Is it ok to take the 2 wire (red and black) out of the ESC harness and connect them directly to a DC-DC step down converter (outputting 5v)?
Also how much power (amps) does the Quadrino Nano draw during full operation… my USB3.0 port on my laptop is reporting large power surges when its connected.
Yes you can power it this way and it should not exceed 300mAh which is far from the usual 500mAh a USB port can usually output. Have you been able to test your Quadrino Nano ?