3D Printing Parts for my Revolt

[Hydrocarbon82]

A while back I got a 3D Printer for mostly business-related reasons (or so I tell myself lol). I got a used Aquacraft Revolt 30 that was mostly stock, but I had some other gear to transfer to the boat. The interesting thing about these parts is their weight - less than 1/3 an ounce for all of them. The orange is PLA and the black is PETG.

First was to find a way to stuff a 150A Flycolor ESC (essentially an OSE Raider) into this cramped boat w/o moving the battery tray. The first pic shows the final wedge holding up the ESC (tape for the hull, velcro & zipties for esc) and the small test wedge above for reference. The 10awg wires and the wedge lips keep the zipties in place, which are to keep the ESC from wiggling.




Next was the servo tie bar. I found a file for a Traxxas battery bar then resized it to fit. The original mount relied mostly on wedging the servo between the uprights, this keeps it really stiff.




Last was the antenna mount. The previous owner had a good idea with a horizontal tube glued under the lip, but it was too easy to accidentally rip it off. My solution was a glorified base & tube with a hole at the bottom. It's tapered to fit a FlySky tube, has a curved entry for a no-headache wire feeding, and a 30 degree base to match the hull. I tried modding some FPV Copter antenna mounts, but decided to make it from scratch. It's VERY tedious, but each model teaches me a lot more about the Blender software I use.

[lt130th]

That antenna mount is pretty slick. I hate external mounts sticking up through the hull. I have always tried to manufacture an internal antenna holder using carbon fiber plate and rubber grommets. Have you thought about an internal antenna mount that would essentially be the same as flipping an external, through-hull mount upside down, and mounting it from the inside...only instead of any threads coming through the exterior of the hull, simply glue the mount on the inside? What I'm picturing in my head ressembles an orange traffic cone, but with a through-hole the diameter of the antenna tube. Glue the base to tge underside of the hull deck, and run only a clear tube up through the exterior. That seems to me to be the most imvisible antenna solution. 3D printing is a game-changer. Nice work.

[Tamelesstgr]

Love the ingenuity in designing your own solution. How expensive is the material used in the printer?

[Mike Caruso]

Very nice parts that makes what if?.............fun because its I MADE THIS

[longballlumber]

Nice... I recently purchased a small filament printer and have many ideas boat related. What glue type are you using between the boat and the PLA? I assume they are stating in place OK? I have been concerned about getting a good joint between the PLA and the epoxy I use.

Later

[Mxkid261]

Where is WI are you? I'm in between Madison and Milwaukee (Lake Country area)

[Hydrocarbon82]

Mxkid, I'm roughly the same area. I do my boating on the west side of Waukesha County. I'm a bit spoiled since my parent's lake has almost no weeds and the other areas see regular de-weeding.

lt130th, I think I understand your design - it still has a small bit sticking thru the hull? It would be possible. I picked this design because it was easy to mount, kept the antenna upright (Tx and Rx should be pointing in the same direction), is a few MM's from the hatch roof, and didn't require any drilling/sanding. Mounting it under the top-side of the hull wouldn't be any different.

As far as glue epoxy should work with PLA and PETG, paricularly if you have it flow over a lip at the base. Most plastic RC parts are made from ABS, so I'd recommend that if you worry. PLA can be lightly sanded for more grip and doesn't gum up like many plastics. I think the only worry with PLA is it can absorb a little moisture & therefore swell to some degree, but most hulls flex more than that from torque, waves, flips, etc.

For these parts I just used 3M double-stick tape (grey for automotive molding) and it has crazy grip. When I pulled the ESC off my other boat (1x2" chunk), I used 2 full-sized screw drivers to get it off & feared I'd crack the case. I sanded the wedge & cleaned the hull under it but didn't even clean the residue off the antenna base (in a hurry) and it is really stuck!


So far I've been impressed even with the no-name filament my QIDI printer came with. I printed some rock crawler beadlock wheels based on 3-pc Axial design - they are holding up and have a lot more "structure" than the originals despite the same weight. The trick is the parts are mostly hollow with internal honeycomb bracing (% of bracing can be adjusted).

[lt130th]

lt130th, I think I understand your design - it still has a small bit sticking thru the hull? It would be possible. I picked this design because it was easy to mount, kept the antenna upright (Tx and Rx should be pointing in the same direction), is a few MM's from the hatch roof, and didn't require any drilling/sanding. Mounting it under the top-side of the hull wouldn't be any different.

Oh, I didn't realize your antenna was internal. All of my boats have carbon inlays and carbon on the hatch so I have to get the antennas through the hull, to the top side. I WISH I could keep ALL the antennas on the inside.

[Hydrocarbon82]

I get your idea better now. My pic is misleading due to how I cropped it. Your idea is simply puts the base just under the deck with the antenna whip passing into the open. All that would be needed is a larger base for the epoxy to grab. You could epoxy the base & tube then either seal & secure the antenna with silicone, or use a cap & internal ziptie to secure the antenna.

Here's a design I had found that you'd just have to invert the tube placement on: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:585395

If you really want to minimize an exterior antenna, you could just find a small grommet with a "zero" diameter then leave the antenna whip direct exposed. Only the last 28mm creates the signal on a 2.4ghz antenna, which is the silver part under a clear tube. The remainder is a grounded coax shield. You could even pass it out and seal it under a decal if crazy range isn't needed. You won't have perfect reception at 1/2 mile with a fluttering or horizontal antenna, but certainly more than the old skool FM radios.

[Hydrocarbon82]

Here's a better pic of the antenna height and an overall shot:

[lt130th]

I get your idea better now. My pic is misleading due to how I cropped it. Your idea is simply puts the base just under the deck with the antenna whip passing into the open. All that would be needed is a larger base for the epoxy to grab. You could epoxy the base & tube then either seal & secure the antenna with silicone, or use a cap & internal ziptie to secure the antenna.

Here's a design I had found that you'd just have to invert the tube placement on: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:585395

If you really want to minimize an exterior antenna, you could just find a small grommet with a "zero" diameter then leave the antenna whip direct exposed. Only the last 28mm creates the signal on a 2.4ghz antenna, which is the silver part under a clear tube. The remainder is a grounded coax shield. You could even pass it out and seal it under a decal if crazy range isn't needed. You won't have perfect reception at 1/2 mile with a fluttering or horizontal antenna, but certainly more than the old skool FM radios.

Yeah, that would do the same thing. I usually do something like this on the interior...

20150809_221228.jpg

...but a little poly base would be so much easier. I only leave about 1.5in of antenna tube outside the hull, and let that last 28mm of antenna wire exit the top. Sometimes, not even a tube...I put a rubber cap on the aluminum antenna tube base, and pass the end of the antenna wire through it.

[lt130th]

There are a lot of guys over on RCGroups.com that post 3D printing services. You send them a model and they'll print as many as you want for a set rate. Maybe you can jump in on that venture to help justify the business purpose for the printer.

[Hydrocarbon82]

So ya or nah? I figure a bit of silicone in the tube with the antenna pulled thru would both seal it & hold the wire in place. The upper hole could be reduced depending on tube size (or bare antenna).

[lt130th]

That would do it, too. I'm sure there is some part in existence already that is very similar or would work, but finding it is the hard part. I wonder why everyone drills big holes in the top of the hull for an aluminum antenna tube base, rather than something like this.

[Hydrocarbon82]

Only thing I can guess is it's a carry-over from when we needed a yard of copper for 27mHz AM radios. It needed to carry quite a load at speed.




Here's a pic of my Shockwave 26's stock mount. I've only had the tube fly off once despite many wipe-outs and lost 2 rubber caps last year. I ran it for a good hour nearly each week for 6 months. This is the most you really need sticking out of a hull for 2.4gHz, anything more would only help get over ocean waves.