Mangus Effect RPM Control Question

[EvanO]

Hello,


I need some advice.


I am aeronautical engineering undergrad. I want to create a minimum viable product magnus effect RC aircraft, that is RPM controlled. It will be similar in scale to a 5” drone. The aircraft will have 4 Flettner rotors, each capable of running at different RPMs. Thus, each rotor will have its own motor. The aircraft will resemble a canard configuration, with the front set of rotors being shorter in span than the back set. Each rotor can run at different RPMS and using the differential lift will can perform pitch and roll moments. A vertical stabilizer will be installed to provide yaw moments, driven by a servo. I’m mainly interested in the lift generation and controlling pitch and roll with RPM control so I will not install any propulsion for now. I will test the aircraft using a make shift windtunnel with a box fan.


I am in the research phase and this will be my first time building an RC aircraft. What I am baffled by is how can I control the RPMs of the 4 individual rotors with just the transmitter and how many channels will I need? Is there an interface I can connect to numerically enter values that will adjust motor performance?

 

[Lukedavis]

Hello,


I need some advice.


I am aeronautical engineering undergrad. I want to create a minimum viable product magnus effect RC aircraft, that is RPM controlled. It will be similar in scale to a 5” drone. The aircraft will have 4 Flettner rotors, each capable of running at different RPMs. Thus, each rotor will have its own motor. The aircraft will resemble a canard configuration, with the front set of rotors being shorter in span than the back set. Each rotor can run at different RPMS and using the differential lift will can perform pitch and roll moments. A vertical stabilizer will be installed to provide yaw moments, driven by a servo. I’m mainly interested in the lift generation and controlling pitch and roll with RPM control so I will not install any propulsion for now. I will test the aircraft using a make shift windtunnel with a box fan.


I am in the research phase and this will be my first time building an RC aircraft. What I am baffled by is how can I control the RPMs of the 4 individual rotors with just the transmitter and how many channels will I need? Is there an interface I can connect to numerically enter values that will adjust motor performance?

you would need 4 esc's (Electronic Speed Controls) and you could get a harness that puts all 4 of the esc wires into one port and then plug that into the throttle channel on your receiver.

 

[EvanO]

you would need 4 esc's (Electronic Speed Controls) and you could get a harness that puts all 4 of the esc wires into one port and then plug that into the throttle channel on your receiver.

Would a 4 in 1 ESC work? By a harness do you mean some sort of adapter?

 

[DavidB1126]

I don't think there is anything like a 4 in 1 esc. You would need 4 escs and 4 motors. 1 esc controls 1 motor. For that harness. Its a servo Y harness. But I never seen a Y harness with 4 plugs on it for 4 escs. I only seen them with 1 or 2 plugs. (Y harness is like a cable extension, or for controlling something more than 1 on 1 channel)
I don't know anything about drones or aircraft. So hope that helped a little from my rc car knowledge.

 

[EvanO]

I don't think there is anything like a 4 in 1 esc. You would need 4 escs and 4 motors. 1 esc controls 1 motor. For that harness. Its a servo Y harness. But I never seen a Y harness with 4 plugs on it for 4 escs. I only seen them with 1 or 2 plugs. (Y harness is like a cable extension, or for controlling something more than 1 on 1 channel)
I don't know anything about drones or aircraft. So hope that helped a little from my rc car knowledge.

It was. Thanks for explaining the Y-harness. I got the 4 in 1 ESC idea because it's a product type on this drone site.
https://www.getfpv.com/electronics/electronic-speed-controllers-esc/4-in-1-esc-s.html

 

[Lukedavis]

I don't think there is anything like a 4 in 1 esc. You would need 4 escs and 4 motors. 1 esc controls 1 motor. For that harness. Its a servo Y harness. But I never seen a Y harness with 4 plugs on it for 4 escs. I only seen them with 1 or 2 plugs. (Y harness is like a cable extension, or for controlling something more than 1 on 1 channel)
I don't know anything about drones or aircraft. So hope that helped a little from my rc car knowledge.

Well, there is drone esc and flight controllers

It was. Thanks for explaining the Y-harness. I got the 4 in 1 ESC idea because it's a product type on this drone site.
https://www.getfpv.com/electronics/electronic-speed-controllers-esc/4-in-1-esc-s.html

That would work for your application

I don't think there is anything like a 4 in 1 esc. You would need 4 escs and 4 motors. 1 esc controls 1 motor. For that harness. Its a servo Y harness. But I never seen a Y harness with 4 plugs on it for 4 escs. I only seen them with 1 or 2 plugs. (Y harness is like a cable extension, or for controlling something more than 1 on 1 channel)
I don't know anything about drones or aircraft. So hope that helped a little from my rc car knowledge.

You could take 3 of the harnesses or make your own.