Motorised Throttle Quadrants

[Prof Bill]

I wonder could anybody help me with any information that might enable the construction of a (simple if possible - I know it is not!!) generic twin engined motorised throttle controller preferably driven by servos.

I need this as a demonstration/experimental piece for some young aspirational kids who are already playing around with servos and are interested also in flight simulator construction. They were quite impressed with the autopilot and felt they would try to construct and integrate a motorised throttle. Keeping it simple and cheap will help motivate and mantain their continued interest.

I would indeed be most grateful for any practical suggestions that might help me get this project off the ground on their behalf!

Bill.

[Trevor Hale]

Bill.

Phidgets makes a 100 Dollar 4 servo kit. that has 4 servo's and the controller card. Then using Alan Dyer's free software (Fs2Phidgets) it will interface with FS.

You could use it for Engine 1 and engine 2 and Spoiler if you like, and maybe even use one of the servo's for a single Needle Instrument.

Trev

[Efe Cem Elci]

Just be careful, many people have expressed that the servos in the kit aren't sufficient to motorize airliner throttle levers. Many have purchased stronger servos for the task. The ones in the kit might work for a generic but still wanted to give you a heads-up in that regard.

[hyway]

Hi Bill,
I went through 6 motors before getting the setup right.
I ended up installing a (clutch) slip plate on the motor that is adjusted by a single bolt.
You should be able to hold the throttles and let the motors run without the throttles moving, this way you will never burn out a motor, strip a gear or blow up a circuit board.
I have a real 747 throttle quadrant that has 4 built in clutches, 1 for each throttle all driven by a single gear spoke (similar to a pushbikes) I run a bike chain from this to a smaller cog and slip plate that the motor drives
http://www.maxonmotor.com/

[Prof Bill]

Many thanks to all for your excellent responses!
I need to go away and investigate all your input as all are good advice and implementable solutions. I did not appreciate that I would get such quick responses so I have been caught slightly "on-the-hop" to coin an anglosaxon saying!

Many thanks indeed to hyway, Trevor and Efe Cem Elci.

Bill.

[Trevor Hale]

Bill,

One thing to remember when your using servo's... Have your autothrottle switch be a double pole double throw switch so one side of the switch when engaged will power your servo's. this will prevent burning out the servo motors when you want to use the throttles by hand.

when you engage the auto throttle, the servo's will then be powered.

Trev