Brushed vs. Brushless micro quads

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
My latest copy of Model Aviation magazine showed up yesterday, and I saw a really nice article on Brushed vs. Brushless micro quadcopters. There's been a lot of talk about which is better, and the article, while admittedly not highly scientific by the author's own words, gives good pros and cons of each, while also providing a slight review of each one that he tested.

I found it interesting that he said that the brushed motors gave a smoother feel for flight, and were almost even with the brushless micro quads in terms of racing.

You can read it here:

http://www.modelaviation.com/brushed-brushless-quadcopters

In addition, if you have the print copy, they did a further write up on the NewBeeDrone Bee Brain Lite, which talks about the new advances with On Screen display and offering active braking in a brushed motor, something that hasn't been done before. Knowing that, I may have to make a purchase of a new Acrobee. :)
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
My phone aint loadin the link but my newest issue should be here anyday so I can read it.

Cant say Im a fan as he is one of them AMA guys that are stuck in 1970's thinking about rc stuff.

Im thinkin he got hold of a brushless quad that was not properly set up if he remotely got the sense brushed motors are smoother then brushless.

Active braking is done with opposing current or a high load on back fed emf when no driving current is present.

If you try anything like that on standard brushed motors the brushes would pay a heavy price since they are in direct contact with the stator.

Like I said Ill have to read and research but Im thinkin he is reading a mfg script rather then actual electrical facts.

His big foray into racing quads last year was a blackout build using 5 year old tech.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
My phone aint loadin the link but my newest issue should be here anyday so I can read it.

Cant say Im a fan as he is one of them AMA guys that are stuck in 1970's thinking about rc stuff.

Im thinkin he got hold of a brushless quad that was not properly set up if he remotely got the sense brushed motors are smoother then brushless.

Active braking is done with opposing current or a high load on back fed emf when no driving current is present.

If you try anything like that on standard brushed motors the brushes would pay a heavy price since they are in direct contact with the stator.

Like I said Ill have to read and research but Im thinkin he is reading a mfg script rather then actual electrical facts.

His big foray into racing quads last year was a blackout build using 5 year old tech.

Maybe I'll hit up the guys at NewBeeDrone about it. They're here in San Diego, and there's several of their members who fly locally...Might be able to try flying one and see what it's like for myself.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Could be your first official interview vlog for us if you film it 😁

Edit.. thinkin back I remember exploding carbon brushes in slot cars because I tried using a train transformer to race with so I had reverse when I would spin out in turns.

That WAS 1970's high tech hehe
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
You n me both brother.

I have to wear a steak around my neck n dye my beard bright colors just to get people to say hi.😂😃😄
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
You n me both brother.

I have to wear a steak around my neck n dye my beard bright colors just to get people to say hi.😂😃😄

At least you have hair to dye. I stand outside on a sunny day and the reflection blinds people. :ROFLMAO::LOL::ROFLMAO:
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
More hair on my chin then the rest of my entire body combined.

If ya want a laugh watch the Flite Test Community Cast for ffo17. Or as it was more commonly known as swampfest hehe. Thats my only claim to video fame other then my crappy you tube page.
 

Bricks

Master member
I cannot find the link I read a very good side by side comparison of the brushed versus brushless micros. He set up different tracks and ran each one 10 times with each quad for an average, the brushless did have the Acrobee with active breaking. His results surprised him too as the brushed had better times 6 out of ten times on average, The brushless had the advantage where the course had long straights but technical courses the brushless had better times. He was kinds blown away so he had a friend run a course with both quads and results were darn near the same.

I was thinking about going to brushless whoop but after reading this I think I will stay with brushless does not seem to be worth the extra, biggest advantage of motor life goes to the brushless of course, so it is a minor consideration.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
I got my issue today. Read both articles about brushed vs brushless.

Ill take it with a grain of salt as both were opinions with no actual facts presented. Those guys get paid for anything they put in print so its not really a high valued source for real info.

My guess from seeing their quad related videos that the gear they used was "factory" tuned and we all know any mass produced brushless quad is always way under tuned so people dont fry their gear.

If a brushed out performed a brushless setup its because it was no where near set up correctly on both pids and rates. A quad is a quad is a quad. They can all do full speed runs and stop on a dime or do a 180 and not slow down hardly at all.