i am hoping to make a micro remote control plane as small as possible using only simple components and electro magnets and stuff like this, it would be good if i could use it with my other rc plane transmitters so it works through a 35mhz crystal oscillator, i would like three outputs for the electro magnets and an output for a motor preferably with proportional control. i am asking if anyone could give me any help writing up some circuit diagrams for the receiver/speed controller. if i have not given enough info, just post

 

I can't help you too much on the building of the micro circuits. There have been tremendous advances in the past 10 years. Practical models the size of your hand have been made. Such micro aircraft are a recognized subdivision of the larger world of RC. The Academy of Model Aeronautics (www.modelaircraft.org) in the USA can provide contacts and lots of information. I am sure there is an equivalent organization in GB. The first step should be to get in touch with individuals in that part of the hobby before launching into something that challenging.

Good luck. John

 

why don't you get a picoo-z, dismantle it and use the tail rotor motor as your main motor. it's tiny enough. you can use the receiver along with the motor controll unit too if you want (it's infrared controlled though).
the circuit is build on a tiny ic with minor additional micro smd parts, so it's hard to beat it's tinyness, i guess.

 

Visit your local model airplane club flying their tiny RC models in a school gym.

The first time I went to my local model airplane club, I won an RC airplane!

 

my rc plane club dont fly inside the piccoz is only 2 channels unfortunately the tail motors are rubbish. i dont mean quite as small as the piccoz and i would kinda like to make it myself

 

all i can say, (referring to your bottom tagline saying you're not into complicated circuits and all) is that this is not an easy thing, creating your own speed controller, winding up a motor coil yourself, and the receiver? i must admit that i can't do it. maybe other members can light it up.

 

i didnt quite mean make my own motor up, i will buy that stuff, i would just like to build the rest of it, just the circuit boards.

 

The electronics aren't difficult to do! The mechanics/aerodynamics of the project are much more daunting tasks...

The best approach for the electronics is to try to find as many functions integrated as possible. If you want tiny, you can do surfacemount. Just stay away from BGAs and lead-less packages. You need to understand the tasks at hand to start designing the electronics. You need to be able to recieve a signal at a large distance from a controller. Are you going to buy your controller, or build one? If you get a ready-made reciever, it is incredibly easy to decode the control signal to drive motors on board. It is just a matter of using some three-phase bridges for brushless, or 2 phase for DC. You can get small servos to interface with a reciever for the ailerons...

The possibilities are endless. You will be trading off size, performance, and complexity through out the entire process.

Steve

 

For the small radio stuff, you are talking about multi-layer, surface mount and microcontrollers. That can be overwhelming to take on all at once, if you have limited experience. My advice still is to start from a known point with which you are familiar, find out what is being done already, deal with the mechanical and connection issues, AND make improvements in the electronics consistent with what you know and learn along the way.

Success will lead to more success. Failure will lead to frustration and abandonment of what could be a very interesting project and life-long hobby. To start off thinking you can build all of those circuits at the same time as you are trying to solve the mechanical and aerodynamic issues isn't going to work.
John

 

Many indoor RC model airplanes use the very small and lightweight radio, activators and motor from a mini $10.00 RC car. They use small lithium rechargeable batteries.

 

i have a very small receiver i could use but i would assume it would be lighter to build it all as one unit.

 

For the small radio stuff, you are talking about multi-layer, surface mount and microcontrollers. That can be overwhelming to take on all at once, if you have limited experience. My advice still is to start from a known point with which you are familiar, find out what is being done already, deal with the mechanical and connection issues, AND make improvements in the electronics consistent with what you know and learn along the way.

I disagree with the notion that multilayer PCBs are needed, that's if you are referring to 4 or more layers. I have done some fairly complex stuff with radio and microcontrollers on board with only two layers and I do not remember struggling to get it all on there. I really appreciate what you are trying to get across though, it is much like re-inventing the wheel over and over on a single project. For a beginner hobbiest, sometimes a quick payoff is what you need to get confidence and inspiration, but failure is inevitable and it must be experienced one time or another.

Steve

 

i have a very small receiver i could use but i would assume it would be lighter to build it all as one unit.

You can extract the PCB from the casing, then mount it intelligently. It would be extremely unlikely that you would be able to produce on that is smaller, even with the lack of wiring and connectors needed.

Steve