Ummm....... TRIMOTOR!!!!

[DMCdesign]

I know, this looks a bit exaggerating in the flesh. I had planned to create a trimotor for fun from three small RC motors.... Have the first one, need two more. Meanwhile, can anyone spill the beans as to how will the 3 motors deliver their power to the mutual shaft?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Planetary arrangement?

 

[itsid]

Or if all are dual shaft inline vie shaft couplings?

Or very simple, six pulleys three belts ?

'sid

 

[robbie]

I know, this looks a bit exaggerating in the flesh. I had planned to create a trimotor for fun from three small RC motors.... Have the first one, need two more. Meanwhile, can anyone spill the beans as to how will the 3 motors deliver their power to the mutual shaft?

I have a couple of questions. You're building a trimotor what? A go kart? And how small are these small RC engines? If they're small for RC then you'll need a lot more than three for a kart.

I built a big trimotor RC aircraft once with three .20 engines. It sounded like a swarm of bees. I need to build another one of those.

 

[mckutzy]

So what ever happened to the steam engine you were going to build?

 

[fowler]

Why not just have them all drive one shaft

How would a planetry arrangement work out of interest?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Planetary setup- center shaft with gear on it. Three motors arranged around the shaft, each with a pinion gear, driving that shaft gear.

 

[fowler]

The planetry gears are the biggest in the set

So if u held the sun gear and used the planetrys to drive the ring gear then that's still a huge overdrive

 

[DMCdesign]

Steam engine destruction redux

So what ever happened to the steam engine you were going to build?

I think I had completed it. The flywheel was fixed and it ran good.
BUT one day I left it on my table to get a part, and when I returned, It was nowhere to be found...........

 

[DMCdesign]

Back to the motor

I know motors this small will do nothing to move a kart......


does anyone know how to make a PCB?

 

[itsid]

I've had reasonable success with a laserprinter (mirrored layout)
ironed to a bare pcb and then etched with nothing but saltwater and a battery...
aka Toner Transfer Method
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk6WJpGyc4I
except that I used saltwater and a battery of course..

But that's some time ago, and to be perfectly honest, if I had to make pcbs today, I would rather mill them or have them made by someone else (an electronics shop here me makes them for a fair price in a quality I cannot make them myself )

'sid

 

[robbie]

You can buy a kit to make circuit boards. You drill first, then draw the circuit on with a pen, making sure that the marks are heavy enough to block the etching solution. Then you immerse it in a tray with the solution until the copper disappears everywhere else. Then you rinse. The kits are just expensive enough to make you think twice.

Most prototype projects can be done on a non-printed board, available online or at Radio Shack. These boards have a grid of holes with copper joining groups of holes or just surrounding single holes, whichever you prefer. You stick the components on and solder them, then use the extra length of the leads or little pieces of wire to connect them where you want them to go. I've done tons of this kind of building. It works, but after a while you get tired of it.

If you're doing something really important you download free software (I use FreePCB) to design the circuit. Then you create a file and upload it to a PCB company website and order anywhere from 1 to thousands. It's an amazing world we live in today.

 

[DMCdesign]

now some twist........

how do we make a batt pack out of disposable batteries?

EDIT: I wanted to have the PCB to add an extra power source to supercharge the engine like a push button boost (or N2O?)

 

[itsid]

disposables??
*cough*

Anyways.. there are battery holders in many different shapes, cell counts etc.
http://www.digikey.com/product-sear...olders-clips-contacts/393250?k=battery holder

I guess we're still talking about the small dc motors, right?

So, all there is to ist is attach a push button to close the circuit and connect the motors in parallel.
as long as you push the button they run.. that easy.
And no need for a pcb, just pure wires and a button.

Or, do you want to have the same set of motors running without the turbo too?
Then it'll get more complicated since most of those small motors cannot be overpowered
(or at least wont give you any benefit in doing so)
That means you have to throttle them down for standard power to have an effect
(which is rather pointless IMHO)
That would indeed call for a pcb, but again where's the point?

'sid

 

[DMCdesign]

ummm...... I understood neither.

Care to explain with a diagram?

 

[itsid]

ummm...... I understood neither.

Care to explain with a diagram?

Well, maybe because I have no idea what you're intending to do.

simple wire connection (parallel) with a pushbutton:

Nothing fancy about it.. a battery holder of some sort (depends on the cell count and size of course)
and a simple button (as opposed to a switch)

'sid