrivetool and the Web GUI this is usually odrv0. Furthermore we use <axis> as a placeholder for any axis, which is an attribute of an ODrive object (for example odrv0.axis0). An axis represents where the motors are connected.

Per-Axis Commands

For the most part, both axes on the ODrive can be controlled independently.

State Machine

The current state of an axis is indicated by <axis>.current_state. The user can request a new state by assigning a new value to <axis>.requested_state. The default state after startup is AxisState.IDLE. A description of all states can be found here.

Startup Procedure

By default the ODrive takes no action at startup and goes to idle immediately. In order to change what startup procedures are used, set the startup procedures you want to True. The ODrive will sequence all enabled startup actions selected in the order shown below.

See here for a description of each state.

Control Mode

The default control mode is position control. ControlMode.POSITION_CONTROL If you want a different mode, you can change <axis>.controller.config.control_mode. Possible values are listed here.

Control Commands

Modes can be selected by changing <axis>.controller.config.input_mode. The default input mode is InputMode.PASSTHROUGH. Possible values are listed here.

System Monitoring Commands

Encoder Position and Velocity

Motor Current and Torque Estimation

Using the motor current and the known KV of your motor you can estimate the motors torque using the following relationship:

Torque [N.m] = 8.27 * Current [A] / KV

General System Commands

Saving the Configuration

All variables that are part of a [...].config object can be saved to non-volatile memory on the ODrive so they persist after you remove power. The relevant commands are:

Diagnostics

Setting up Sensorless

The ODrive can run without encoder/hall feedback, but there is a minimum speed, usually around a few hundred RPM. In other words, sensorless mode does not support stopping or changing direction!

Sensorless mode starts by ramping up the motor speed in open loop control and then switches to closed loop control automatically. The sensorless speed ramping parameters are in <axis>.config.sensorless_ramp. The sensorless_ramp.vel and sensorless_ramp.accel (in [radians/s] and [radians/s^2]) parameters control the speed that the ramp tries to reach and how quickly it gets there. When the ramp reaches sensorless_ramp.vel, <axis>.controller.input_vel is automatically set to the same velocity, in [turns/s], and the state switches to closed loop control.

If your motor comes to a stop after the ramp, try incrementally raising the sensorless_ramp.vel parameter. The goal is to be above the minimum speed necessary for sensorless position and speed feedback to converge - this is not well-parameterized per motor. The parameters suggested below work for the D5065 motor, with 270KV and 7 pole pairs. If your motor grinds and skips during the ramp, lower the sensorless_ramp.accel parameter until it is tolerable.

Below are some suggested starting parameters that you can use for the ODrive D5065 motor. Motor calibration and setup must also be completed before sensorless mode will work.

<axis>.controller.config.vel_gain = 0.01
<axis>.controller.config.vel_integrator_gain = 0.05
<axis>.controller.config.control_mode = ControlMode.VELOCITY_CONTROL
<axis>.controller.config.vel_limit = <a value greater than <axis>.config.sensorless_ramp.vel / (2pi * <pole_pairs>)>
<axis>.config.motor.current_soft_max = 2 * <axis>.config.sensorless_ramp.current
<axis>.config.load_encoder = EncoderId.SENSORLESS_ESTIMATOR
<axis>.config.commutation_encoder = EncoderId.SENSORLESS_ESTIMATOR

To start the motor, set <axis>.requested_state to AxisState.CLOSED_LOOP_CONTROL