ith SSS format cages. It isn't about the limitations of the envelope so much as the limitations of the crappy, flexy stock blaster parts they get bolted to, so my intent for this is not to ever install "into" a stock blaster (though perhaps some version of it could be appended to a piece of stock blaster to replace the whole shell/cage mess up front). Secondarily, lower rotation speed and NVH, which once freed from the stock envelope is a gimme. And third was a simple matter of motors. This uses outrunners. Without that, I could not get prototype wheels printed without them self-destructing. Also, I am moving to outrunners in general. Better packaging, no shaft mounting. The speed capabilities of available, favorable motors dictate large wheels to have enough surface speed to support dynamic friction at useful velocity. So that's the way it's being done.
Prototype cage from feed end. Notable features here: 14mm bore, and low-angle feed ramp with 19mm entry diameter.
The 14mm bore is a sort of self-evident direction for cage design when dealing with high envelopments. The entering dart must be constrained to the correct position to avoid the flywheel rim pinchpoints. I have also had more messy or initially yawing Artifact Red (15mm bore on Gen2 and later) shots in combat than I like that seem to be related to rim pinch. Better round control is better, and it just seems like a good starting point. It isn't as tight as a classic DrSnikkas style tightbore and shouldn't do the negative things a tightbore does, but makes flywheel design a LOT less compromised.
The low angle feedramp; well, I don't know why Artifact and many other cages have such steep, sharp ramps that appear to have been made with an 82 degree countersink cutter. Is it really that big a deal to cut a nice gentle ramp when it's already on a CNC mill? I guess a bit more cycle time than the countersink cutter.
Flywheel cavities on the protocage are closed on the outboard end for printability of that outside bore half piece, this is possible since the flywheel can be mounted to motor and then assembly slid in and bolted down.
Here's the circular gap now visible in reality.
Putting a dart in there shows the hydrostatic contact principle quite clearly.
Look what happens to the hole in the foam! Not quite perfect since the rims have that chamfer.
Motors: Turnigy Multistar V-Spec 2205, 2350kv. Big brother to the stock FDL motor. Electrically a serious bit larger than the 2204 FDL motor. Rated to do over 400W continuous! We'll see how these start up. I didn't want to overkill things with a giant motor quite yet, because if we can get away with less current and less battery and less controller and less money, that's good.
Installation in flywheel: My flywheels have a bit more pot depth than a FDL wheel, motor ends up damn near hidden inside. Just the last 6mm of the stator base sticks out.
Test fitted to cage: Axial alignment looks real good BTW.
You can see how much motor stickout on the back of the flywheel there is in this image.
Threw a dart through here for an image.
Back side of a flywheel. A bit printy, and may have to be adjusted by hand a bit to bolt up completely straight and true to the rotor flange.
Hasbro HIR flywheel versus Hy-Con flywheel. Around 2mm less root diameter, and 3mm greater OD than the former.
So there it stands. I'm waiting for more ESCs and some hardware to arrive and then it's chrono time.