Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Already working the idea.  The first version was to rotate the pillar but now modified to rotate the  'cab'  via a long drive shaft up through the pillar.

The winch motors are tiny enough to fit in the cab. but have to be supplied with  'power'  so we have be careful we don't twist them off with continuous rotating on way.   

ken

[Brian60]

Use tracks and wipers. Remember how the arm on a bumper car gets its power from the mesh above it? Same principle. Two motors - three tracks. A common for the earth and two live for the power to each cab motor. The track would be circular mounted on your disk, the wipers would press down on them from the cab. That would allow continous rotation without twisting/stretching the wires off.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

What a brill !  idea.       Very interesting project.  The centre rotating drive spindle could be neutral connection.

Yesterday I tried making the winding drums in plastic, for the ropes, but came up with some  'ropey' versions  (excuse the pun).  I need a sort of thin cotton reel type of thing and it's going to need  a gear wheel on the side.  Any ideas. ?

ken

[Brian60]

For gear wheels your local pound shop is the place. Cheap chinese kids car toys. Those that either wind up or you pull them back and release. Take them apart there are gearwheels inside. Get two cars and you have two of everything! Trouble is they are made of Delrin a type of plastic that doesn't glue! So utilise the shafts they are mounted on.

Like a cotton bobbin but smaller? Use a piece of large dowel, stick it in your lathe (hand power drill chuck) clamp it to the bench or hold in one hand,  then sand the groove you need in the middle. Gears can be mounted on the end as above, drill a pilot hole in the dowel, insert gear spindle and epoxy it all in place.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Eight days later and here we are.  The cable rollers have been fitted to the miniature motors and the rotating crane now rotates on gears from underneath from a sprung loaded motor in case of 'jamming'.

I took her out in the sunshine for a photo shoot session where 10,000 flying ants thought it looked a good place to set up home.   

Here's the latest pics ....................

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

The new lettering now in  White.


Moving around to the crane .......

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

I made a movie of the cranes lifting and swinging actions but can't show them here.       

The little hook was filed down from a 13 amp plug pin with a little bit of church roof lead wrapped around the wire to give it some weight.   

[Brian60]

Does the vicar know?

You could post a link to your videos Ken. Open a youtube account if you don't have one - its free. Upload the videos and then post the link it gives you.

[ballastanksian]

It will be a film worth watching Ken!

She looks a sweetie and the ants did not seem to want to lodge on her which is a good thing

Thanks for sharing your Blog with us, it is another interesting Narrative.

[Capt Podge]

That's a nice looking model Ken - well done
 
........as they say "the end justifies the means"
 
Regards,
 
Ray.
 

[Martin (Admin)]

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Thank you for all your kind comments.       

The work goes on ..........  only the wiring for the computers/ motors/ steering/  lights/ water pump/ and other things to do before the sea trials. 

I will be making a YouTube film eventually to join the 30 or so,  already up there on    ' Ken Churchill's channel '  if you've got 5 hours to spare on a rainy day.

Cheers

ken

[Big Ada]

You can always put a Video on Mayhems FB Site.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Hopefully it will part of the build film.  Don't want to start on the  'trailers'  path but prefer a complete movie.  Good idea though.

cheers

ken

[Unsinkable 2]

Fantastic stuff Kenny...... U2

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

           Postings switched over to here from the Motors section



I need 6 speed controllers for my Seabex one.  I have acquired three
AcTion ones,  notably the two single one and the famous double one.  My wish is to run these to control 6 movements.

I need to control the speed on 2 sets of Schottle drives ,  and also control  the cranes boom,  up/down,  left and right/ and hook's up/down.

My idea is to fit a relay to switch the output of the Esc's between the two sets of devices whilst using the same toggles on the transmitter.


              STILL WITH ME   

My plan is to fit a multi-contact relay, operated by the radio,  to switch the  electricity output from the speed controllers to either section.  I appreciate the boat will loose control on either section during this process.

I need to know your best choice of which wire to switch over so that one section becomes isolated and stops working whilst the second set takes it's speed control information.

The answer that I've come with at the moment is to break into the three red outputs and leave all the 6  earths joined together.  Would this be a viable solution please,  and can you think of a simpler way  ?

Cheers

ken

[inertia]

Ken
First thought is that the polarity of the ESC output terminals changes over as the stick moves past neutral. Haven't sat down to draw this circuit but alarm bells are faintly ringing.
Dave M

[dreadnought72]

Ken, what controls do you have available on the tx?

Andy

[wombat]

Ken,

My recommendation for what it is worth is that you switch both leads using a double pole relay so that the ESC is only ever connected to one motor and the other motor(s) are fully disconnected. This will reduce the risk of inadvertent short circuits and odd circuit loops that could cause odd behaviour and be a right pain in the bum to trace.

Wom

[Plastic - RIP]

If you are driving non-critical functions, why not buy a bunch of cheapo ESCs from Ebay and drive each function with its own supply - saves all the wiring and hassle of over-thinking it.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

I have spent the day drawing out theories on this problem.  I have realised the situations described above.  The problems are deeper than at first thought.

1.  I am going to need an ESC for every one of the 7 motors.
2.  Can one ESC be switched to different appliances.
3.  I have a Spektrum D7,  6 channel radio.   The toggle levers could then be switched to different ESC's .  (my original request but at the loss of control to other motors)
4. I have luxury ESC's but not 7 of em !!!!!   so a couple of cheap ones for the crane would be in order.
5  I had thought of using another transmitter for the auxiliary controls

The closest I've got (on paper) is to break into the centre wire on the ESC, from the receiver, controlling one motor and switch this signal to a second ESC.  Would this stop the output action from controlling the motor it was connected to and transfer control to the second ESC.  It would of course be at neutral before changeover occurs.

If this proved successful, then maybe a switching to a third servo or ESC would control something else.  ?

I shall do up a temporary rig on the bench and try these ideas.  keep them ideas coming.   

Cheers

ken

[inertia]

Ken
I tried switching just the signal wires when I was making my show demonstration boxes for ACTion ESCs, but Wombat's cursed earth loops and other oddities cropped up so often that I eventually resorted to switching both the signal and positive lines. It's no big deal if you use DPDT relays (one for each pair of ESCs). You can arrange for one channel to switch three such relays at once.
Pete Keirle - God bless him - actually came up with a PIC program and unit which did the job without relays, but I never got it to work with my test set. I called it Channel Hopper; PMK called it 'Kevin'....................
Come back, Pete - your country needs you 
Dave M

[barriew]

Ken


If you are looking for cheap ESCs, try these. They claim 10 amps, but no way, however for up to 1 amp they work fine. You can also buy them with a claimed 20 amp limit and also with brakes. They are NOT Action quality, but they are small and cheap


Barrie


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-10A-ESC-Brushed-Reverse-Speed-Controller-2KHz-5V-1A-PPM-Boat-Without-Brake-/231444824721?hash=item35e32fc291

[Plastic - RIP]

Ken


If you are looking for cheap ESCs, try these. They claim 10 amps, but no way, however for up to 1 amp they work fine. You can also buy them with a claimed 20 amp limit and also with brakes. They are NOT Action quality, but they are small and cheap


Barrie

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-10A-ESC-Brushed-Reverse-Speed-Controller-2KHz-5V-1A-PPM-Boat-Without-Brake-/231444824721?hash=item35e32fc291

I agree - I've used loads of these and they are simple, cheap and they do the job.

[malcolmfrary]

The 10A(!) ESCs are very effective once you remember that they have asymmetrical forward/reverse and they are limited to 8.4 volts.
Switching outputs - all reversing ESCs have two motor leads for a reason.  Both leads can, under control, be connected to either the pos or neg battery supply lead either through the appropriate pair of the H-bridge output transistors or the contacts of the reversing relay.  This is why, if an output needs to be switched, both motor leads need to go through relay contacts on their way to the motors and this means DPDT relays.  Fortunately these are common enough.
Finding the problem if an unintended short happens is easy enough - it will be at the bottom end of the cloud of smoke.  Finding out why and curing it is another story altogether, but applying an unintended voltage to an output is never a good idea.