Gyros and Auto-pilots

[Propjockey]

Just curious...anyone played with these? Maybe hooked up to control pitch on the front air dam of a hydro.

Pros...cons?

 

[Flyin Rat Sass]

You know what "They"...say...."You can't have too much stuff on you'r boat" :blink:

 

[Climate Models]

We played with this idea for over 2 years. Finally gave up on it after hundreds of hours with no difference in race or time results.

The gyros are to slow to react on a small enough scale that we run on most model boats. You could probably see a minor difference in a larger (1/8th scale) boat.

The speeds we run are not fast enough with the scale control surfaces we have to make any difference.

Peter R.

www.climaemodels.com

 

[Mark McCray]

I decided to try using a a gyro on my latest boat building project on a scale boat. I tried a bench test first after getting all the parts set up and it seemed to work so I have proceeded into spending the hours to really engineer this concept out. The boat is now painted and I should have it completed in another week and look forward to testing it out in the spring. All I can do now is wait for the hard water to soften up some.

Mark McCray

 

[Joe_Knesek]

A heading lock gyro would keep the boat on track but I don't think any gyro will keep a boat from blowing off beacuse it will not react fast enough. Using a digital servo makes all the differance in keeping a heading.

 

[Propjockey]

Joe...how fast do you think it would have to be? I've looked at a couple of Futaba gyros that claim a response time of .07-.08 seconds. Coupled to a high speed digital servo..........?

 

[Joe_Knesek]

I'm not sure. I think the problem is that you'd have to figure out how far the boat can lift before it comes on. I don't think the gyro will predict the lift off like you can do by eye. It will only come on when it reaches a preset point. From that point, you have to take into account the servo speed, gyro reaction time and the time it takes for the engine to slow down. I think it's impossible to stop the blow over if you are waiting for the boat to get to a preset point. You have to be able to predict it based on what you are seeing ahead of you, or you have to see the wiggle that comes before the lift off. I don't think a gyro can be tuned to work around a wiggle that is acceptible and the wiggle before the blow over.

 

[Flyin Rat Sass]

not knowing very much about gyros ,I'm still compelled to voice an opinion.It seems that the weight to effectiveness ratio would be higher if a switch was used, that was accuated by a lightly sprung wire that would swing down from the hull when it was clear of moving water,or even a completely mechanical system using the same triggering mechanisim.

 

[Mark McCray]

Food for thought guys. In addition to the thoughts mentioned on this subject, there is one item that hasn't and thats the depth and shape of the wing itself. In building my scale, I took alot of time in making this wing so it is to scale and it has the correct shape. I decided on using the Futaba GY401 and a high speed/high torque servo using a 6 volt batt. The gain and sensitivity can be adjusted from the transmitter, though once set up during prelim testing to get the bugs out, I don't think any further adjustment will be required, (like when your actually racing.)

One of the reasons I decided to use a gryo was so I didn't have to make the adjustment on the fly. I got enough to do already with the steering, throttle and mix. Didn't want to do anymore than I had to while running.

Having watched planes and heli's with gyros in them, I think they will be more than fast enough to handle the needs of keeping the boat on the water.

I am just looking forward to open water now and then we will tell Joe, if all the work to build this boat was worth it or not. I'm just crossing my fingers it does.

 

[Mark McCray]

Joe and Prop,

Send me an email to, [email protected], an I'll send you some pics.

 

[Mark McCray]

Prop,

I hope you got all the pics.

Mark

 

[Propjockey]

Took a while....gotta love dial-up

BTW...good lookin' boat.

 

[Mark McCray]

Prop,

Whats BTW stand for?

Mark

 

[Propjockey]

BTW = by the way