About the project - our story

We are a group of young engineers from Gdansk / Poland. Together we are working on a multirotor platform codenamed Altair. The design is based on custom electronics and software.

Right now we're working our day jobs or studying and hope to start our own company soon - that's why we're here. We want to put the market to the test and see if there's a need for our proposed solutions. Consider Rock ESC our first product :) We are:

Szymon (aka. Simon) - he is the perpetrator behind this technical development. He is the one who designed the hardware architecture, chose the appropriate components, created the programming environment and wrote the code which enables the stable and robust flight of our quadrotor.

Pawel (aka. Paul) - automation and robotics graduate at the department of Electronics Telecommunications and Computer Science at the Technical University in Gda?sk. He is currently working as a programmer and designer of embedded industrial automation devices in a company called Simex. Pawe? is responsible for the physical realization of the first frame. He also made the carrier board that links all the major components of our helicopter build.

Adam - automation and robotics graduate, currently studying Management at the Technical University in Gdansk. Adam is responsible for mechanical design and seeking out investors. He also puts his life and health at risk during prototype testing ;) Right now he is skipping some of his classes to get this project to the next level - "the company".

Why Rock ESC?

To our knowledge, there is currently only one commercially available ESC which provides the features necessary for obtaining good stability of rotorcraft, and we would argue it's not doing a terribly good job either. Other solutions involve either compromising stability or performing modifications to other available ESCs, which on the other hand compromises reliability and doesn't look very pretty (yuck!):

That is why we feel there's a need for a different, complete solution. Here are the highlights of the planned features of Rock ESC:

• super fast motor response time,
• overcurrent protection,
• open source software,
• high current handling - up to 50A or 85A (with additional FETs),
• 3s-6s capable
• hardware capable of handling advanced control algorithms,
• MK compatible - the same basic I2C protocol,
• PPM, I2C, UART and CAN interfaces supported,
• USB interface - connect it directly to your PC, no need for additional converters,
• custom startup tunes.

In more detail

In order to hold the desired attitude, a multirotor helicopter must be able to (amongst other things) vary the speed of its propellers as quickly as possible. This requires the proper matching of motors and propellers, but the speed controller also plays a very important role.

We would like an ESC to control the motor's speed, however, many ESCs actually only allow to set the voltage applied to the motor. While the motor will spin faster with more voltage, the quantities are not directly proportional. Secondly, a voltage controlling ESC will not hold constant speed in the presence of disturbances. Finally, speeding up the motor as fast as possible requires temporarily boosting the voltage above its final (or steady-state) value. Another problem with most ESCs is that they don't allow to change the speed frequently enough. On many ESCs with PPM interface the update rates are limited to only about 50-100Hz, and they often perform some sort of smoothing of their input, which also worsens response time. Those are the main reasons why commonly available ESCs are not well suited for multi-rotor craft.

In contrast, Rock ESC will allow direct speed control (with active braking) and handle update rates exceeding 1000Hz over all supported digital interfaces, providing much better response times. It will also control the current, providing overcurrent protection. The hardware will be capable of supporting Single-Shunt Sensorless Field Oriented Control (FOC), however this feature probably won't be available right from the start. Thanks to the built-in USB interface you won't have to buy an additional USB adapter in order to test and configure the ESC. Having all these additional features doesn't mean the controller will be bigger - it will be about the same size as a Tower pro ESC, but will consist of two PCBs, one stacked on the other.

Why the name?

Because Adam insisted on it. Also, you'll be able to define your own start-up tones (along the lines of old cell phone ringtones), which is somehow supposed to mean that the ESC will "rock out". We are not planning a disco version, sorry.

What's in it for you?

To put it simply:

• fine ESCs,
• open source software,
• a wiki page

• badges,

• t-shirts,
• future products,
• artistic value (?!) - see perk 2,
• updates on our progress
• your personal satisfaction.

What's in it for us?

We need your help in funding the development and manufacture of the final product. By supporting us you are helping us jump start our business, so that in the future we can deliver not only Rock ESCs, but other great products as well.

What is the purpose of the fundraiser?

We want to use the funding to:

• buy lab equipment - mostly an oscilloscope,
• buy different types of motors and batteries to make sure the ESC works with all of them,
• build ESC prototypes for development purposes,
• cover the costs of making and shipping the ESCs, t-shirts and badges.

Any remaining amount will be used to further the development of the Altair multirotor platform and bring it closer to you. This includes improving our prototype hardware, replacing broken parts, designing more products, covering the costs of starting a company (aka. dealing with the bureaucracy) and putting up a website.

What is NOT the purpose of the fundraiser?

We won't be spending your money on our private wants and needs. The deal is fair and simple: we get the equipment and some prototyping budget, work hard, and you get the ESCs or other perks of your choice. As Milton Friedman put it: "there is no such thing as a free lunch" and we totally agree.

What if we don't reach our target?

There is no risk for you as a backer. Should we fail to raise a sum that's sufficient to complete the project, your donation will be returned.

How long will it take to get a t-shirt / badge / ESC?

The equation is as follows:

Time till the end of campaign + time get it made + shipping time from Poland to you

It should take no more than three weeks to make the t-shirts and badges. Making the ESCs will take longer, probably around four months, so you should have your ESC in the summer time.

Different ways you can help

You don't have to be interested in RC aircraft to help us.

There are many options here, so please:

• donate (every dollar counts, right now we've got a nice exchange rate in Poland :))
• choose a t-shirt or a badge to show your support
• pre-buy a Rock ESC
• spread the word - like us on facebook and youtube, tell others about our project
• donate hardware - if you have any brushless DC motors or batteries gathering dust, you can send them to us - we'll definitely put them to use (contact us for details).

The badge: the default version is http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l130/hols2000/badge.png, the badge has a diameter of 2.5 cm / ~1 inch. We can also make a custom badge with or without our logo. Just send us an e-mail with the image you want to have on your badge. Everything's possible here!

The t-shirt: Here you can see the t-shirts: http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l130/hols2000/shirt-2.png. and a more detailed vesrion of the logo here: http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l130/hols2000/shirt2.png.  Here are the sizes that are available: http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l130/hols2000/t-shirt.png (the dimensions are in centimeters). The t-shirts are of good quality, the brand is SG, and we stand by Fords' policy: "any color as long as it is black" ;)

That's about it, thank you for your time.

Rock on \m/