2 layers150 × 40 mm
4 layers19.8 × 21.9 mm
A small brushed-motor ESC and flight-controller board for a drone built around a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C3. The XIAO is the flight controller. An MPU6050 on the board supplies the accelerometer and gyroscope.
- Size
- 19.8 × 21.9 mm
- Copper layers
- 4
- Thickness
- 1.6 mm
- Parts
- 51
- Nets
- 40
- Pads
- 128
- Tracks, vias
- 182, 39
- Pours
- 3
- Routed
- Yes
- KiCad
- KiCad 10.0 (file 20260206)
- Created
- 20 Oct 2026
- Updated
- 20 Oct 2026
Overview
ESC is an open-source printed circuit board by Adi1011-Data, from the Adi1011-Data/ESP-Drone repository on GitHub. It is a 4-layer board of 19.8 × 21.9 mm with 51 parts on 40 nets, routed with 182 tracks and 39 vias.
It is built around the MPU-6050, AO3400A and SS14. Its parts include 14 capacitors, 14 resistors, 6 diodes, 4 transistors and 2 connectors. It belongs with the robots and motor control boards of this library.
Main components
3
MPU-6050
QFN-24-EP(4x4)-40℃~+85℃ 16bit 1KB 2.375V~3.46V 5uA Accelerometer Gyroscope I2C X,Y,Z X,Y,Z ±16g ±2000dps QFN-24-EP(4x4) Accelerometers ROHSTDK InvenSenseAccelerometers
AO3400A
SOT-23-55℃~+150℃ 1 N-channel 1.45V 1.4W 30V 48mΩ@2.5V 5.7A 50pF 630pF 75pF 7nC@10V N-Channel SOT-23 MOSFETs ROHSAlpha & Omega SemiconductorMOSFETs
SS14
SMA(DO-214AC)-55℃~+150℃ 1A 25A 300uA@40V 40V 550mV@1A Independent SMA(DO-214AC) Schottky Diodes ROHSMDDSchottky Diodes
README
hardware/PCB/ESC/README.mdESC-ESP32C3
A small brushed-motor ESC and flight-controller board for a drone built around a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C3. The XIAO is the flight controller. An MPU6050 on the board supplies the accelerometer and gyroscope. Four 720 coreless motors are switched by AO3400A MOSFETs. The drone is flown from the ESP-Drone phone app over the XIAO's Wi-Fi.
Board
Motor side. The XIAO plugs into headers J1 and J3. M1–M4 are the motor pads.
Sensor side. U1 is the MPU6050. The battery connects at the BAT pads.
Parts
| Part | Role |
|---|---|
| Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C3 | Flight controller. Plugs into J1 and J3. |
| MPU6050 (U1) | 6-axis gyro and accelerometer, I2C address 0x68 (AD0 held low). |
| 720 coreless motor × 4 | Brushed motors on M1, M2, M3, and M4. |
| AO3400A × 4 | Low-side MOSFET for each motor. |
| Schottky diode × 4 | Flyback diode across each motor (SOD-323). |
| ESP-Drone app | Phone app used to control the drone. |
XIAO pins
Seat the XIAO with the USB end toward the 5V / D0 end of the headers (J3 pin 1 is 5V, J1 pin 1 is D0).
| XIAO pin | GPIO | Function |
|---|---|---|
| D0 | GPIO2 | Motor 1 gate (MOT1) |
| D3 | GPIO5 | Motor 2 gate (MOT2) |
| D9 | GPIO9 | Motor 3 gate (MOT3) |
| D10 | GPIO10 | Motor 4 gate (MOT4) |
| D4 | GPIO6 | MPU6050 SDA |
| D5 | GPIO7 | MPU6050 SCL |
| D7 | GPIO20 | MPU6050 interrupt |
| D2 | GPIO4 | Battery voltage sense |
| 3V3 | — | Sensor and gate pull-ups |
| GND | — | Common ground |
D9 is a boot strap pin. Its gate pull-down must leave the pin high enough at reset for the XIAO to start normally. Holding D9 low during reset puts the module into download mode.
D6 (GPIO21) is left free. It is the serial transmit pin and toggles while the chip boots.
Assembly
- Solder the MPU6050, MOSFETs, diodes, and passives.
- Plug the XIAO ESP32-C3 into J1 and J3. Do not reverse it: 5V and D0 share one end of the module.
- Solder one 720 coreless motor to each of M1–M4. The motor positive lead goes to the BAT+ pad of that pair.
- Connect the flight battery at the BAT pads.
- Power the XIAO, join its Wi-Fi from the ESP-Drone app, and arm the motors only after the propellers are clear.
Design files
Open ESC.kicad_pro in KiCad 10.
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
ESC.kicad_sch | Schematic |
ESC.kicad_pcb | PCB layout |
libraries/ | XIAO ESP32-C3 and MPU6050 symbols and footprints |
GERBER/ | Fabrication Gerbers and drill files |
ESC-BOM.csv | Bill of materials |
ESC-all-pos.csv | Pick-and-place positions |
ESC-ESP32.step | 3D model of the board |
Parts
51| Qty | Value | Footprint | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 100nF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.74x0.62mm_HandSolder | C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C10, C11, C12, C13 |
| 6 | 10k | Resistor_SMD:R_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.72x0.64mm_HandSolder | R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 |
| 5 | TestPoint_Small | TestPoint:TestPoint_Pad_1.0x1.0mm | TP1, TP3, TP5, TP7, TP9 |
| 5 | TestPoint_Small | TestPoint:TestPoint_Pad_D1.0mm | TP2, TP4, TP6, TP8, TP10 |
| 4 | 100R | Resistor_SMD:R_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.72x0.64mm_HandSolder | R7, R8, R9, R10 |
| 4 | AO3400A | Package_TO_SOT_SMD:SOT-23 | Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 |
| 4 | SS14 | Diode_SMD:D_SOD-323_HandSoldering | D1, D2, D3, D4 |
| 2 | 0.1uF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.74x0.62mm_HandSolder | C2, C4 |
| 2 | 1.5k | Resistor_SMD:R_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.72x0.64mm_HandSolder | R13, R14 |
| 2 | 100k | Resistor_SMD:R_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.72x0.64mm_HandSolder | R11, R12 |
| 2 | Conn_01x07_Pin | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x07_P2.54mm_Vertical | J1, J3 |
| 2 | LED | LED_SMD:LED_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.77x0.64mm_HandSolder | D5, D6 |
| 1 | 100uF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.74x0.62mm_HandSolder | C14 |
| 1 | 10nF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.74x0.62mm_HandSolder | C3 |
| 1 | 2.2nF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0402_1005Metric_Pad0.74x0.62mm_HandSolder | C1 |
| 1 | MPU-6050 | Sensor_Motion:InvenSense_QFN-24_4x4mm_P0.5mm | U1 |
Questions
How big is the ESC PCB?
It measures 19.8 × 21.9 mm and has 4 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.
What parts does the ESC use?
51 parts, built around the MPU-6050, AO3400A and SS14. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.
Where can I download the ESC KiCad files?
From the Adi1011-Data/ESP-Drone repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is hardware/PCB/ESC/ESC.kicad_pcb and its schematic hardware/PCB/ESC/ESC.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.
Can I use the ESC design in my own project?
Its repository states no licence, so its author keeps all rights: ask Adi1011-Data before reusing the design.
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