I can't help you with controllers, but here are a few thoughts on the drive system. Paddlewheels are very efficient at slow speeds and heavy loads. As in props, you want a certain amount of slip. The larger the wheel the more efficient it is because the forces become increasingly tangential to the direction of movement as the radius increases. For ultimate efficiency, make a feathering wheel. Feathering wheels are usually sidewheels, but it is possble to make a feathering sternwheel.
How will you take care of speed reduction? The most straight forward is a chain and sprocket drive.
One thing that you must be careful of is the float depth. On small boats, as people move about, the boat will pitch slightly, changing the float depth. Sternwheelers are sensitive to pitch, moreso than sidewheelers. You might want to include a wheel trimming feature, say a pair of electric actuators to raise and lower the wheel.
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, <oak_box@...> wrote:
From: "elwelldon@..." <elwelldon@...>
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, September 9, 2013 7:49 AM
Subject: [Electric Boats] electric sternwheeler
| Reply via web post | Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New Topic | Messages in this topic (3) |
No comments:
Post a Comment