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Originally Posted by Matt Krass
What you say makes sense, thanks for clarifying that. How much current does an R/C car typically draw though? Wouldn't it make more sense to go with hobby ESCs then? Or is use of Victors a convenience since they're readily available or something? Or do they offer some kind of power boost?
Sorry if I'm asking too many questions, I tend to get curious  |
The use of victors came about after James and I did a thesis project together. During that time, 95 donated a lot of old victors, wiring supplies and even an old Pbasic control setup.
The project was great. Afterwards, no one was really interested in taking back the equipment and we had a summer to kill. So we started retrofitting old R/C cars that people would donate or found on ebay for cheap. We developed this mantra of 'make it fast and make it cheap'. Most of the cars we had we're old clodbusters and Grasshoppers. Either they had no electronics or old servo actuated speed controllers. We didn't want to spend any money so we just started using what ever we had on hand. That meant victors, FP motors, mixed R/C gear and so on. The first cars were just the leftovers of Dex, but I think ended up being more fun.
After a while we got a little serious about it and produced some very fast and capable cars. They wouldn't have fared well in a serious race, but in the backyard and on the street they were brutally overpowered. It was something of a MOPAR thing. We liked have an R/C car that would break the rear tires loose on carpet. Some cars even got a custom aluminum chassis and battery pods. I am quite proud of some of the stuff we were able to bang out for next to nothing. On a good day they could go toe to toe with my Violator* and keep up.
The victors are decent speed controllers, but like I said, overkill. Their biggest benefit was that they are cheap/free and will handle any thing we throw at them. If someone wanted to give me an assortment of hobby ESC's that had comparable performance, I would use them to.
And I am happy to answer questions. Like I said, I am still very proud of the stuff me and James made in his basement. We have a few robots in production, but most of the cars have been stripped for parts.
Its a heck of a hobby.
-Andy A.
* My OFNA Violator has a .21 Pico engine, and I've never had any trouble getting it started or tuned. Leaned out that sucker is _fast_. I don't run it to often for want of a good open space to do so, it's just to much for a backyard.