The History of Speed Controls?

[Grastens 2795]

I was thinking about how little I know about the subject the other night.

I know that there were mechanical speed controls that were eventually superseded by electronic types, and I know a bit about how each one works, but I have no idea about other things like: who created the first one for use in a radio-controlled model, when they did and who first made it commercially viable.

Initially I heard something about the original Tamiya Bruiser using what can be considered one of the first ESCs, and something else about a now-prominent RC car company producing the first-ever ESC, but I am quite unclear on it and would like to learn more. If anybody can shed more light on the subject it would be much appreciated!

[matman 1499]

Yes this would be a great idea . That would be some fantastic RC history .

I would like to know as well .

Who or what company came up with it 1st , what types were around in that time .

Even msc or esc types .

Great idea Grastens ....

[bromvw 744]

As far as i know the first commercialy l available rc cars were produced by Mardave in the mid to late 1960's . Interestingly Mardave are still in business today

[B.M.T. 127]

The "transistorised" Tamiya unit that Grastens mentioned was actually for the original Hilux, not sure it would of coped with the Bruiser's 750. It still required a servo to operate, but did it's voltage reduction through diode and transistor packs. Koford made a slotcar hand control based on this technology in the 90's. Instead of a servo, it had a finger.

[fastfordrc 22]

The first ESCs for use in RC cars were made by Don McKay of Jerobee/JoMac in the mid-seventies, forming part of their 'Brick' integrated receiver/servo/ESC module. You can see the heatsink at the rear on this old ad picture:

Also see this link where someone has gutted an original unit to fit modern gear into a on old Jerobee car:

http://www.rc10talk....hp?f=33&t=29015

The JoMac design was relatively simple though, and although people started developing the idea a lot of drivers continued using MSCs, which were also still being developed (with braking resistors being added and so on). The first solid-state MOSFET-based ESC as we know them today (the Delta AutoDrive) was developed by Kevin Orton in 1981 while he was a driver for the Delta factory 1/12th onroad team (he then went on to form Tekin): The Mk1 version is on the left here, with the Mk2 on the right:

Between the JoMac and AutoDrive speed controllers there were other designs around in the late 70s/early 80s for 1/12th onroad that were either simpler transistor designs or electro-mechanical (a mixture of transistors and relays used to switch between multiple speed steps - the Hilux E-MSC was similar to this except it used a servo to switch between the steps).

It was around the early 80s when they first started appearing in 1/10th offroad (once it was possible to make them at least semi-waterproof). Acoms even made the AP35 specifically for the SRBs ( http://www.studio68....ult.asp?id=6400 ) though that was still an electro-mechanical design.

[Grastens 2795]

Thanks for that wealth of information; it was the kind of history primer I needed! The approach with 'the brick' on the JoMac cars was interesting, as was the perspective when the modern electronics fit with plenty of space inside the shell on that project.

Eventually I did realize I meant the Hilux using that transistorized unit, though had no idea there were so many intermediate MSC and 'E-MSC' models before the first ESC. I wonder if Orton's car had any immediate performance benefit on the track with the ESC - that is, if he ever went racing with it...

[fastfordrc 22]

. I wonder if Orton's car had any immediate performance benefit on the track with the ESC - that is, if he ever went racing with it...

It was very successful. Delta had been one of the big names in 1/8th onroad racing since the late 1960s, and Art Carbonell was their star driver, wining numerous championships. Towards the end of the 70s 1/12th onroad was becoming more popular, so Delta started looking at producting a car to compete in that class (their first design, the Phaser, was an upgrade kit for the then-dominant Associated RC12E). Delta signed up Kevin Orton to assist in this effort (he already had a reputation for innovative ideas in the 1/12th racng scene). Kevin's first big improvement was introducing the t-bar and oil damper suspension system for the rear motor pod on the Super Phaser:

This then went on to be universally adopted by everyone else, and is still the template for current pan car designs.

Art Carbonell won the 1982 1/12th Modified World Championship with the Super Phaser, but he was still using a resistor-based speed controller at the time (the one to have then was called the 'Work-Rite', which used a bank of 8 resistors). Kevin came up with a clever modification for the throttle stick on the team's radios - a switch that moved the servo arm just past the upper limit of it's throw. This was turned on before putting the car on the grid and the stick was pushed full forward. When the race started the switch was turned off and you got instant full throttle off the line without having to wait for the servo to move it's full throw (similar to what a lot of full-size sports cars can do now with full-throttle starts), When the AutoDrive ESC was introduced though, the MSC became obsolete in racing.

Orton also developed the technique of matching cells to build packs - before this racers usually brought a crate of packs to each event, using a new pack for each race. The Delta factory drivers with their matched cell packs would only bring 3 packs for an entire event. The other major development Orton came up with was peak detection charging, with Delta producing the first commercially-available chargers (hence why they became known as 'Delta Peak' - the name is a 'Hoover/Vacuum Cleaner' situation).

Unfortunately, as seems to be the case with a lot of technically brilliant people, he was not a brilliant businessman. By all accounts he did not have very good interpersonal skills.either (which is one of the reasons Delta were happy for him to leave and set up Tekin) and it became apparent to his employees he had mental issues. He invested his money into property which did very well for him, so when running the company became too much (he ended up refusing to answer phone calls or orders from distributors) he wound it up and disappeared from the RC world. He has no connection to the current Team Tekin company.

[Gruntfuggly 562]

The other major development Orton came up with was peak detection charging, with Delta producing the first commercially-available chargers (hence why they became known as 'Delta Peak' - the name is a 'Hoover/Vacuum Cleaner' situation).

That's interesting - I always thought it was delta peak because the way you could measure when the pack peaked was to check the rate of change of charging rate (ie, the delta value)... you learn something new every day!

[pizzachaude 130]

I have some old ESCs that actually use a relay for the reverse. They are Hitec Aristo-craft model SP-1500, when you give it reverse you here the big relay click, I have never seen any other ESC with a relay before, but I'm not as old as some of you....

[MAD RACER 566]

That's some great info fastfordrc.

I have read a lot on Kevin, Very mixed up guy indeed but never knew he drove for Delta.

Thanks

[Champ85 609]

Hah! I always thought the term "Delta Peak" detection meant the charge cycle was complete once the "delta" (difference) between the highest detected voltage (peak) and the drop in voltage reached a certain level (like 0.03V, etc.) as the cells became fully charged, not that it was a reference to the original manufacturer "Delta". In this case, the meaning works both ways.

Thanks for the cool insight into ESC development, fastfordrc.