Gyro on a car?Possible?

[yayameh]

hi you all,

i had a discussion with one of my friends about the gyros that are generally used in tails of helis to stabilize them. Gyro requires one more channel so 3 channel radios can handle it on a car. That is my proposition. i had another friend of mine using gyro on a car and insists on the steering advantages.

does oneone heard about someone using a gyro on a car to improve stability and steering?

Can a gyro emhance the steering, you think?

[xj sean]

I can't imagine how it could. the point of a gyro in a helicopter is to counteract the copters natural desire to rotate in the opposite direction of the blade.

Exactly what would the gyro be stabilizing in a car/truck?

[InspGadgt]

It's been done. In fact there was an ESC that had a gyro built in. As for what a gyro does in a car...when set properly it will countersteer automatically when the back end gets loose. Problem is it wasn't very consistant, needed constant adjustment, was really hard to get used to letting the car counter steer for you, and I believe deemed illegal by all race sanctioning bodies.

[crushed]

if you put a gyro in a a car and you go into a corner you will most likely flip the car. a gyro in a chopper blows air at a certain speed to counteract the rotating blades. a gyro works best on two wheeled vehicles because it promotes stabilitythats why you can ride no-handed on a bike.

[InspGadgt]

Originally posted by crushed
if you put a gyro in a a car and you go into a corner you will most likely flip the car. a gyro in a chopper blows air at a certain speed to counteract the rotating blades. a gyro works best on two wheeled vehicles because it promotes stabilitythats why you can ride no-handed on a bike.

That's not a gyro that's the tail rotor. The gyro is in the electronics to help with navigation. The gyro sits in a gimble and once spun up doesn't change direction when the chopper does. They use the difference between the direction the gyro is pointing to the direction the chopper is pointing to determine it's exact heading. In RC choppers it's used to control the tail rotor. The input from the gyro uses the tail rotor to counter act the main rotor's torque and other external forces to keep it flying and hovering straight.

[KMac]

Consider this, though: could you use a gyro to maintain pitch of a off-road vehicle when jumping? Currently it's done through use of the throttle to nose the vehicle up or down when in the air. I'm certain a gyro could be integrated into the throttle circuit to help do this.

[InspGadgt]

Interesting thought...

[KMac]

Disclaimer:

The above mentioned idea of integrating a gyro into the throttle circuit to control vehicle pitch is the sole intellectual property of myself, KMac, and is not to be used without prior written consent along with a big fat check. Any manufacturer caught utilizing this technology will be pursued legally. :p

[Spoon37]

AFAIK - gyros only act on steering cars - they cant really adjust the pitch of a car in the air unless it has wings/flaps or you let it handle the throttle for you(neither is viable)

they are sometimes used on RC dragsters because they can stabilise the direction of the car alot quicker than the driver.

I have often wondered how this would work on a monster truck - i.e. gyroscopically stabilised 4ws - so that the gyro keeps the vehicle from tipping yet allows the tightest steering form full 4ws(which normally makes them tippy)

;)

[KMac]

Originally posted by Spoon37
AFAIK - gyros only act on steering cars - they cant really adjust the pitch of a car in the air unless it has wings/flaps or you let it handle the throttle for you(neither is viable)

I could have sworn I said integrate it into the throttle circuit.:confused:

Anyways, a gyro can be used to function in any axis depending on how it is mounted. As it is already an established "viable" method for manually controlling pitch by using the throttle while in the air, why would it not be able to adjust the pitch by commanding the throttle on it's own?

[papazilla]

gyros are also used in airplanes to make aerobatic manuevers more crisp. Gyros are used to stabalize to a neutral plane such as an RC motorcycle left to right in the vertical plane. In a helicopter it is used to stabablize the tail for its natural yaw tendency from the main rotor. I cannot see what it would stabalize on a car.

[KMac]

Think of the offroad cars in the air during a jump. Currently you have to manually throttle the car to stabilize it. A gyro could be used here just like it does to stabilize the yaw of a helicopter. The pitch of the car is simply yaw turned 90 degrees.

[papazilla]

I am not sure I would want something to stabalize the attitude of my car during a jump. The fore and aft control comes with the throttle. If I want to land slightly nose down to hit the backside of a jump I tap the brake.

[KMac]

...and you would still be able to do that because once you provide any manual input you override the gyro.

[masshybrid]

I'm going to get a Segway, mount my Rex P5 and Mugshots on it and toast the competition. That'll be one bad azz hybrid.

[KMac]

NOW you're talkin'!!:D

[born2rc]

You could also set the gyro to keep your nose down like you want it.

[Grant Tokumi]

I'm not really familiar with gyros and how they react to inputs, but I'm wondering if you have a gyro to stabilize the car/truck's angle in the air, what happens on the ground? Like what happens if you are accelerating and go up a jump? Would the gyro suddenly put the brakes on to try and flatten the angle of the car since it is now pointed in an upward direction?

Interesting topic though. Someone should try it in their car.

FWIW, some combat robots use gyros to stabalize the steering, especially full body spinners. I understand it makes a significant difference in keeping the vehicle stable while the outer shell is spinning up at high rpms. And if any of you follow the different Battlebot drivers, the builder of Bad Attitude (120 lb red wedge bot) uses a gyro in his 2 wheeled 60 pound vehicle New Attitude. I've seen that guy do some very stable looking powerslides which is normally VERY difficult to do with a 2 wheeled vehicle.

One thing I kind of pondered was adding a very large and heavy flywheel dics in the center of the vehicle that could spin in the same direction as the tires. Accelerating and deccelerating that wheel would create some super duper front flips and back flips. Or mount the flywheel parallel to the ground, and the same actions will make the car want to do some weird looking top spins (car spins from the bird's eye view).

[KMac]

Throttle or brake input would override the gyro. So if you're on the ground and accelerating or braking it would act normally, or at least mostly normally as some gyro circuits could still want to dampen your inputs somewhat. Once you got in the air if you let the throttle go to neutral the gyro would respond to add throttle or brake to correct it's pitch.

I have no doubt this would work with properly tuned gains on the gyro.

[papazilla]

I reccomend trying a Piezo gyro instead of a mechanical one if you are going to try it. Piezo gyros are lighter and more sensitive. I am pretty confident, however, this would be a novelty thing and offer very little real world use.

[rccardude04]

http://members.cox.net/rccardude04/segway%20type%20R.jpg
-Eric

[aramis]

Kyosho actually made a "gyro" for car and truck use in the early 90s.You could set the sensitivity and everything.If you went into a slide,it would countersteer.I never had one,but I still have an old Tower Hobbies catalog with it in it.If you want a pic,I will post one.Later,Jeff

[masshybrid]

Originally posted by rccardude04
http://members.cox.net/rccardude04/segway%20type%20R.jpg
-Eric Damn! You beat me to it! Actually, I called Segway last night and placed an order for the Type S version. Similar to the Type R, with no front air dam, 11" wheels instead of the full bling bling 15" spinners, and smaller diameter sway bars. The Type S is intended for the daily commuter during the week and the weekend warrior come Friday night.

Way off topic. Oh well.

[KMac]

Originally posted by papazilla
I reccomend trying a Piezo gyro instead of a mechanical one if you are going to try it. Piezo gyros are lighter and more sensitive. I am pretty confident, however, this would be a novelty thing and offer very little real world use.

Piezo gyros are the only one's I'd even consider for these types of projects as they are very small and experience no drift. A real mechanical gyro can experience drift and requires additional technology to null that out.

We used to use the piezo gyros out of video cameras to build an autopilot package for a small UAV flying wing. They work great. Couple it with a GPS unit and you can basically fly anywhere you want to, autonomously.

[rccardude04]

Originally posted by masshybrid
Damn! You beat me to it! Actually, I called Segway last night and placed an order for the Type S version. Similar to the Type R, with no front air dam, 11" wheels instead of the full bling bling 15" spinners, and smaller diameter sway bars. The Type S is intended for the daily commuter during the week and the weekend warrior come Friday night.

Way off topic. Oh well.

Personally, I like my ESversion. It allowed for more customization. The Type-R is just too much for me. I added my own NOS system and turbo/intercooler. The wing just gets in the way. Tried that for a while too. I do like the tach though. Just adds a little sex appeal ya know? ;)
-Eric

[GTCanuk]

Thats no a wing it is a seat. Just add the seatbelts!