AboutMatt Coia Expertise I can answer questions about r/c cars and trucks including on-road and off-road vehicles. I am knowledgeable in both nitro and electric powered vehicles. I can also handle questions about repair and maintenance of any wheeled vehicle.
Experience I have owned and raced many different kinds of vehicles. I also help administer a busy website devoted to the r/c hobby. I have done repair work for hobbyshops in the past and have helped many beginners get started in the hobby. I also operate a middle school r/c club.
Organizations ROAR, Mensa, NSTA
Publications www.wnyrcinfo.com
Education/Credentials I am a certified Physics teacher now teaching middle school science and Physics in New York State.
Question QUESTION: IM am 16 years of age and planing to build a RC car from scratch in my engineering Tec class. I can use store bot parts like servos ECU’s wheels a motor.... But my chase and steering as well as my drive trine has to be from scratch.
i have a CNC machine and rhino (program like auto kade ) available
ANSWER: Hi Corey,
Sounds like a great project! I would start by looking at how RC cars are normally built by a manufacturer. Many manufacturer websites have exploded views of their cars. Here's an example:
Try googling "exploded view" with some different manufacturers like HPI, LOSI, ASSOCIATED, TRAXXAS, DURATRAX, TAMIYA, KYOSHO, XRAY, SCHUMACHER, CORALLY, etc.
There are many different types of steering mechanisms. Some are directly off the servo and others use pivots and such to transmit the servo movement to the wheels.
Drivelines are also varied with some systems running belt drives and others running gears. The most simple to build is called direct drive which simply has a pinion gear on the motor and a spur gear on the rear axle to transmit power to the wheels. The exploded views can help you see what each manufacturer uses. A large number of vehicles use 4 wheel drive systems but that may be more complex than you want to get into on your project.
Good Luck. Keep me posted on your project and let me know if you have any questions.
Matt
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi its Corey I just finished my chaise on rhino but before I use the plasmacam to cut it out I wold like to ask you one more question . How do you think l can keep my servo safe in event that sum thing goes horribly wrong. Knock on wood.
Ps do you know any light way to reinforce my chaise
Answer I wouldn't worry too much about the servo. I've had some horrible crashes (including 50+ mph into a concrete light pole) and never had a servo break. There just isn't enough mass, compared to the rest of the car, to receive any major damage. A servo is more likely to fail if it's linkage to the wheels is misaligned or not free-moving (sticky, tight). Then the gears or motor inside could fail.
I don't know of any ways to reinforce the chassis but you may want to think about having the edges curve up to make it more of a tub than a flat piece of metal. That will make it stronger for sure.
