4 replies to this topic

[hanzibal]

Hi all! During my vacation, I have visited two different archipelagos and by pure impulse, I found my self forced to purchase a radio controlled boat with a brushless electrical motor. The boat really runs and I can only say, I've been away from the R/C hobby field for too long. New battery types and motors make the electric boats run almost as petrol driven without all the fuzz. Anyway, I can think of a dozen cool things and improvements to be done using embedded electronics within the field of R/C boats alone. With respect to you knowledge in emebedded electronics, what have you guys done in terms of improvements and mods within this relatively unexploited area of hobbyism?

[NooM]

i dont think its unexploited. maybe boats not so much, but drones (quadrocopters) are many around, modded with cameras, gps, autopilot and all kinds of stuff.

 

for  a boat, hmm. you can add a little horn (sound) and some leds

some sensors to check out how rought the water is and stuff like that.

 

well, for rc stuff i wouldnt mess around with the electronics, id mod/change the stuff allready there -

like a better motor, stronger lipo - cooler tires for a car and so on (sorry dont know boats)

[hanzibal]

I guess your're right, didn't really think of quadcopters but yes, to call it "unexploited" would be an exaggeration. As you know there are tiers to everything and there seems to be no limit as to just how bitten you can get by these things. I was thinking of logging stuff like motor temp, current, voltage, G forces, GPS positioning (for speed measure) and that type of thing. Could be of great interest since tuning and improving is a big thing with these guys. You know, to see actual benefit of that wizbang speed controller, rudder, tires or whatever in a before and after kind of way. This, especially since there seems to be quite some mombojumbo out there and the folks generally lack deeper knowledge of electronics and/or mechanics, let alone embedded programming. Make no mistake, I'm talking about the avarage Joe here and not the top 10% who actually know what they're talking about and who won't fall for the "2000 super special GXZ with dual MOSFET" kind of merchantising ;-) I see some potential here, especially now thanks to ultra low power and level of integration but also new smart ways of distributing electrical power without as much loss im power dissipation. Heck, my brushless motor uses water for cooling and the speed control has a fan over the heat sink even though its inside a closed compartment.

[NooM]

yeah nice things for logging.

 

about motor and esc: wow watercooled and active cooled, guess it allreads has tons of power

[hanzibal]

It actually runs quite well, at least before the batteries are exhausted which typically happens after only 5 minutes even with 2200mAh NiMh. I suppose the current is quite beefy at times, even the cables get warm and they're made to handle really large currents. Theoretically: 2.2 / 5 / 60 = 2.2 x 60 / 5 = 132 / 5 = 26.5 A That's in average, the speed controller is rated 90A. I've allready trashed two nylon propellers so I ordered an alu prop and rudder with the new 5200mAh LiPo pack currently on it's way from HK :-) Water cooling only activates when the motor gets hot, creating a slight pressure in the tubing and the water starts to flow. I'm probably getting a water cooling for the speed controller too and perhaps a micro pump so that cooling does not stop just because the boat does so.