Projects Scratch built hovercraft

concept30

concept30

Member
my parents bought be a hovercraft when i was little, I took it to the swamps we have down here and a Gator got it, i dont remember anything cause i was really young but my partent said I cried so much, Make ALOT of pictures and Videoooooooooooooooooos lol, I would love to make a 1/8th scale hover craft and I will be basing it off this Post :)
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Hey Kyle! My Dad came to me the other day and asked if I knew how build an rc hovercraft. Well, if I can get an image in my head, I can build almost anything. After talking with my Dad a bit more, I thought of you and this project of yours. I'd like to ask, what is your electronics setup? What are you using for propulsion and what are you using to inflate the skirt? And...how are you hooking that all up to the rx? I imagine that the main propulsion will go to the Throttle Port on the rx. I imagine the steering servo will go to the steering channel (on a ground tx) or the Rudder (on an air tx). What about the "inflation"? How are you setting that up?
 
Lee

Lee

Well-Known Member
Most ones i have seen, have a separate motor and esc for hovering.
Maybe you could link the aux channel to the throttle channel for skirt inflation.
Or have it on a switch to inflate the skirt.
I would like to build one at some point too.
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Ok, my Dad has a 3 channel ground tx, from Hobby Partz. He's using it run his mod'd quad. I think it has a push button AUX channel. If he were to plug the ESC, for the "inflation" motor, to that AUX switch, it would turn on that motor for the inflation? Is that what you are saying?
 
Lee

Lee

Well-Known Member
Derek said:
Ok, my Dad has a 3 channel ground tx, from Hobby Partz. He's using it run his mod'd quad. I think it has a push button AUX channel. If he were to plug the ESC, for the "inflation" motor, to that AUX switch, it would turn on that motor for the inflation? Is that what you are saying?
Click to expand...

I don't know for sure if it will work, but it sounds good in my head LOL :D
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
That's the way it sounds in my mind, too. To me, it sounds like the same thing as a regular servo. The GEAR channel, for example...flip the GEAR switch on the tx, the signal from the tx goes to the rx, the rx sends the signal down the signal wire to the servo and the servo moves.

I could be wrong, but I'm thinking the same would happen with an ESC and motor.

Flip the GEAR or AUX switch on the tx, the signal goes from the tx goes to the rx, the rx sends the signal down the signal wire to the ESC and the ESC makes the motor turn.

I'll see if I can find an OrangeRX and try it with one of my "cheapy" ESC's and "cheapy" motors.
 
Stambo

Stambo

Well-Known Member
Surely unless you have some way of turning the lift motor down a bit you will have it running full throttle all the time and that can't be good.
I have been thinking about this too but I would use my Taranis.
Lift motor would be on a dial and a switch, switch on and off and dial for tuning the amount of lift.
Thrust motor would be on throttle channel and rudder on aileron channel.
I would experiment with a bicycle tube for the skirt with holes around the inside for inflation and maybe some skids along the length to stop it from collapsing totally when not inflated.
 
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Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Well, I was thinking about that, too, and I just wonder if the AUX3 knob on my DX8 could make the speed of the motor variable.

I dunno.
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
I found my "cheapy" motor and esc...can't seem to find my orangerx. Bummer. It's got to be here, somewhere. My house isn't that big, lol.
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Here's a thought, too. Even if the rotary dial on my DX8 isn't used, the speed of the motor may be controlled by that assigned channel's dual rates. I'll try it.
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Well, no good. I just plugged the esc into the Gear channel. Turned on the tx and plugged in the battery. I also had another servo plugged into the Rudder channel, just so that I was sure it was working properly. So, the setup powered up and I did have control of the servo in the Rudder channel but the motor went into Programming Mode and started beeping at me. So, this test didn't work. Perhaps if I were to go through the programming, maybe it would work. Dunno.
 
wolfman76

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
Wow this thread just lit up... lol hey Derek fellas... I had planned on running 2 30amp escs 2 1000kv motors with 2 8x6 APC e props 1 for skirt inflation n one for forward propulsion lift I planned on connecting to throttle propulsion on the elevator channel when push the stick forward n aileron for rudder controls I have gotten a little more done to it but not a whole lot been working plus few other projects going trying to get my spider x quad flying to trade off for a hpi savage x 4.6 big block nitro monster truck I will snap a couple photos of what I just did on the hovercraft I dont think I would try it with a surface radio. Hey lee you know anything about hooking a naza m gps/autopilot I posted in a separate thread and sent craig a pm but haven't heard back yet? I am trying to set-up all the feature with a 6ch tx or do I need 7ch minimum?
 
wolfman76

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
I will try n do a video showing what I got so far n how I did what I got so far I am taking detailed notes n measurements and talked to tony bout this possibly becoming the plans for a rc-help hovercraft. .. on the main lift skirt inflation chamber it will be almost completely sealed off with only a little bit of venting for easier inflation resulting in less effort on the motor to do so..
 
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Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
I'm very curious how you got the two motors set up, Kyle. I'll be watching for more updates.
 
wolfman76

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
Trying Tony doing what I can as time allows.. have to get a traxxas waterproof steering servo for the rudder for when it runs on the water
 
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