Selection of components for making a Radio Controlled Aircraft
If you know the process and are worried abut the selection of components to build a radio-controlled electric aircraft, here are some points to consider while selecting important components that one needs to develop the RC plane.
If you are sitting in your house feeling bored after completing your engineering or electrical/electronics diploma course and don't have anything to do, here's an interesting exercise for you. Try to build a radio-controlled electric aircraft from scratch from components available at your home. You might know the process but selection of the components is a tough task. One has to be very careful in choosing the right electronic speed control that is ESC for your aircraft. We have monocopter, twincopter, tricoptor, quadcopter, hexacopter and ocatcopter available now, building one for fun flying should completely depend on your imagination. There should be a proper selection of components and should have a proper knowledge about its use.
Some of the important components involve:
* Motor Selection
* Electronic Speed Control
* Battery Selection1) Motor Selection
One can easily design the outer body of the aircraft, but internal structures are a bit difficult. So selection of motor for its working is the most important and crucial part. There are few choices you need to make before selecting a motor. The best choice is whether to use a direct drive or a gear box. Because if you want to develop an aircraft of higher rpm (Revolutions Per Minute) you would need a direct drive in-runner motor. One should also look into some important things like the kV rating, that is kV=rpm/V of your motor, capacity of the battery and its voltage.2) Electronic Speed Control (ESC) Selection
For the selected ESC to match with your motor, it must be rated for voltage of your LiPo battery pack, and it should have the capability to handle the voltage and current requirements. According to the principle, it is better to use ESC with a rating slightly higher than peak current requirement of the motor. Every ESC's have a limitation in current flow. So it is better to select ESC that is capable of working with and equal or higher voltage. It is better to never connect a high voltage battery to a low voltage ESC and vice versa. One should have a better knowledge of peak current rate of the motor at full throttle.
The size of the propeller of your aircraft strongly influences the electric current flow through the system. If the size is large it will draw higher current from battery through ESC and eventually the system will become hot. Every battery and ESC operates on a specific allowable current, that when exceeded may burn out the motor, ESC and the battery.3) Battery Selection
Because of the small profile of LiPo battery packs, they are the best to be used with brushless motor of radio-controlled airplanes. Their lower weight and high capacity brings lots of advantages to them. There are certain specifications of a battery pack; they are the mAh, C and 1S/2S/3S/4S. The capacity of battery pack is indicted by mAh rating. C defines the discharge rate and 1S/2S/3S/4S defines the inside combination of the LiPo battery pack.
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Really interesting article especially for youngsters. A little bit of step-by-step instruction would have added more value to the article. A good selection of topic indeed.