Unique project help?

[JFC24]

My 11 year old is trying to build something to fly at FF24 that will be very unique. I have decided to only consult and not help with the construction. So far he has designed, tested, and fit several custom 3D printed parts.

That said, I know very little about RC planes so I could use a little help, please.

The aircraft will have two motors utilizing differential thrust for lateral control. The motors are on a central shaft driven by a 20g servo for horizontal control. Basically, it’s a blimp.

Do we need two ESCs? If so, how do you hook two ESCs to one receiver?

Any advice on how to finish the electronics would be appreciated.

 

[Mr NCT]

My 11 year old is trying to build something to fly at FF24 that will be very unique. I have decided to only consult and not help with the construction. So far he has designed, tested, and fit several custom 3D printed parts.

That said, I know very little about RC planes so I could use a little help, please.

The aircraft will have two motors utilizing differential thrust for lateral control. The motors are on a central shaft driven by a 20g servo for horizontal control. Basically, it’s a blimp.

Do we need two ESCs? If so, how do you hook two ESCs to one receiver?

Any advice on how to finish the electronics would be appreciated.

Congrats on his enthusiasm! Yes, you need 2 ESCs. You need to connect them to a Y cable assuming that they will always run at the same speed. If they won't run at the same speed, that is he'll be using differential thrust for yaw control, there are a number of youtube videos that are transmitter specific on how to do that. Have fun!

 

[JFC24]

Congrats on his enthusiasm! Yes, you need 2 ESCs. You need to connect them to a Y cable assuming that they will always run at the same speed. If they won't run at the same speed, that is he'll be using differential thrust for yaw control, there are a number of youtube videos that are transmitter specific on how to do that. Have fun!

I have an Aura 5 I “think” is programmed for differential thrust. I followed the steps on the video that FT put out years ago.

This morning I ordered two 40Amp ESCs so we are on the road, I suppose.

 

[LitterBug]

Interesting and Very Cool! I was thinking of doing something like this with spare parts at FF24 too. Have some LARGE mylar "Sale!" baloons and a tank of helium that I'm not sure if it has any gas left. Are you camping on site, or driving in every day? I'll be there the whole event.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

One of my plans is to use my RCExplorer BiCopter in much the same way your Son's pod is.

 

[JFC24]

Interesting and Very Cool! I was thinking of doing something like this with spare parts at FF24 too. Have some LARGE mylar "Sale!" baloons and a tank of helium that I'm not sure if it has any gas left. Are you camping on site, or driving in every day? I'll be there the whole event.

Cheers!
LitterBug

We are camping for the whole event. Initially I was going to bring our RC build trailer and our jeep but it would require my wife to drive the jeep behind us and adds a lot to our fuel expense. So, the trailer is staying home.

 

[Scotto]

That is awesome. On the ESCs you just cut the red wire going to the reciever on one of them so that only one is powering the reciever and servos. You will need a Y cable to connect both escs to the battery.
I would suggest lights so you can fly at dawn and dusk when the wind is calmest. Have you found the calculations for volume of envelope and weight yet?

 

[JFC24]

That is awesome. On the ESCs you just cut the red wire going to the reciever on one of them so that only one is powering the reciever and servos. You will need a Y cable to connect both escs to the battery.
I would suggest lights so you can fly at dawn and dusk when the wind is calmest. Have you found the calculations for volume of envelope and weight yet?

Thank you for the tidbit on the red wire. I’ll probably try and de-pin the connector so that I can reuse the ESC when the inevitable occurs.

Our boys are home schooled so Momma too the opportunity to teach them how to do the volumetric calculations. The issue we have is that those small helium tanks are only 80% pure which reduces their lifting force. To counter that I bought those bigass motors so that I can will the aircraft into the sky as if it were an old F-4.

My son’s biggest desire is to fly it in combat so he can make the highlight reel. If he can pull it off, it will be one hell of an experience.

 

[LitterBug]

Maybe I'll chase him with a flying Spider and we will both get on the reel!

I have two of those canisters and have no idea how much is left in them. Mylar is going to be about the lightest air bag you can do. I was going to use fishing line and scotch tape to get a few of them together, and figure the bicopter could give extra lift and all the maneuverability. i'll have to dig the ballons out to see what volume they are.

 

[LitterBug]

Hmmm. been a few years. my memory said I had some large gold balloons, and all I am finding is smaller black and some other red tag ballons that are about half as large as I remember. Maybe they are with the "party" tanks on the shelf. Really need to purge a bunch of stuff out of the garage.

Still may be able to float a spider with them if nothing else.

 

[JFC24]

Still struggling.

Both motors now power up but the RT motor leads by a bit. Also, both motors are married. If I command aileron right they both speed up, left they slow down.

Any ideas?

 

[Merv]

... If I command aileron right they both speed up, left they slow down....

Forgive me if this has been covered & I missed it.

For differential thrust you need your ESC's pluged into 2 seprate channels. If they are, the aileron input for the right motor channel needs to be reversed. If you are using the Aurora, do the reverseing on the Aurora, not in the Tx.

 

[JFC24]

Forgive me if this has been covered & I missed it.

For differential thrust you need your ESC's pluged into 2 seprate channels. If they are, the aileron input for the right motor channel needs to be reversed. If you are using the Aurora, do the reverseing on the Aurora, not in the Tx.

Merv,

I have two separate ESCs.

When you say the ESCs need to be reversed, do you mean reversing the lead at the receiver or reversing the three leads on the motor to the ESC such that they mirror the opposite side motor?

 

[LitterBug]

Two receiver or flight controller channels. On the FT Aura with differential thrust enabled, one should be channel 1, the other would be channel 5.

 

[JFC24]

Two receiver or flight controller channels. On the FT Aura with differential thrust enabled, one should be channel 1, the other would be channel 5.

Merv,

I have two 40Amp ESCs and an aura 5. I’ll give channels 1& 5. Looking at the aura config map it lead me to 1,2, and 4.

Thank you.

 

[Merv]

...When you say the ESCs need to be reversed, do you mean reversing the lead at the receiver or reversing the three leads on the motor to the ESC...

Neither, reverse the aileron channel inside the Aurora. Make it do the opposite of what it is doing now.

First, I know nothing about the Aurora. Someone else will need to tell you how. But I can tell what you want, when you add throttle, you want both motors to go the same speed, faster or slower. When you input aileron, you want one motor to speed up & the other to slow. You said aileron makes both motors speed or slow, which tells me one of the channels, the right one, needs to be reversed for aileron input. This will make one motor speed up & the other slow.

Most airplane people would use the rudder for differential thrust, that is for steering. But it sounds like you have chosen the aileron. Which is fine, because you are not building a plane.

 

[JFC24]

Neither, reverse the aileron channel inside the Aurora. Make it do the opposite of what it is doing now.

First, I know nothing about the Aurora. Someone else will need to tell you how. But I can tell what you want, when you add throttle, you want both motors to go the same speed, faster or slower. When you input aileron, you want one motor to speed up & the other to slow. You said aileron makes both motors speed or slow, which tells me one of the channels, the right one, needs to be reversed for aileron input. This will make one motor speed up & the other slow.

Most airplane people would use the rudder for differential thrust, that is for steering. But it sounds like you have chosen the aileron. Which is fine, because you are not building a plane.

I went back through the videos and made sure my settings matched exactly, I even changed it to the rudder.

No joy. I’m about to introduce these aura 5s to my solo stove.

When I put the ESCs on 1 & 5 the LT motor just beeps, it doesn’t respond to any commands.

 

[Merv]

...I’m about to introduce these aura 5s to my solo stove....

I understand the feeling. But don’t despair, just bring it to FF, someone will be able to help. Solving problems are far easier in person than on the forums.

When you get setup at FF, go to this thread & let everyone know where you are.

FF24 - forum members meetup

Is there any interest in having a designated time & place for forum members to meet at FF24? Maybe a designated flying time? Share your thoughts & ideas. Edit: To all forum members. If you are going to FF24, post a note here so others can find you. When you get setup, update the note. something...

forum.flitetest.com

 

[LitterBug]

I'll look at it with you at Flite Fest. FYI, I sent a PM also.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[quorneng]

JFC24
If the ESC on 5 is just causing the motor to beep it is almost certain that the ESC is not getting any or the correct signal from that channel.
An ESC requires a rather different signal set up to a servo. The signal to a servo starts at the mid point of the pulse width modulation (PWM) range. As a safety feature an ESC will not "arm" unless it get a signal at the lowest point of the PWM range so the motor will not start unless the throttle is increase.
Channel 5 has to be configured correctly to drive a ESC.