home-made RC helicopter

[IhaveTacos]

hey, i want to make a RC helicopter from some old RC cars i used when i was young. some of them go pretty fast so im pretty sure it can get off the ground with one of the engines or whatever moves the wheels on the car.

 

i dont know much about building an RC helicopter though because iv only taken apart the cars and i dont even understand them much. i need help with pretty much everything, what turns and rotates the helicopter, how to make the battery i want run the engine i want, how to make the controller i want work with the car parts i take.

 

im not sure how close i can get to a RC helicopter befor i have to go to a store but if anyone knows links with useful information or can just explain some of the RC helicopters parts id appreciate it, thanks.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

It's pretty hard to make a flying device without at least some knowledge of aerodynamics before you start. You'd be better off buying a kit, or just tinkering with your RC cars to make them go faster.

[Rocket Man]

what sorts of equipment do you have? that's going to be the key factor.

an rc copter needs to be built light, which is a problem when you talk rebuilt cars.

the motor from a car is designed to be grunty. the motor in a helicopter is deisgned for weight, mid range power, and efficiency to cut battery weight.

 

i think a basic design would be a fixed tilt rotor and vary the power to change the lift, the same for the tail rotor and a servo or something to swing a counter weight. you'll need to buy lighter motors and probably build from styrofoam.

[YT2095]

think about using Capacitors instead of batteries too.

[IhaveTacos]

thanks for the advice cap'n but i dont have much money to purchase a kit and tinkering with an RC car doesent really interest me.

 

what sorts of equipment do you have? that's going to be the key factor.

an rc copter needs to be built light, which is a problem when you talk rebuilt cars.

the motor from a car is designed to be grunty. the motor in a helicopter is deisgned for weight, mid range power, and efficiency to cut battery weight.

 

i think a basic design would be a fixed tilt rotor and vary the power to change the lift, the same for the tail rotor and a servo or something to swing a counter weight. you'll need to buy lighter motors and probably build from styrofoam.

 

hmm i actually dont have equiptment... wich i guess makes any attempt to make a helicopter completely stupid. do you really think a RC car motor cant lift a helicopter at all though, im not really looking to make a good one i mostly just want to learn about how to do it and at least make some sort of attempt to get some flight its not really about getting a helicopter.

[Rocket Man]

rc car motors are dirt cheap and they're built with heavy materials. you could probably do it but you'd need to drop mass else where.

the design most likely to work would be counter rotating blades mounted in minimal styrofoam. that way, the majority of the mass is working.

helicopter looking designs are generally reserved for petrol motors or high tech materials.

[Phi for All]

I've heard many RC plane enthusiasts say how much more difficult an RC helicopter is to fly. I know it seems like it would be easier but apparently that's not the case.

 

Making one from scratch could only make it worse, imo. And without the equipment to perform the proper workshop customizing you will most certainly need, I think you will most likely end up with an RC fan.

 

If your summer has been as hot as mine has, that might not be a bad thing.

[YT2095]

Hovercrafts are always good for a giggle too, and Very easy to make

[Sataure]

You're going to have to have a hell of a lot of knowledge in electronics and circuitry for what you're trying to do. You're going to need to know how to use basic passive and active electronic components (in their individual forms, not presoldered onto boards), microcontrollers, RF transmitting and receiving (which means knowledge of frequency, phase, and amplitude modulation), and just a more complete knowledge of this sort of stuff than what you currently portray.

 

Its not just ripping apart an RC car and mounting the motor in a different position; you must get lighter, higher-rpm DC motors, a higher-energy density battery than those nickel cadmium or lead acid they use in those cars, and you're going to have to know a lot of physics on aerodynamics.

 

I think you're a little out of your league on this one.

[Rocket Man]

you can make anything fly if you get the centre of mass in the right spot. once it's there it's a case of making it fly like a bird or fly like a brick.

rc car parts are like bricks, hobby stores sell better batteries and motors but you can't really go much better than the reciever in a small rc car.

if you can manage a rotor to lift the weight of the parts (rather difficult) you're set. all you need is to cancel a few minor forces and balance your chopper.

[IhaveTacos]

hmm well thanks for the suggestions and tips... i realise its not to realistic to want an rc car motor to take flight. im just looking for sites that will have all the information i need to build an RC helicopter. the rc car motor attempt isent expected to go well it would just put what i learned to use until i manage to get proper materials and equiptment.

 

i want to learn whats inside a rc helicopter and how all the parts work, all the knowlege of electronics and circuitry sataure was talking about. im not sure where to learn this, so if you do let me know.

 

i hope theres answers other than going to college and getting some type of eletronic degree or something:eek:. i can always just downlod some ebook or something off a DL client right? any good book names?

[Rocket Man]

a reputable electronics shop ought to have decent books on such topics.

radio controlled models (the better ones) use very similar technology and mechanisms as the originals. if you research full sized and take a look at the models in the hobby shops you should get a good idea as to what's necessary.

[IhaveTacos]

hmm... thanks rocketman your posts are always on track

 

would you happen to know a good book name though, im broke as of now and getting impatient, wanna start learning this;). it would be much faster to look up a book name online and download the e-book version.

[Rocket Man]

i bought "electricity and electronics" isbn 0-07-136057-3

it's all reasonably light concepts in the beginning of the book where it intorduces the basic parts but it goes on and takes you right through high end amplifiers and digital electronics with emphasis on calculations.

it's about $25US

i think it's still in print so you'll have trouble finding an online version.

[Externet]

Get this one, dismantle it completely; you will have all the parts to make one by putting it together again, for the price of a book to learn how to make one:

 

http://www.rcisland.com/nano4k_b.html

 

Miguel

[Norman Albers]

think about using Capacitors instead of batteries too.

Is this what keeps the clock going in my computer when it's unplugged, low-leakage caps?

[Spyman]

Is this what keeps the clock going in my computer when it's unplugged, low-leakage caps?

Normally the BIOS and system clock is supported by a 3 Volts lithium coin battery, like CR1220.

[Rocket Man]

you can get a 1 farad cap rated to 5v for the purpose, but the battery is cheaper

[sciencefor2]

You can buy one for less than US$100. RC Helicopter is very cheap in price now. Check Google: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rc+helicopter&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

[DrP]

You can get them very cheaply - I paid about £25.00 for my one. It's about 4 inches long, made of poly styrene and is great fun. You can fly it around indoors without the fear of it hurting anyone really (as long as you dont fly it into anyones eyes).

[Rohit K]

There must be a way to use the transmitter and receiver of an rc car, which is available widely and cheaply, to control the aircraft.

 

The mechanical body of the aircraft has to be built separately however.

[insane_alien]

the problem with using an RC car controller is the lack of functions.

 

my RC car has two levers. one for forward/back and another for left/right.

 

RC aircraft require more than this. you'd need a throttle, pitchup/pitch down and yaw left/right at the very least for an RC helicopter. if it has proper controls on the main rotor then you'll need a whole bunch more levers and buttons.

 

for an RC plane you can replace the yaw with roll but it would be prefereable to have both.

 

you need more controls than an RC car for one very important yet often overlooked reason, you have an extra dimension to work with.

 

RC cars have nice simple two lever controls because they only have two dimensions you can control travel in. RC aircraft have three dimensions they can move freely in and hence need at least three controls.

[RappyChappy]

I`m trawling through any RC heli related forums on a quest for knowledge about Heli Soaring. i.e. Flying a heli without the aid of on board power and using the wind / up draft to SOAR the heli. I came across this thread and remembered a link I found a while ago which may be of use to you.

 

http://rcvehicles.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=rcvehicles&zu=http://www.angelfire.com/blues/heli_project/index.html

 

 

But while I`m here,

 

I first heard about heli soring over on RunRyder a couple of years ago but never really thought I would try it for real until a few weeks ago. Over the last couple of months I`ve been trawling through the web in search for any further info on the art of heli soaring, but I think I`ve found all the sites there are on the web , on the subject. Half a dozen forum threads and a couple of pictures. I`ve started a few threads of my own in the hope of drawing in some interest and hopefully more knowledge but hit a blank. There are only a handful of guys worldwide who`ve tried heli soaring but don`t have much info on it. So I aim to change that. I`m getting in some practice on Reflex, (now that I have downloaded the new Vista update on my laptop.) and have some captured sim time which I`ve uploaded to YouTube for all to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next task is to find a suitable site to try this out for real using my Raptor Titan and pick a day when the conditions are right.

 

I plan on using my heli as is for the initial trials. I.e. with the engine in and running for take off , bail outs and landing. For the soaring part, I`ll flick it into idle.

 

I`ll be logging anything I think will be relevant like heli weight, blade make and size, wind speed and so on. I`ll have someone handy to video it all and if all goes well, I`m going to build a web site and publish my results. I`ll get a forum going and add new info as it unfolds. Stuff like how to launch without an engine.

 

Cheers

 

Luke

[forufes]

hmm well thanks for the suggestions and tips... i realise its not to realistic to want an rc car motor to take flight.

 

i didn't think an rc car motor can do it either, but i think a laptop cd/dvd drive is optimum.. no need to buy a new one, most of the broken/useless ones are having a problem in the iris thingy, so the engines should be cheap or even free to scavenge.

[R/GStarion]

hi,

 

I fly rc planes and helis and once had the thought similar to yours of being able to build some of the flying things out of the more simple things.

The easiest way to get your idea off the ground would be with a counter rotating system i agree but even this setup is reasonably complicated in the electronics which would be easier and probably cheaper to buy the electronic setup and then u know thats one thing that should work if the others don't.

The reason building an rc helicopter from scratch is due to the need for everything to be precise, remember you have blades spinning at a high speed just to get off the ground and small vibrations at this speed can do numerous things to the flight depending how bad.

 

Idon't want to scare you from it and infact wish you luck, but it would probably be cheaper to get a pre built one and fly from there.

hope you find this helpful.