How to keep your RC models safely controlled and prevent mayhem!

This failsafe unit was developed for use in radio control (RC) models, originally for combat robots, but it can be applied to any land-based RC model.

There is a statutory requirement for such a failsafe device, in particular with the rules associated with the use of fighting robots. The safety aspect is, of course, of paramount importance.

In RC systems, especially when there is a fault, such as in the case of the loss of transmitter signal at the receiver, the effect could be to send the robot or model into uncontrollable action and cause damage to property, the model itself, or indeed to bystanders.

This unit is designed to sense the moment of failure of the RC system and put the robot or model into a safe condition, rendering it motionless.

There are commercial failsafes on the market, but they only provide a settable pulse width output during the failure of the system. This steady signal is used to provide a stable failsafe pulse to the model’s speed controller during a loss of signal.

This failsafe unit is “transparent” during normal operation. During a fail situation it provides the servo or speed controller with a reliable and steady train of pulses, the value of which is set by a preset potentiometer. When the unit is used with a speed controller, on a model boat for instance, the latter’s supply can be switched off via a relay during failsafe, and the controller put into neutral – a belt and braces approach maybe, but it is better to err on the side of caution!