Joey777

Hey All,

I'm seeking some advice around tank control boards or control options for a scale RC tank model I am building.
I've been working on a project to scratch build a 1/10 scale Leopard 2 AV prototype and I had planned to used the Open Panzer control board to control it but unfortunately that has been discontinued by HobbyKing and so now I'm struggling to work out what kind alternatives are out there.

The tank hull itself is about 740mm long and about 350mm wide including tracks. I am guestimating that it will be in the ball park of around 30kgs, possibly more once completed.

My goal is to have it reach a top speed of between 10-15kph and have as realistic as possible steering and preferably be able to steer from one joystick. I E. I don't want to control one motor with one stick and the other with the other stick and do manual steering like that. I would prefer if the control board was able to mix it.
From a motor perspective I was considering using two 2600kv brushless motors with about 28:1 gearing to achieve this speed but that is obviously up for change depending on what the control board I go with is capable of handling.

Some turret control capabilities on the board would also be good to have as I plan to have 360 degree turret rotation (by use of a slip ring connector) and barrel elevation. I also wanted to fit a gel blaster gearbox in the turret for fun and games but that's more of an optional thing if it works out.

Any suggestions or advice on the control boards or anything else would be greatly appreciated.

tankme

I don't know of any "tank control boards" that will do brushless motors. You would need a board that can do separate off-board ESCs if you go brushless.

The IBU3 has internal motor control (brushed) or can be connected to an external ESC (either brushed or brushless).

Elmod Fusion PRO control board can do external ESCs for brushed or brushless motors. It has an onboard 10A brushed ESC per motor.

Of course the Open Panzer board has to be used with external ESCs (brushed or brushless).

I have experimented with the Open Panzer board using bushless motors and ESCs. I got frustrated with the brushless ESCs since most of them are designed for cars. I didn't have any luck with being able to get rid of the deadband most of them have or having to stop before reversing in certain cases. Makes controlling the tank really difficult with the deadband. I'm to the point of converting back to brushed motors.

You can also bypass having a control board. Two ESCs can be mixed via your radio or via a hardware mixing circuit to put control of both tracks on one stick. Sound can come from a Benedini TBS Mini sound card in that situation. Servo switches can control lights and other functions.

tankme

I've wondered about these boards since I found them. I don't think they have been discussed here before. This one has a 30A/channel brushed ESC onboard, but it won't do brushless natively or with external ESC:

https://www.sgs-electronic.de/websho.../190_TVC-B-30L

I think 30A brushed would be enough for a 1/10th tank.

Joey777

Thanks that's really helpful!
i don't really have a preference for brushed or brushless so that is really handy to know about the complications with brushless ESC's.

I'll have a look into the ones you have suggested.

Thanks!

Joey777

Thanks for this suggestion. That one looks really good so I'll do some reading up on the manual.
Unfortunately I don't read German so that is a potential downside for me but I'll see how Google translate goes on it.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Crius

Hey Joey, you might want to take a look at my thread for the 1/6 scale hetzer. I ended up using a sabertooth for motor control but I have an IBU two in there to take care of things like turret rotation, gun elevation, sound effects, Etc. If you think it will be helpful I can get you a link to both of the threads I did when I get home from work. Just let me know.

Imex-Erik

If you want an ESC that can bypass these issues you want to check into BLHeli_32 ESCs. They are cheap (30A is around $9-11ea), reliable, and HIGHLY configurable. They are meant for multirotors including 3D motors which would be easy for tanks/cars/boats as you can change all kinds of settings including the reversal time and such. If you are interested let me know and I'll get you some more info on them.

tankme

Eric,

I looked into them, but there were so many on the market I got overwhelmed with info. If you have info on a specific type of BL controller, I could use some of my time off to take a look at them again since I'm probably going to be getting on offer letter soon... I'll still have about a month to play before I start my new job.

Joey777

Hey Crisis,

That would be amazing if you could do that.
I'm keen to see how other people have done it and learn as much as possible form them.

Cheers

Crius

Here's the thread. I get the IBU in at post #102, and I'm using a sabertooth 2x32 for motor control. The IBU does a lot more than sound, I use the IR barrel recoil circuit to pull the trigger on the paintball cannon, and I have the remote MG 34 on the gun turret rotation circuit (I have elevation and traverse on pots on the flysky i10). I also use the IBU for smoke.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-t...project-4.html

Joey777

Thanks Crius, your Hetzer looks amazing!

I think the Sabertooth is probably the way to go for what I am doing. Looks pretty simple to setup and use and it seems to just work well. Are there any things I should watch out for with the Sabertooth?
Works out to be an acceptable price once I factor in shipping it to Australia which is a bonus too.

I'll have more of a look into the IBU as I might just be able to achieve what I need with servos or stepper motors but I'll see how I go. My main concern with the IBU is they seem to be hard to get in Australia and also quite expensive and I might not really use its capabilities enough to justify it.

Thank you so much for your advice, it is most helpful.

Crius

You're down under? You really need to talk to Kevin Granum. With the right motors and a 12 volt lipo you can probably use an Asp, and that would be something to behold. That board has a zillion features and if Kevin finds it interesting I'm sure he can come up with an awesome system. How close are you to Salisbury Queensland? I know Australia is huge, are you anywhere close?

Joey777

Oh cool, I had seen the ASP's but I hadn't really looked into them yet so I wasn't sure what they could do.
I am actually not far at all from Salisbury which is convenient! Is Kevin RCTanks Australia? That seems to be the website that sells them here.
If so I'll reach out to him and see what he thinks.

Thanks!

Rad_Schuhart

Sorry for the cold water, but as far as I know there are not, and there wont be more ASP boards.

I am the first that cries at nights about that...

Joey777

Oh that's a shame!
Oh well, I think that the options with the Sabertooth and potential the IBU board would be good so I think I'll head down that path for now.

Massive thank you to all who have posted.

Crius

I'd contact Kevin anyway. You never know what might be hidden in a drawer somewhere, and if the project interests him you never know what might happen. You might want to register at his forum and contact him there.