BlueRobotics T100 Thruster (First Look and Testing)

[sthone]

This is a first look at one of the first actual production runs (well second run anyway) of the new BlueRobotics T100 thruster. I haven't actually had a chance to test it yet as it just showed up right before Xmas and I've been busy.
Anyway here's a few pictures to make you ohhh and ahhhh.

T100-001.jpg (145.36 KiB) Viewed 15086 times

I jumped on the kickstarter as soon as I saw it and backed the thruster and added on the speed controller. They threw in the mount as a stretch goal and it's should be easy to mount to any flat surface.

T100-002.jpg (113.71 KiB) Viewed 15086 times

My initial reaction was pure awe, these things look awesome. If these work as well as they are suppose to these are going to change the home building Rov game a lot.

T100-003.jpg (129.58 KiB) Viewed 15086 times

The size is perfect for most of the Rov's us home builders are making.

T100-004.jpg (102.99 KiB) Viewed 15086 times

It's about the same overall size of a bilge pump thruster with the nozzle being just around 3.75" in diameter.

T100-005.jpg (110.1 KiB) Viewed 15086 times

This picture is a bit deceiving as the nozzle looks all scratched up. Rest assured those are just marks from when its popped out of the injection mold and are hardly visible to the naked eye. (Here they are just really accentuated by the flash on my camera.)

T100-006.jpg (143.74 KiB) Viewed 15086 times

The blade of the prop look really tiny but this thing is suppose to put out around 5lbs of thrust.

T100-007.jpg (193.99 KiB) Viewed 15086 times

While they do have a version with an integrated speed control I chose the external speed control encase I burn it out it testing this thing. (I'm not to versed on the Brushless stuff and I all ready fried one controller testing my magnetic drive project.

Anyway thats a quick first look, I'll post again once I test this thing out. (when ever that may be.)

-Steve

[Kale]

Thanks for your info Steve,

I´ll looking forward to see how good it performs.

/Kale

[KR2_Diving]

Hey Steve!
Thanks for the post and unboxing report! It is adding to my excitement on getting a set of these! Can't wait to see what you think of the performance!

Ryan
"KR2_Diving"

[sthone]

TestMount-001.jpg (105.18 KiB) Viewed 14992 times

I dug out my old prop test tank this weekend so I could get on to the testing phase of the T100

TestMount-002.jpg (55.19 KiB) Viewed 14992 times

I needed a way to attach the Thruster to the bottom of the measuring lever so I figured I'd put my 3D printer to good use for my first Rov related project. I came up with this quick mount that will press right into the original lever without any modifications.

TestMount-003.jpg (59.25 KiB) Viewed 14992 times

I had to make sure the center axis of the Thruster was in the right spot to get an accurate enough measurement. Bluerobotics actually shares their general dimensions cad files of the thrusters to help aid in cad design of customers Rovs. I was able to use those files to make sure my mount would work before printing it.

TestMount-004.jpg (100.9 KiB) Viewed 14992 times

It took about two hours to print and this is how it came out. (minus the printed supports)

TestMount-005.jpg (92.33 KiB) Viewed 14992 times

My Cad skills are improving, the thruster bolted right up and the mount fit the pipe perfect on the first try.

TestMount-006.jpg (81.85 KiB) Viewed 14992 times

Here it is all wired up and ready to test the thrust.

I did fire the thruster up just to make sure it worked and my initial response was this thing makes quite a racket and is not as smooth as I though it would be like it has a blown bearing. Guessing it just needs to be in the water I looked at the documentation on Bluerobotics website just to make sure I didn't get a lemon and that is exactly what it says. Apparently they use plastic bearings that are in fact lucubrated by the water and they say that "A slight clicking noise is normal, especially when operated dry." Relieved about that I can get on with my tests. (which will probably not happen until tomorrow, Stay Tuned....

-Steve

[SSN626B]

Hi Steve,
How do you plan to cool the ESCs?
Regards,
TCIII/SSN626B

[sthone]

I honestly haven't thought about it, I only bought this one so I could test them to see if they are worth recommending to people looking for cheap thrusters.

If I was going to make an Rov with these I'd probably just get the ones with integrated speed controllers so I wouldn't have to worry about cooling or even housing space for that matter.

-Steve

[SSN626B]

Hi Steve,
I also bought three of the T100 Thrusters, but with the built-in ESCs so I would not have to be concerned about cooling the ESCs.
Depending on how well Blue Robotics has sized their ESC in relation to the motor's maximum expected current draw I would keep a finger on the ESC's FETs to make sure that they do not overheat. Though knowing how thorough Blue Robotics has been in proofing their designs, I would suspect that the ESC is robust enough to work in free air for short periods.
Regards,
TCIII/SSN626B

[sthone]

Good point I'll keep an eye on that. Another thing I should point out to others is I'm sure we will rarely be at full throttle on any Rov thruster for that long of a period with the exception of diving and surfacing but even then I doubt full throttle is required.

-Steve

[sthone]

...and on to the testing.

TestMount-007.jpg (119.1 KiB) Viewed 14961 times

The test tank is all rigger up, filled, and ready to go.

TestMount-008.jpg (117.22 KiB) Viewed 14961 times

Full Throttle produced around 4lbs of thrust at just under 8amps.

TestMount-009.jpg (114.23 KiB) Viewed 14961 times

My fishing scale reads in tenths of pounds instead of pound/ounces which I hate so I did try my trigger scale also just to be sure the reading were right. (they were about the same)


.

For the thrust test I used a 12volt tractor battery which my not have been totally at full charge so keep that in mind.

Top thrust was 4 Lbs @ about 7.8 amps in forward
In reverse it was about 2 Lbs at 7.3 Amps.

Rough readings show
LBS - Amps (all just in forward)
1 - .80
2 - 2.38
3 - 4.50
4 - 7.80

The following videos gives a rough idea of the thrust verse amps. Sorry for the quality and you might have to turn your sound down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOkX4Jm5DPM

Over all I'm pretty impressed with the thruster, the thrust to amp ratio is pretty good in my opinion and it sounds much smoother now that it's in the water.
Compared to the standard bilge pump thruster a lot of us use its almost 3 times less draw for 2 lbs of thrust. Of course now I want to throw one of these props on a bilge pump and see what happens

-Steve

[rusty]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for posting this!

If you still have your test rig set up, I would really like to know what the voltage is from the battery when the thruster is at full throttle. Sounds like you might be getting a pretty large voltage drop at the battery or through the cable to the ESC. The thruster should draw about 13 amps at 12 V at full throttle and get more thrust.

Regarding the ESC, it is rated at 30 amps and barely warms up when used with the T100. I wouldn't worry about it too much. The BlueESC is built for about 25 amps in air and more in water.

Best,

Rusty