Realistic/simulated acceleration and throttle response?

[self-future]

Just wondering, has anyone played with programming or building an ESC with a realistic throttle response? On 1:1 vehicles we would also be noticing the weight of the car, where on scale trucks the weight isn’t even an issue for most motors that are being used.

I do some coding and could see building an esc or programming an existing one being a fun project.

If you know of any efforts to add a simulated engine effect to an esc i would love to hear about it!

[Voodoobrew]

If you turn down the startup punch you get this already? Watch Southern Rock bouncers on YouTube and will see none of this throttle response is unrealistic. It's all about learning to not panic and smoothly squeezing the trigger not yanking it.

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[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by self-future

Just wondering, has anyone played with programming or building an ESC with a realistic throttle response? On 1:1 vehicles we would also be noticing the weight of the car, where on scale trucks the weight isn’t even an issue for most motors that are being used.

I do some coding and could see building an esc or programming an existing one being a fun project.

If you know of any efforts to add a simulated engine effect to an esc i would love to hear about it!

I don't code but I've thought about this many times. If you're driving a scaled-down version of an older truck with a 4 cylinder, the instant-on throttle response is completely unrealistic. It would need time to build revs and make power, and turning down startup punch isn't enough to get the right effect.

In my mind, it needs something like a variable maximum forward speed that would increase with time. The first instant you floor it from a standstill, you would only get 25% of full throttle. It keeps ramping up and 2 seconds later you get 50%, 1 second after that you get 75%, etc. This might be better in concept than real life but I'd like to be able to play around with it.

[JDM74]

I have messed with the startup punch on my HW1080 and with a brushed motor I can go WOT from a dead stop and not spin a tire on loose dirt. Not sure how much softer you need it to go? Try applying the throttle trigger on you TX in a more realistic fashion.

[dieselmudder]

Get a castle setup, with castle link, adjust the throttle curve accordingly, get a higher turn motor, smaller c rating on the batteries.

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[OSRC]

Run with 2s. Squeeze throttle slowly.

Done, no coding needed.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Run with 2s. Squeeze throttle slowly.

Done, no coding needed.

Funny, but true!

You'll never have the feel like you do when you're inside a 1:1.

[self-future]

Originally Posted by TooOldForThis

I don't code but I've thought about this many times. If you're driving a scaled-down version of an older truck with a 4 cylinder, the instant-on throttle response is completely unrealistic. It would need time to build revs and make power, and turning down startup punch isn't enough to get the right effect.

In my mind, it needs something like a variable maximum forward speed that would increase with time. The first instant you floor it from a standstill, you would only get 25% of full throttle. It keeps ramping up and 2 seconds later you get 50%, 1 second after that you get 75%, etc. This might be better in concept than real life but I'd like to be able to play around with it.

We are on the same page here. I appreciate the ideas about punch control, but that doesn’t really accomplish the same thing.

It’s almost like scaling back the torque value on a curve. Would be fun to try different simulated engines.

[self-future]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Run with 2s. Squeeze throttle slowly.

Done, no coding needed.

Good idea, but now i need to make the project more complicated so i can keep working on it. Building code is a fun project just like building a kit.

[Sneetches]

The closest thing to "real" I've had with RCs is probably the gas engine 1/5th stuff because they use centrifugal clutches, so they have that feeling that you don't get instant power. I'm not sure if this would work but maybe on trigger pull, add a .10 second delay, and then have it go from 0 to whatever % throttle in another .15 seconds. Of course those times are just hypothetical but it would give that .25 second delay that might add a challenge.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Sneetches

The closest thing to "real" I've had with RCs is probably the gas engine 1/5th stuff because they use centrifugal clutches, so they have that feeling that you don't get instant power. I'm not sure if this would work but maybe on trigger pull, add a .10 second delay, and then have it go from 0 to whatever % throttle in another .15 seconds. Of course those times are just hypothetical but it would give that .25 second delay that might add a challenge.

Good point! 1/5th scale handling also feels so much more realistic.


In a 1:1 there's more "slop" because the drivetrain is extensive and has play. Trucks will roll back on the rocks, etc.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Get a decent radio and use the dual rate feature to dial the throttle input down and then simply use your finger for finite control from there. You'd still be able to have full throttle at the touch of the dual rate switch when warranted.

I realize this isn't the super complicated answer that engineers crave but in the real world simplicity rules.

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by self-future

Good idea, but now i need to make the project more complicated so i can keep working on it. Building code is a fun project just like building a kit.

To make it even more of a project, you could try to simulate gearshifts too. Like when ramping from 25% to 50%, maybe it drops down to 10% for an instant. It may just end up feeling broken or glitchy, but there's only one way to find out.

[OSRC]

I had a 380 motor in my Tamiya 3-speed. Talk about a scale driving setup... didn't have the torque to climb unless you were in first gear, so I had to downshift every time I got to an obstacle. 3rd gear was useless unless you were already rolling and on a flat trail. Second was somewhere inbetween. The 540 had enough power everywhere making the 3 speed somewhat redundant. Going with the 380 made using the trans a must.

It was one of my favorite trucks to wheel, despite the limitations of the Tamiya chassis and axles. I'd like to build another someday - with all the parts that are now available, I'm sure it could be made to perform better overall.

[durok]

Build a TRX-4 with EVERY available brass replacement part on the market, it'll weigh a ton (relatively speaking) and then follow the programming tips here for your ESC.

(I'm only kidding a little bit here, it would actually make a more realistic rig. But I wouldn't want to do it, myself...)

[Voodoobrew]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Funny, but true!

You'll never have the feel like you do when you're inside a 1:1.

Yea, just have your friends shove you side to side from time to time...

[Voodoobrew]

Real vehicles don't put out much torque at low rpm, Electric motors put out the same torque at any rpm, so you would need to fix that, probably would be easier to use a mini centrifugal clutch to mirror that feeling though.

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by OSRC

I had a 380 motor in my Tamiya 3-speed. Talk about a scale driving setup... didn't have the torque to climb unless you were in first gear, so I had to downshift every time I got to an obstacle. 3rd gear was useless unless you were already rolling and on a flat trail. Second was somewhere inbetween.

That actually sounds like a lot of fun to drive. Not that I would want all of my trucks to drive like that, but to have one setup that way for when the mood strikes, why not?

The centrifugal clutch is a good idea too, albeit with some clever fabrication required. Imagine a heavy rig with a 380 motor running through a centrifugal clutch into a 3-speed, with custom laggy ESC programming... so deliciously over-complicated, I love it

[TooOldForThis]

Did I say 3 speeds? Make it 4!

tf2 with 2 speed transmission and 2 speed transfer case

I kinda want to try this. Centrifugal clutch would be tricky but the rest is totally doable.

[HumboldtEF]

I agree this is interesting conceptually but is likely to not perform as good as a gentle throttle input.

One thing you may be able to do with one of the Mamba X ESCs is use the aux wire feature and set it to power level, I've never used this feature as it more for racing and bashing. I assume you could use a 3 position switch to get 3 different power levels (if not 3 then 2 with a 2 position switch) or if you have a dial on your radio you can likely set it to use that and get a much finer control.