Gyro for cars... ?

[EddieWeeks]

I have been flying rc jets for years and it was found that a gyro
on the nose gear stearing made all the difference in the
world for going in a strait line..

http://www.rcheli.com/jrpg410t.htm

I am putting one in my car and was wondering has anyone else
used them in a car ?
Eddie Weeks
http://bellsouthpwp.net/w/e/weeks1/car.html

[Hz-R]

I've thought about this as well. Should make the car a lot more stable.

I know there were specific car units with traction control and gyro assisted steering a few years ago. You would just plug em in between your receiver and servo/esc.
Quite a few people used them in Germany, I just don't know which company made them..
They got baned from racing for obvious reasons! and after that dissapeared off the market..

[wimmerma]

Yes, GM-Racing made them called ASP or X-S speed controller.
Nice pieces of workmanship

[rsilvers]

I just put one in my RC18T with 8000v motor and it seems to be making a huge difference in preventing spinout. I will play more. It is very fun to try this. Just think -- it is making about 50 corrections a second.

[___rollin___]

Originally Posted by rsilvers

I just put one in my RC18T with 8000v motor and it seems to be making a huge difference in preventing spinout. I will play more. It is very fun to try this. Just think -- it is making about 50 corrections a second.

You're aware that the last post in this thread was 2 years ago aren't you?

Besides that, cool!

[jhbronx]

It seems like a traction control device would be very necessary in a 2wd vehicle. I believe the lack of such a device is the reason why you don't see 2wd touring cars being raced. Only pan cars on high traction surfaces.

[Mod Man]

I have been running gyros in my cars for a while now (I am a heli guy at heart). Anyway, they provide a HUGE improvement in controllability. My top speed TC4 is puting out nearly 1400 watts yet is completely stable with the gyro.

Cool.

Matt

[fasterthanspeed]

Originally Posted by Mod Man

I have been running gyros in my cars for a while now (I am a heli guy at heart). Anyway, they provide a HUGE improvement in controllability. My top speed TC4 is puting out nearly 1400 watts yet is completely stable with the gyro.

Cool.

Matt

Mod Man are you going to next years speedchallenge?

[Mod Man]

I would love to. I have to wait and see, though.

I hit a calculated 98.03 MPH with my TC4 today. That was the first top speed, full throttle run the car has seen. It was not radared, though. That speed was calculated by my VSM and my Eagle Tree data aquisition system. I am not sure how much of that is wheel spin, though. At any rate, that indicated speed was achieved at 64,454 RPM. I have an 8 turn Hacker coming that will spin up at 98,000 rpm (with ceramic bearings). I also have a radical new ESC coming as well. That should give the car a theoretical top speed of over 130 MPH. However, I highly doubt I will have a chance to see that speed realized merely due to space constraints. The 98 MPH run took up pretty much all the smooth road I have here. Oh, on the bench, I have seen the motor pull 1800 watts from the pack. However, on that 98 MPH run, the motor only pulled 1197 watts. So, there is ALOT more available with gearing or a higher KV motor. I am opting for the latter.

Oh, that 98 MPH speed was achieved with no body!

Also, the TC4 has a bum center shaft. I had to cut and sleeve it to make it a larger diameter hollow shaft. That cured the shaft resonation that TC4s are known for.

I hope to get the car radared once I see an indicated speed of over 100 MPH. That shouldn't be too difficult at this point. However, I am totally freakin at the fact that there are guys over 130. That is totally insane! When my car blew by me (probably about 75 or 80 MPH at that point) it was almost invisible from the high speed. I would love to have been standing near it when it topped out. 134 has got to be pure nuts to watch.

Matt

[fasterthanspeed]

The venom speed meter is not accurate mod man. They dont take in account for wheel spin. By the way did you make the carbon fiber fan mount in the back of the rc car?

[Mod Man]

In my previous post I mention the fact that wheel spin may account for some of the speed. That is why I am hesitant to get too fired up about the speed. I am aware of the problems with calculating speed by wheel rotation. I am building a slave wheel system like used on full size cars that will trail behind and give me better top speed info. That will be alot better.

I mounted two fans against the motor, one over the top and one on the side. There just so happen to be a couple holes that perfectly line up with two fan mounting holes. So, I used those for the top fan and double sided foam tape to hold the other fan.

I finally have the body mounted (Protoform Stratus). I extended the foam bumper to perfectly fit the inside of the nose. This will prevent body deformation at top speed.

I am also shifting my intent of this project. I am no longer going for absolute top speed. Now I am pushing to make it as fast as I can while retaining driveability and reliability. I recalibrated my VSM and My Eagle Tree. The car is running consistant 94 to 96 MPH. I have a new pinion on order that will push that to about 106. That will be plenty for me.

One reason I am not too freaked out about the wheel spin issue is that the car tops out and still has room to go while wound out. It hits full speed and I have about 1.5 to 2 seconds of time with the car wound out. So, I am assuming any wheel spin has settled down and I am getting a relatively reasonable idea of the top speed at that point. If it is still wheel spinning, then I know all I need is a little more room to let it wind out. But, judging by the sound of it as each run progresses, it sure "Sounds" like it is totally wound out. A radar will be the confirmation of that. But, I want to get my new pinion to get it well over an indicated 100 before I have it radared.

I am not pushing for any world record. I just want to see 100.

Matt