We are now shipping the RCbenchmark Series 1520. It measures overall efficiency, current, thrust, voltage, and motor speed. The device communicates with our open-source software, which displays and records data, and controls the motor manually or through a scripting system.
Whether you want to increase flight time for aerial photography, or performance for racing, the tool will help you obtain the data you need on your motors, propellers, ESCs, servos and batteries quickly and accurately.
A year ago, I posted here asking if people would be interested in a low cost, automated thrust stand. My colleague and I, both recent graduate from M.Sc. Mech. Eng., developed the Series 1580 dynamometer, and we obtained excellent feedback from a large number of businesses and universities. Many hobbyists asked us for a simpler, more affordable tool. We heard you, and we are now offering the Series 1520 for $165.
Get it at $149 if you order before March 1st! Additionally, for a limited time, we will refund an additional $40 if you post a video review about our tool, which will lower the product’s price to only $109. Check the product page to see if the offer is still valid.
Here are the specs:
Voltage (0-35 V)
Current (40A continuous, 50A burst)
Power (0-1400W)
Thrust (±5 kg)
Motor speed (100k RPM)
Overall efficiency (%)
USB interface
ESC manual control
Three servo control ports
Output data to CSV files
Real-time sensor plots
Automated tests and recording
Powerful scripting abilities
Safety cutoffs
We want to offer more than a test tool. You might also be interested in our ongoing video tutorial series on motor and propeller theory. For more more information, check out our website or the Series 1520 product page. I will be available here to answer questions on our tools and on motor and propeller testing.
Comments
@ Marc It is the 1580 that has the accelerometer yes. This project is great! I have been thinking about dynamic balancing for years. During my undergrad, I got to use a really old, expensive analog balancing machine, and I was thinking that it would be possible to implement the same system with modern hardware. I even asked if such a thing existed in a thread on rcgroup. The feedback was that it is cool, but not really necessary as static balancing works well already.
We though about implementing dynamic balancing, but given our resources, it was not a priority. Analyzing motor and propeller performance, as well as developing the tools to help for the analysis seemed like a more urgent problem.
Great work here.
Check this out: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2337523
You have an 3 axis accelerometer in the 1520 model right? I wonder in what I linked to could be adapted to use your stand so you could use it as a dynamic balancer as well?
Edit: I see it is the 1580 that has the accelerometer....
Thanks everybody.
@Darius: You are right that the motor mount may affect readings. It is not a problem for larger propeller (>6in) For small props, we recommend mounting the motor on a block to reduce ground effect. The prop on the first picture is quite small, it was chosen to show the device well, but it is not the best setup in the case. We should use another picture. I'd love to see your setup, you should post it here!
@Charles,
my congratulations, but you need to remove metal shield to geet real thrust data,
since your metal shield generates turbulences affecting (lowering) the real thrust.
BTW
I have a number of electronic balances each coming with 4 sensors + electronic board + display.
I will try to turn one into thrust meter.
Thank you Charles.
Your projects and lectures are really excellent and highly professional.
Very nice, bravo les gars!
joli produit, bravo !
very nice. good price too.
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