Power control of the hovercraft?

[Alex_Zarenin]

Hi,

I made a similar post on the other forum, but I was not sure that I am in the right place, so I decided to try here as well...

After having a great disappointment with the RC hovercraft that I bought for my son, I decide to improve it using the real RC stuff. The hovercraft has 3 engines - one for lift and 2 for thrust. 2 thrust engines are reversible (back and force movement) and can be made to rotate in opposite directions (for turns).

My idea is to use a regular (from the airplane) ESC attached to throttle to control lift. For 2 thrust motors I plan to use 2 ESCs with reverse - I plan to connect them to elevator and rudder outputs from the receiver and enabling V-tail mixing on the transmitter to be able to control the movement of the hovercraft.


Now, my questions:
1. Is it possible to connect 3 ESC to one receiver, espicially if all 3 of them have BEC and on/off switch?
2. If it is overall possible, I would appreciate suggestions on the wiring - for example, how to connect 3 switch wires together?
3. Maybe I need to disable BEC on 2 out of 3 ESCs - possibly by cutting one of the wires between ESC and receiver?
4. Overall, any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,
--Alex

[CHELLIE]

Hi,

I made a similar post on the other forum, but I was not sure that I am in the right place, so I decided to try here as well...

After having a great disappointment with the RC hovercraft that I bought for my son, I decide to improve it using the real RC stuff. The hovercraft has 3 engines - one for lift and 2 for thrust. 2 thrust engines are reversible (back and force movement) and can be made to rotate in opposite directions (for turns).

My idea is to use a regular (from the airplane) ESC attached to throttle to control lift. For 2 thrust motors I plan to use 2 ESCs with reverse - I plan to connect them to elevator and rudder outputs from the receiver and enabling V-tail mixing on the transmitter to be able to control the movement of the hovercraft.


Now, my questions:
1. Is it possible to connect 3 ESC to one receiver, espicially if all 3 of them have BEC and on/off switch?
2. If it is overall possible, I would appreciate suggestions on the wiring - for example, how to connect 3 switch wires together?
3. Maybe I need to disable BEC on 2 out of 3 ESCs - possibly by cutting one of the wires between ESC and receiver?
4. Overall, any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,
--Alex

Hi :) here you go, hope that helps, Chellie

http://hovercraftmodels.com/

[slipstick]

1. Yes, but it's a lot easier without the switches
2. Just plug them in, disabling BEC on 2 of the 3.
3. Remove red wire from 2 ESC leads. You could cut it but it's much better to remove the socket from the connector and tape it out of the way.

Generally you cannot common up the switches on several ESCs so it will be a lot simpler just to remove them and leave the ESCs permanently live....then once the battery is connected it's ready to go.

Steve

[Alex_Zarenin]

Steve, thanks for the info!

The last question is regarding the power switch and the "ready" button on the ESCs: you suggested "just to remove them and leave the ESCs permanently live..." - correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that to put the switch to "On" on those 2 ESC on which I disable the BEC and to use the power switch on the only ESC that provides power to the receiver?


Some ESCs (like those that I have) also have a "ready" button - after the power is switched on I have to press this button to enable ESC to route the power to the motor - could this buttons be commoned up?

Thanks again,
--Alex

[slipstick]

I can't help with the "ready button" sorry. I've never had an ESC with one fitted so I have no idea how they're wired.

I wouldn't use ANY of the switches. Having just one switched is very dangerous. Even when that is switched Off the other 2 ESCs could start up at any time. I find it makes me more careful if I have NO switches then I know that as soon as the battery is connected it can start up. But perhaps that's just me.

Steve

[julian]

ill vouch for what he said i prefer no swiches as well but have not had any ready buttons on escs sounds like a cool project though let us know
cheers and good luck :tc:
julian

[Alex_Zarenin]

Just to check the main concept I used the original electronics (very cheap and simple) of the hovercraft just changing the design to use the GWS Ducted Fan 2245x6 EM300H Motor (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHHP8&P=7) (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHHP8&P=7) which provides about 160 g of thrust and is being turned on (directly connected to the battery) as soon as main power switch is turned on.

Unfortunately even with this change (which significantly improved airflow into the skirt!) the hovercraft is capable to move only on the smooth surfaces (hardwood floor, cement floor in the garage, water)... Apparently something is wrong with the overall design of the skirt, air passages etc.

As a conclusion - the results were negative, which now makes it futile to augment the electronics with the more modern one given that the main principle does not work! I will be looking for better models :)

[Sparky Paul]

What are you expecting in terms of performance?
Hovercraft can't go up inclines. That's a fact of life.
The air slips out from under, and down they go.
(from 45 years ago...)

[Alex_Zarenin]

I was hoping that it would be able to go over the asphalt on the driveway, maybe even on the grass... :) - apparently it is too much to ask from a toy hovercraft.