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VBox R/C Boat for Autonomous Offshore Competition

Posted by Thomas J Coyle III on January 23, 2015 at 8:14am

Hi All,

If you have been reading my posts on the Comment Wall you are aware that I am building a fairly large R/C racing boat for autonomous offshore competition.

The R/C boat I have selected is the Zippkit VBox 2013 edition that is 46" long and 17" in beam. The boat is normally powered by a 26cc gas engine of around 5 - 7 hp, however I plan to use a brushless electric motor in place of the gas engine.

Since I do not need speeds of 50 - 60 mph for the kind of competition that I envision, I feel that a brushless electric motor of around 3 hp will be sufficient to drive the boat at around 25 - 30 mph. Therefore I have identified a Leopard 5692 1000kva 3000 watt 56 mm dia brushless motor as being a suitable candidate for my purposes.

I have decided on using twin 6S 10,000mahr LiPo batteries in parallel to power the motor. So now I am researching high current, water cooled ESCs with 180 - 220 amp capacity to control the motor.

After the propulsion and steering hardware have been installed in the hull, I plan to integrate a Pixhawk navigation controller and associated components into the hull to provide autonomous navigation.

I will begin the Project Discussion with the installation of the propulsion and steering hardware and then move on to the integration of the navigation controller platform.

Regards,

TCIII AVD    

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Tags: etti, leopard, vbox, zippkits, autonomous, brushless, motor
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Replies

  • Anderl June 26, 2015 at 11:48am

    Lovely project. I'm dying to seeing how it works.

    Do you have any idea, what should be the average range of this wit?

    • Admin
      Thomas J Coyle III > Anderl June 26, 2015 at 8:38pm

      @Anderl,

      With the two 6S 10,000mahr batteries, I can probably get from 20- 30 minutes of run time at 20 - 30 mph.

      Only actual testing will  accurately answer that question:-)

      Regards,

      Tom C AVD

    • Lee Kelley > Thomas J Coyle III January 29, 2016 at 8:12am

      Is there an update?  I'm dying to see how this thing ran?  Impressed with the craftsmanship on the build!

    • Admin
      Thomas J Coyle III > Lee Kelley January 29, 2016 at 8:17am

      @Lee,

      Thanks for the kudos, much appreciated.

      The mini lake that I run my autonomous boats in was having the shoreline rebuilt when I finished the boat and then the weather here in Southern Florida has either been very hot or rainy and cold making it hard to comfortably test the boat out.

      Hopefully I can test it in the early spring of this year.

      Regards,

      Tom C AVD

  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III June 21, 2015 at 11:25am

    Hi All,

    Since RMRC is no longer stocking 6S 10,000mahr LiPos at a reasonable price ($159 plus shippint), I was kind of up a creek so to speak until I made the acquaintance of a member who had two RMRC 6S 10,000mahr LiPos that he no longer needed.

    I took the batteries out in trade for some consulting and aircraft assembly work and I am now in the process of build battery mounts out of 1/4" thick HDPC to mount the batteries above the floor of the hull.

    I will put small HDPC blocks in the corners of the bottom of the mounts to raise the mounts off the hull floor and provide clearance for Velcro tie down straps.

    Once I have the boat trimmed out with the batteries, I will epoxy the mounts to the floor of the hull and I will be ready to test out the hull with the navigation controller.

    Regards,

    Tom C AVD

    • David Boulanger > Thomas J Coyle III June 26, 2015 at 10:51am

      Tom,  Have you had her out on the water yet?  Early in the day before the storms set in.

      Regards,

      David R. Boulanger

    • Admin
      Thomas J Coyle III > David Boulanger June 26, 2015 at 8:36pm

      Hi David,

      Probably get it out on the water some time next week.

      I just got the Velcro straps for hold the batteries down to the battery mounting plates today.

      We have had lake shoreline restoration going on for the last two weeks so next week the lake will finally be available for testing.

      Regards,

      Tom C AVD

  • Michael Cook May 13, 2015 at 3:30am

    I am doing the same thing but for business I would love to hear how this is working out for you!

    • Admin
      Thomas J Coyle III > Michael Cook May 13, 2015 at 6:29am

      @Michael,

      I am about ready to ballast/trim the hull and then try some testing in the Manual Mode to make sure that it performs correctly before proceeding further.

      Regards,

      Tom C AVD

  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III May 3, 2015 at 12:36pm

    Hi All,

    I have added an external USB port to the front of the navigation controller water resistant cover so that I do not have to take the cover off to communicate with the Pixhawk.

    3701993787?profile=originalFront of Navigation Controller Water Resistant Cover

    I have finished painting the navigation controller deck cover plate and will be attaching the navigation controller plate to the deck cover plate this coming week. I will then attach the rudder servo and ESC cables to the Pixhawk and route them through a deck plate penetration so that they will be accessible below the deck plate. I will also wire up a XT60 connector that will mate with the input connector on the Power Module. I will run the power wires from the XT60 connector through a deck plate penetration so I can attach a 3S 2200mahr LiPo on the underside of the deck plate to power the Pixhawk and associated components.

    Regards,

    Tom C AVD  

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