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Keyence Revolutor & Transmitter
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| I picked up a Keyence Revolutor in Japan, the smallest R/C helicopter on the market, weighing 101 grams without the battery pack. Main rotor is fixed pitch and flybarless, while a separate, smaller motor drives the fixed pitch tail rotor via a cable. There are two gyros: one is yaw-axis for tail, and the other a "free gyro" which is two-axis for cyclic. There is no swashplate or linkages for the Revolutor - cyclic control is achieved by pulsed torque to the main motor which with gyroscopic effect, tilts the heli. The pulse is timed correctly using an optical sensor and sensor plate that rotates with the main rotor. Yaw control is simpler, with just changes to the tail motor speed. |
Revolutor vs. EP Schweizer
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| I had to relearn how to hover, as the transmitter is either Mode I or Mode II w/left-handed cyclic. The Revolutor hovers very well, and the tail is easy to control. However, the cyclic is a bit too stable - I made adjustments to desensitize the free gyro, but it would become unstable, fall, and crash. The best way to control the cyclic is to drift the Revolutor slowly rather than trying to fly it like the bigger helis. I fly the Revolutor with the 300mAh NiMH battery pack rather than tether it with a wire - its flying weight is 143.6g (5 oz). and duration is still respectable at about 3 minutes. |
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