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
After a couple of weeks using this thrust stand, I have to stay I'm quite glad I held off on purchasing other stands. I'm liking it a lot !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B5eLJgRpSA
Great, I am looking forward to your feedback!
Sounds great! I'll just placed my order. Looking forward to using the stand and seeing how far off my home made stand really was. Thank you for developing this neat stand at an affordable price, for the hobby crowd!
@EngineerX Those are really good tests, thanks for taking the time to publish the results! There are a few scripts included with our device and if you end up buying it, I can help you customize the scripts to your needs.
You can still get the device for $125 if you do a video review. It can just be a test with the device. We will refund the difference through Paypal.
Just what I need for testing motors, affordable and accurate thrust stand!
Unfortunate for me I missed the $109 price :( which was much loser to my budget allowances.
This stand would be perfect for my tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLbPrg-hMDY
Are there any current discount codes besides the offer to post a Youtube video? I would love to buy this stand and get rid of my trusty DIY not-so accurate rig :)
Hi JB,
Thanks for the feedback. We are looking at all the possibilities for our next product, and you are right that there is a need for data logging, especially a smart ESC. Dynamic timing in flight would only possible with a smart ESC.
I think there will always be a need for characterizing the motor in a lab, as it is much easier than in flight (for torque measurement), and motor performance does not really change in flight, other than for temperature changes. For the prop and overall efficiency, it is useful to have flight data.
The Android compatibility is something we will consider for the next versions. In a lab, the current Windows, Linux, Mac and ChromeOS is sufficient for most people, but mobile compatibility would be great for a product used for field work.
Hey Charles
Thanks for a more affordable package, I think I might have to order one now after all! In particular I think your software tools are more valuable than just the specification of your hardware! ;-)
I too am interested in creating a aircraft mounted thrust measurement tool for real time feedback and control for dynamic ESC timing and more. I have often wondered why gas powered engines always seem to need to be "tuned" yet electric motors never get any such love. ;-p
But seriously, the only way to optimise a drivetrain is to also know what can be improved. In this case measuring and monitoring in-situ on aircraft in flight can only be more accurate as there is a diverse field of extra dynamics that can be assessed and compensated for. Besides, you can always just hold the airframe down for ground tests!
What I'd suggest is to condense the sensors and electronics down to a minimum, to create a disc that mounts between motor and frame. (Electronics could be separate as required) Then I'd interface ESC and autopilot (opt. companion computer) via CAN bus. Ideally a "Smart" ESC itself would handle the sensor inputs and create it's own "intelligence" around the dynamics of the propulsion system (including vibration, prop balancing, current etc etc) The Smart ESC could then convey those messages back via custom mavlink messages to the GCS for the user to act on.
Have you considered adding your benchmark software as a plugin/addon to Android or Tower etc, for easy onsite analysis? I think that Android will soon become the defacto GUI for well...everything. PC, mouse, keyboard n Co are too cumbersome.
Although I see a current market in benchtop benchmarking, I think the future is in real-time in situ benchmarking, which directly leads to wireless real time in flight optimizations and control.
Regards
@DynexHobby Glad to see such a product exist!
@OlliW: Thanks for the feedback. We considered many options and we had to balance sturdiness, simplicity, accuracy of results and cost. It is not perfect, but we think for many designers, the results can help a lot and save a lot of time. You can definitely change and extend the motor mount.
If you want to obtain very accurate results in windtunnel, the Series 1580 has a slightly smaller profile. Our device can also definitely be used for academic studies if you reuse the sensors and circuit, but custom design a molded or CNC aerodynamic shroud for your specific motor. The circuit and scripting abilities will help to save a lot of time, but you are still looking at weeks or months of work and a completely different order of magnitude and cost for academic results. What was typically done with labview and matlab can be done with the Series 1520 or Series 1580 a much more user friendly way. We even provide many sample test scripts (ramp, steps, measure Kv) to help you get started.
@Doug Awesome, I am available if you have any question!
@Digital Wings: This is something we think about a lot. There are a few things that can be done. Initially, the test results can be helpful to understand what is going on in flight either in post analysis or in real time. Ideally however, the thrust stand and dyno results could be used to dynamically adjust the timing of the motor in flight to maximize efficiency or power depending on the flight condition. Dynamic timing is used a lot by RC cars users, but it seems that many UAV businesses are still not taking advantage of that. I hope our next tutorial videos will help change that. There is also the problem that most ESC don't allow to change the timing dynamically. If someone want to work with us on that (custom ESCs), send us an email. I'd like to publish a white paper on this subject, but I have to find the time...
Hi @OlliW,
Just to be clear I never said the inside part was irrelevant, I said that the outside 40% does the majority of the work, the inside is just less effective. It is true that a propeller can be designed so that it is more uniform, but most of the props we use follow the 40% rule (some say it's 30% but I'm no expert) so if the tool is setup for this then it will meet most hobby requirements.
At the end of the day this tool would still measure the inside gain as well, but it might be slightly more turbulent so slightly less effective. I stand by my argument that this tool would be within 10% of the 'real' figure. Note that this figure would be different when used outside in uncontrollable air.
@Darius typically jumps on these threads and tries to tear down people when there is no reason to do so, it is how the message is given. How you have articulated it is much better and gives people a better understanding. If he had been less dogmatic about it then people would be happier. @Charles didn't deserve this, imagine if @Darius has some minor issues with the Storm32 and hammered any post you made on it?
Regards,
Chris
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