High power RC motor and drive unit production

[dimitrib90]

I am trying to get them done ASAP at this point. My family and I may have to go out of town in a few days. My wife's 42 year old brother is dying. We are already planning to go up on the 22nd. But, if he goes down hill very quickly, we may go sooner. If that happens, I will need to close my regular business far longer than anticipated for Christmas. That could either delay the drives, or speed them up depending on what happens. If we have to go and my wife takes the kids while leaving me here, I may have a lot of time to do machining. Plus, I think I will need some additional money to be out of town for Christmas and a funeral at the same time. But, if I go with her (early), I will not have time to finish the drives before that time, yet will really need some extra cash due to taking so much time off work between Christmas, a funeral, and New Years day next week.

We shall see. Keep us in your prayers..........

Matt

Hi Matt,

Please don't worry about the drive delivery schedule.

Supporting your Wife and Brother-in-law at this difficult time are much more important.

If it would help you out financially I'm sure many of us would not mind paying in advance for the drives.

Best Wishes to You, your Wife and Brother-in-law,

Mitch

Exactly

 

[GGoodrum]

If it would help you out financially I'm sure many of us would not mind paying in advance for the drives.

Ditto.

 

[recumpence]

Thanks Guys.

I am determined not to take any money before I am ready to ship. But, I do appreciate it and I will let you know if I need to.

Matt

 

[etard]

Condolences Matt. Maybe those that are serious about this drive can send a $100 deposit to get you through the holidays without you having to stress. I feel that what you have contributed so far cannot be purchased in any store (unless you want to shell out some serious cash for an optibike). In essence, your presence in our small microcosm is priceless, your drive is without equal (in theory), and the money you have invested so far is probably more than anyone would venture to guess. So, yeah, ditto.

 

[recumpence]

Thanks for all the kinds words, Guys. I know everyone here has gone through this type of thing at one time or another. This is part of life. It really helps us keep in mind what is really important.

At any rate, life does go on. I just wanted you all to know if I seem to suddenly vanish for a few days, that is why.

Thanks again.

Matt

 

[recumpence]

The mounts are done. I am not available to hit the shop today and pick one up to show you. But, I stopped there earlier and Dave was finishing them up. They look nice!

Anyway, I am waiting on FW adaptors and pulleys to be machined (stock pulleys lightened up with a 4 spoke pattern).

I am planning on having a few drives polished up and some anodized. Polishing will add about $50 per drive (maybe a touch more). Anodizing adds an additional $40 or so (they musy be polished to look good when anodized). I will post pics of the mounts and drive parts plain machined, polished, and anodized.

Matt

 

[Miles]

Anodised black? 8)

 

[recumpence]

Black seems best. I do not mind doing custom colors, though. But, that would cost more because there is a minimum charge for anodizing. That charge can cover a few complete drives, or only one.

Anyway, this type of thing does not add alot of difficulty for me. Just a bit of time to drive parts here or there. Plus I can just include other parts into that anodizing lot and get mine done alot cheaper if included in the bin with production drives.

Matt

 

[Miles]

D will want blue

 

[GGoodrum]

D will want blue

"G" wants red...

 

[CNCAddict]

Hmmm, I think a powder coat type finish would be best. They hold up pretty nice...something like this :wink:

 

[flyinut]

Picky, picky, picky... The PLAIN ones look GREAT to me! A nice drive unit and a Corona in my trailer - Matt's got a corner on my market. :wink:

Mark - KHYS

 

[deecanio]

D will want blue

D will want blue

"G" wants red...

lmao, nearly Miles, D will want black body with blue pulleys, short body version, natch :lol: 8)

 

[recumpence]

You guys are hillarious!

I do not mind making colors. That does not slow down the production any, just the delivery time for those units that want color or polishing.

CNC,

VERY sweeeeet!!!

Have you run that motor yet? Is that mine, or yours?

Hey, I think I will cut CNC cut a carbon fiber fan backing plate for mine. :wink:

Matt

 

[deecanio]

ooooooooohhhhhh, i wondered if that was the new one (60 series?)
sure is perty.
when? when? when? CNC

D

 

[CNCAddict]

Haha, yeah that's the 6050/2y motor I've been running it on my scooter, but without current control this thing is too much. It's almost impossible to accelerate at anything reasonable. Even just bumping the throttle with cause the scooter to lurch forward almost doing a wheelie. I've been calling around to different folks to try and find an ESC that does current control on the throttle as opposed to voltage control...and things aren't looking good. Castle told me they were gonna put off the SHV for now, and it sounded to me like they had dropped the project all together I'm also talking with Kelly and Sevcon but I don't yet trust the Kelly...and the Sevcon controllers are enormous. So right now we have the motor, the batteries, the drive system....but no good ESC. Any ideas are welcome!!?

 

[Miles]

Castle told me they were gonna put off the SHV for now, and it sounded to me like they had dropped the project all together

That was the impression I got, too.... :?

How about this: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sinusleistungssteller.de%2F&sl=de&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 ?

 

[CNCAddict]

Yeah, that looks like a possibility. The translation is not the best so I'll shoot him an email to see if it will do what we need. The $1000USD price kinda hurts a bit though

 

[recumpence]

Hmm, I may have to put slipper clutches into production, huh?

So, do you have two of those motors built or just one?

Matt

 

[johnrobholmes]

What ESC are you using to drive it? It may just be a limited number of throttle steps hurting you.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi David,

CNC's motors are 8 pole. As such, they are not restricted to voltage nearly as much as the Plettenberg (at the cost of some very low RPM tractability and smoothness).

David, I think quite a few of us will not use over 50v. How much low RPM tractability and smoothness is lost? Would you consider producing a model designed for a maximum of about 50v with more poles for better low RPM tractability and smoothness?

Haha, yeah that's the 6050/2y motor I've been running it on my scooter, but without current control this thing is too much. It's almost impossible to accelerate at anything reasonable. Even just bumping the throttle with cause the scooter to lurch forward almost doing a wheelie. I've been calling around to different folks to try and find an ESC that does current control on the throttle as opposed to voltage control...and things aren't looking good.

Would it work well with an HV110 and lower voltage (12s to 15s)? Would a motor with more poles, combined with lower voltage resolve this issue?

Yeah, that looks like a possibility. The translation is not the best so I'll shoot him an email to see if it will do what we need. The $1000USD price kinda hurts a bit though

Not good news! It might not be overpriced in terms of quality but it is definitely overpriced in terms of my budget. Maybe we could get a discount for a group purchase?

 

[recumpence]

Hey, get this;

If you remember from my build blog, I have an electronic engineer friend who was planning to build me an adjustable current limiter to interface with the 1 to 2 milisecond pulse input for RC ESCs. He had become self employed and promptly got too busy and forgot about my project. Well, I just saw him (15 minutes ago). He appologized for forgetting about me and told me he just finished a huge project and has alot of time off. So, the current limiter project is back on the front burner!

We are getting together this week for lunch to go over the limiter. Basically it will read the current through a shunt or hall sensor (probably a hall sensor). It will be a self contained throttle setup (maybe I will machine a complete CNC aluminum throttle assembly ). Anyway, the limiter will generate the 1 to 2 milisecond pulse for the ESC and will roll off the throttle according to the current limit programmed in. The current limit will be adjustable on the fly with a simple pot on the handlebar. This is not something that will be done tomorrow. But, it is something he is interested in especially since it looks like there is a market for it, not just a one-off item for me.

Is that perfect timing?!

Man, this is all really coming together!

Matt

 

[CNCAddict]

I'm still using my Spin 200 ESC with a custom throttle control board. With my other motors it wasn't as big a problem, but this motor is only 0.007ohm resistance...so it reacts rather harshly to changes in throttle.

Matt, the other motor is done except for the winding. I need to make some changes to the motor before I settle on the number of turns. It may be a week or so to finish your motor. Yeah...the slipper clutch may be necessary. Also, with this motor there certainly needs to be a one way bearing so the bike will roll very easily at low speeds. Acceleration is very smooth even with the huge cogging...but without a one way you really have to push to get it moving.

Mitch, the 8 pole really isn't a big problem at even 6mph. I will get some video of my scooter to show you guys what I have so far.

Edit: The current limiting circuit sounds great. After sales pick up on my 40 series I may offer a prize for who can design a good controller. It may even be best to get a donation together..and the lump sum goes to the prize winner. There are 3-4 guys on rcgroups who can design brushless controllers, so I know this is possible...just need something specific to a traction drive.

 

[recumpence]

Yup, I am assuming each drive will have a freewheel. :wink:

I am in no huge hurry for the motor. Whenever is fine. I am looking at $600 to $700 in custom pulleys right now too.

Oh, that ESC is part of your problem. The HV110 will not be as harsh.

Matt

 

[GGoodrum]

Yeah, that looks like a possibility. The translation is not the best so I'll shoot him an email to see if it will do what we need. The $1000USD price kinda hurts a bit though

David, I've been meaning to ask, do you have the specs for the 60-series motor listed anywhere here on E-S? Specifically, I'm looking for the dimensions, weight, shaft size and kVs that might be available. Will you have one with a kV in the 130-150 range?

Thanks -- Gary