Last week I did some bench testing on the NCR18650B Lithium Ion cells, and the results were very promising, showing twice the energy density as a LiPo. This week I wanted to get the packs out of the lab and in the air on the Raptor 100 for some real life testing.
First I tested what the take off and cruise throttle was for the Raptor100, and then used a watt meter to determine the watts at those throttle settings. I found the same throttle setting for those same watts on the Li-Ion pack to ensure all was tested equal.
The throttle % was lower for the Li-Ion cells as they operate at a higher voltage, and I was able to match the same watt rate at about 4A, just over 1C for takeoff.
The plane flew just fine on the Li-Ion packs. I did some full throttles and hard climbs and this single 4S1P pack performed perfectly. The Raptor100 flew faster than it ever has before due to the higher voltage, and was easily traveling 100kph.
Now I'm off to build 6 more packs and put them on the Raptor140 for over 2 hours of flight time!
See you next week!
-Trent
Lithium-Ion Packs!
RTF Li-Ion Packs: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/3.3a-4s-2c-battery.htm
Li-Ion Kits: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/ncr18650b-pack-kit.htm
Single Cells: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/ncr18650b-single-cell.htm
Raptor 100 Kits!
Kit: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/raptor-100-kit.htm
ARF: http://store.mygeekshow.com/product-p/raptor-140-arf.htm
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Also are you considering making a more "rectangular" form-factor for your packs in addition to the square? Seems like it covers a lot of area even in your own flying wing design.
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Was already looking at the cells for Tax use. I'd think you have some more testing as you've already alluxed, but I wonder if poof testing a few cells might be found in your future plans (abuse in use, overuse, charging, etc).
Either way, excellent proof of concept and thanks for clearing the path thus far.
Frank
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As for abuse testing, I pushed one of these packs to full throttle on the Raptor 100, and it drew 12.6A, which is 3.7C! Now I wouldn't recommend doing that very long or very often, but it seems it capable of at least that at maximum.
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It seems you have also discovered the joy of HVLC setups.
I may have to look at these batteries for some of my low power wings.
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