EC145 Swashplate animation

[@oudarbre]

whaou, nice !! how did you achieve the rig ? wireparameters, expressions, scriptings ? any tutorial by chance ?

[@zubetto85]

Thanks for comment! I used the 3ds Max Bones system (Create > Systems > Bones IK chain) and hierarchical linkages. Also rotation constraints were needed for certain joints which I found by trial and error))

[@KoppanyChannel]

Can you share these info a little more detailed pls? Especially on the little colored sticks (control rods) rigging? I'm working on a similar project, and it would be very helpful! I stucked on it :/

[@zubetto85]

Here is the 3ds max scene at early stage with very brief explanation: drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5AVE5jbgs14dnBFWVdjQU5EN1k?usp=sharing Hope it will helpful!

[@ronjon7942]

Oh damn, I’m not sure which was better; this animation or being introduced to the music. Thank you for both.

[@DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3]

Great video! And an excellent demonstration on where each control input gets its name. Collective affects all blades collectively and cyclic affects them in cycle as they pass through a given point.

[@patricj951]

The function of a helicopter is fascinating! During flight the angle of attack changes roughly 6times per seconds, the stress on the material has to be enormous! Our lives depend on these small rods holding the forces as the angle changes back and forth.

[@zubetto85]

In addition, the blades are so flexible when they don't rotate that it's hard to believe they can lift tons of weight: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3yunayErbVlpMk

[@ticenits1926]

That's the part I can't believe, these rapid pitch changes must create a ton of vibration

[@assayedvip]

The best animation I've seen about Swashplate, great job !

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!

[@paulsotheron710]

Amazing technology. The links and pins look very fragile but obviously up to the job.

[@anthonyf.9170]

Incredible engineering. Helicopter flight is amazing.

[@Richard-wk9le]

A complex Animation for a complex mechanism, this must have taken a lot of effort - well done.

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!

[@marie-franceleclerc3745]

EC 145 m'est familier et il est très intéressant de le connaître davantage haute technologie. L'animation est excellente . Merci

[@javierondo]

Would be an extra touch to have a miniature of the cyclic stick at one side to see why the swashplate does what it does and when. Also, I think the blades never reach a negative angle of attack, which is the angle between the chord line and the horizontal hub plane. Excellent video!! 👍

[@daveblevins3322]

I've flown roughly 3'500 hours in the BK 117 models, and it's a great rotor design 👍🇺🇸 The whole aircraft is excellent with the proper engines.

[@bzig4929]

This is awesome. Thanks for posting!

[@skauffman74]

Absolutely beautiful animation; thank you for sharing it.

[@MisterRedBlueBlur]

This is very informative and hypnotical at the same time.😁 Helicopters are truly wonderful and amazing machines. Thanks for sharing.🙂

[@zubetto85]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@freddiepenrose4235]

That’s a great visual of what’s happening right above your head when flying the “disk”. Awesome job on the visual folks, very well done.

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!

[@jeffrenman4146]

thank you so much for sharing this unique video… I fly a radio -controlled MD 500 which has the virtual identical rotorhead… This video was freaking awesome and the music as well. So I signed up just to say thank you and give you a thumbs up… This had me riveted

[@zubetto85]

thank you for such a kind comment!

[@quasimodo8215]

Hypnotic beauty. Thank you so much!

[@adb012]

Every individual component seen in this video is critical for safety and has no redundancy. The failure of any of them would imply a total loss of control with the destruction of the vehicle and the death of all on board. Think of that the next time you fly in a helicopter. (Of course, the redundancy is that the parts are much more robust than they need to be, each of them passes through a thorough quality control, are properly maintained and inspected during service, and are replaced at regular intervals that are much shorter than the life of the part. Think of that too the next time you fly in a helicopter).

[@jerryf4806]

GREAT SHOW INCLUDING THE MUSIC.

[@citizenplane5840]

Wow this is so cool. So I'm just learning about how a helicopter sreers and all of that so I wanted to see the swashplate in action and man this was perfect. Thank you

[@livinglies167]

Absolutely brilliant...everything about it is beautiful...the graphics, the sound, the lyrics...it's rennesiance! A work of art..

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!!!

[@donkboys]

Great video, but I remember my dad reminding me growing up, “helicopters have too many parts”...

[@zubetto85]

Thank you! Some say helicopters don't want to fly... or "helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission"

[@TheBiggerDavo]

After seeing this witchcraft I tend to agree with both of you!

[@Thatonedude90]

@@zubetto85 helicopters use the same mechanics as the magic school bus. And that’s a fact!

[@mostefatayebcherif6798]

Bonjour à tous et à toutes l'équipe technique et navigants ainsi manager.. vraiment c'est impressionnant je vous souhaite beaucoup de succès. Si vous me permettez, j'ai qu'une remarque sur le sens de montage de l'écrou supérieur de la bielle bleue de levier de pas, il me semble que la tête de vis qui devrait doit être monté dans le sens de rotation du MRP afin d'éviter le desserage de l'écrou . ( sens aéronautique ).. - reste un point de vue . Cordialement.

[@Battlemage4]

I remember going nuts trying to build a fully working rotor assembly in g-mod before most of the assisting tools came out.

[@birendrasingh1934]

best animation for swash plate demonstration

[@SvenTillmanns]

Sehr gute Animation, jetzt verstehe ich wie die Taumelscheibe funktioniert 👍💪

[@davecrupel2817]

To me, the swashplate is the magic part of a helicopter. The one piece of the craft i have yet to fully wrap my head around! Fantastic piece of engineering! Cheers from an avtech in Massachusetts! And great choice of music! Song name?

[@steamdriver6964]

Mass

[@salmanalqahtani6943]

Wow this is 7 years old and better than most new videos

[@ronaldgreen5292]

This is a very unique swash plate design, that I've never seen in operation before. The collective input on one the swash plate, is pulled down, instead of pushed up! Interesting.

[@王拼-l4q]

Ronald Green you are right

[@王拼-l4q]

Ronald Green I have the same idea with you

[@ronaldgreen5292]

I was just wondering the same thing!🤔👍 This a very unique rotor head, and swashplate system!! Most swashplate systems, push up for collective pitch.

[@javediqbaljibs3524]

very nice animation excellent work on 3d-max rendering. Lighting, materials. Great job.

[@reegans7335]

Mesmerizing! The added music was a bonus. Subscribed!

[@myflyfishingadventure6970]

WoW ! Greatest swashplate animation ever seen I want more of these !

[@zubetto85]

Thank you very much! I will try my best)) but probably not anytime soon

[@lankaat]

That's awesome!!!! Thanks

[@jimscobie6646]

Amazing animation! I liked the music too.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

It's so rare that people select background music that actually compliments the visuals. This is a clear cut case of how to do it right.

[@gsdtdeaux7]

I watched this last night after my gummies kicked in and it was the coolest thing ever! But fr tho, this made it click in my head how helicopters actually work. Great job!

[@monteiro5306]

Speechless. Amazing video. Awesome job.

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!

[@wcottee]

Very nice!! One suggestion...could you show (maybe in a corner) what the pilot is doing. I.E when showing cyclic input show where the pilot is moving the cyclic.

[@thomasmaiden3356]

Great artwork & animation. I really liked the music as well.

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!

[@ganthrithor]

Nice one! Putting this on my aviation playlist to share with flight students!

[@Hejjabi]

Great video to understand how it works! Thank you

[@elelyon555]

Best animation bar none, thank you kindly for sharing this, really helped how the swashplate works ! 🙏🏼👍😃

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!!

[@Kenjh71]

It's covid-19 lockdown, I'm drinking wine and watching an animation about helicopter swashplate.

[@MyFavoriteDisease]

Sounds great!

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

It is amazing. Whoever figured it out was a goddamn genius. I'm still amazed the whole thing doesn't vibrate itself to pieces, and I'm sure they had several prototypes that did exactly that in the beginning. Apparently the AH-56 Cheyenne helicopter had a totally different design but was subject to a feedback vibration between the rotor and the control stick/pilot and it could resonate and become violent. A pilot was actually killed before they figured it out, and yet the contract was still cancelled. (I was just watching a Curious Droid episode about it if you want to check it out).

[@RENIELTUBE]

When engineers are left unsupervised by adults!!!

[@Mike-qt1bn]

excellent video! today the question of how a helicopter flies forward popped into my head. i read a little bit about it and looked for some informational videos, but none of them did as good a job of explaining this as yours did. and yours did it without words!

[@zubetto85]

Thanks for the comment! I have to note that my video demonstrates only the swashplate kinematics. Why can we force a helicopter to fly forward, by changing the pitch of the blades in certain manner? - That's a very good question!

[@Mike-qt1bn]

Just so I understand though, the swashplate is what causes the blades to pitch so that the heli can go forward, backward, side to side? Is that correct?

[@zubetto85]

Absolutely right. But there is a rather complex and not quite obvious point (at least for me). If you deflect cyclic stick in forward-backward direction then swashplate is tilted approximately in left-right direction. The need for this is explained by gyroscopic precession phenomenon (when a force is applied to spinning object resultant action or deflection occurs approximately 90 degrees later) This, in turn, raises even more questions in more detailed consideration

[@seriousaf8020]

Alexander Zubov This

[@КрокаМоргунов]

работа этого механизма завораживает))..

[@dadada-p9w]

amazing video! I totally understood about a swashplate since watching this

[@zubetto85]

Thank you! it is very pleasant to me!

[@hsy831]

Amazing work!

[@xzorby]

Hah I did not expect Carbon Based Lifeforms, but it fits quite well!

[@dgfunds5893]

excellent work, well done

[@gravityalwayswins1434]

incredible animation. thanks

[@unusualbydefault]

Amazing animation!

[@steveno3375]

Very edcuational, wonderfull video!

[@jJpierre67]

Wahouu magnifique

[@EXCRUCIATED-s6v]

Thanks for uploading! Great music

[@philhampson4102]

Excellent video!

[@charleskutrufis9612]

Thank You for this video, very informative.

[@waynebreivogel1742]

Simply OUTSTANDING! Kudos!👍👍

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!

[@cptairwolf]

this is beautifully done man! I've created a high resolution model of Airwolf and wondered if you'd be willing to show me the rigging required to get this level of animation? (I'm using blender).

[@zubetto85]

Please see the pinned comment where you can find a link to the .max scene file and the brief description of the rigging.

[@jrnumex9286]

wonderful except the helo spinning and blades stationary a bit off for me

[@Anonymous-md2qp]

The helicopter isn’t spinning. This is simulating the view you would see if a camera was fixed to the blades, mast or Jesus nut.

[@tans7933]

Nice 3D..amazing I hope you can make 3D how the other parts work in the helicopter..

[@bobalexander9420]

Love the music, what it called please, great video

[@zubetto85]

Thank you! Erratic Patterns - Carbon Based Lifeforms

[@dgfunds5893]

отличная работа, молодец

[@NibblyBitz]

I've always wondered how you get collective and cyclic off the same swash plate thanks.

[@zubetto85]

First, we use the axiom of Euclidean geometry - through three non-collinear points, there is exactly one plane. This means that we need three actuators connected to the swashplate at points not lying on the same line, to uniquely define position and orientation of the swashplate. Collective input causes the same movement of all free actuators, whilst cyclic input causes their different movement in such a way that the swashplate center always lies on axis of rotation of the rotor.

[@Steve-ou8nw]

Nice video, but what are the little ball things on the rotor blades for?

[@zubetto85]

these are vibration absorbers or pendulum absorbers ( aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/87783/what-are-those-ball-shaped-things-on-some-helicopter-blades ) and they have the same working principle as a tuned mass damper ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGK4ZYZ3nN5pZsU ).

[@ЕвгенийУстиненко-щ1у]

Здравствуйте! Классная анимация, взаимодействия узлов. Возможно ли в интернете найти чертежи подобных узлов?

[@zubetto85]

Здравствуйте, спасибо! Сказать 100% да или нет я точно не могу. Предполагаю что вероятнее всего возможно найти чертежи предназначенные для небольших радиоуправляемых моделей.

[@ЕвгенийУстиненко-щ1у]

@@zubetto85 спасибо за информацию. Вообщем нужно поискать

[@krugerkevin67]

That was absolutely smashing!!!

[@O-Saft0711]

When you "pull" the rotating control rods downwards, the angle of attack of the blade will increase, which means lift will increase. At 3:50 you show a nice example of cyclic control, but the helicopter is steering to the aft direction, isn't it? (Maybe on purpose idk) Or do I understand something fundamentally wrong? :^) Greets

[@zubetto85]

In this video I only show the kinematics of the swashplate without considering forces and torques. I would say that at 03:50 the helicopter (or tip-path plane of the main rotor) must be tilted to the right (as viewed from above) due to the gyroscopic effect, namely the blades reach maximum deflection (which is not shown in this video) at a point approximately 90° later in the direction of rotation from the point of the max angle of attack (please see the Gyroscopic Precession chapter here www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/helicopter_flying_handbook/hfh_ch02.pdf ). In my opinion gyroscopic effects are quite counter-intuitive (if you have, say, a bicycle wheel you can try something like this kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqqcgoafi6hlnZI ), so the following analogy (albeit rather inaccurate) may be useful: imagine a rower with a two-bladed paddle that he rotates in a horizontal plane counterclockwise when viewed from above; if he wants to move forward, he must lower the blades into the water from the left side of his boat (in this case, an extra rower is also needed to prevent the boat from spinning, which is similar to the function of a helicopter tail rotor).

[@alexlo7708]

MH-60 USA helicopter has shock adsorber attached between each rotor blade and rotor head while Eurocopter hadn't.

[@Albertito_135]

alex Lo not necessary, main rotor blades made of composite materials

[@marc-antoinelegars4095]

Thank you very much for the great video! There is one point that's confusing me: in the video (I could be misunderstanding) it looks like the angle of attack of the blades is decreased when the swashplate moves upwards. In my understanding, when the pilot pulls the collective, the swashplate rises, increasing the angle of attack of the blades inducing more lift. It seems like it's the opposite in the video? Does anyone have an explanation? Thanks!

[@zubetto85]

Thank you for the kind comment! This is correct, when a pilot pulls the collective, the angle of attack of all blades should increase, but the swashplate should move in such a direction that causes the corresponding increase in the angle of attack. This direction depends on location of the blade pitch horn relative to the leading edge of the blade. If the pitch horns are on the trailing edge of the blades (how in this video), then the swashplate should move downwards when a pilot pulls the collective (swashplate goes down and pulls down pitch links, which in turn causes lowering of the trailing edges and rising of the leading edges of the blades). In opposite, if the pitch horns are on the leading edge of the blades then the swashplate should move upwards when a pilot pulls the collective.

[@marc-antoinelegars4095]

Hi Alex! That's what I thought! Thank you for the very clear explanation. I had only encountered the design where the balade pitch horns where attached to the leading edge of the blades but it's obvious that this second design is suitable as well. Great video!

[@swanoflove6833]

I have some questions because id like to understand it a bit more; The lower swash plate Ive heard is stationary, though i can see it changing its angle with the main swash plate, is it only stationary in the regards that it doesn't rotate? and if thats so, does it not rotate in order to keep the helicopter rotor only pitching the blades in a certain direction, that way the pitched blades don't travel all the way around the axis and cause you to just wobble instead of actually going in the desired direction? Also, the lower swash plate is the one that's connected to the control rods from cyclic and collective which then changes the angle of the rotating swashplate yes? and ultimately is the reason there are two so that the stationary controls can connect to the rotating rotor system? And I could go seemingly infinitely indepth of helicopter engineering but one more question! how do the engineers overcome all the friction that would happen between the upper and lower swashplate, would that just be oil or something? though at least in this model it doesn't look like there would be any kind of seal from keeping oil leaking out I feel like I'm asking such basic things but for me to truly understand it helps to say what I think it is then have corrections and verification if I got anything right! I am a bit of a slow learner but I really do love understanding how intricately things work!

[@zubetto85]

It would be great to hear from a real engineer about this complex mechanism and which parts cause the most design and calculation headaches. From my point of view as an amateur enthusiast, your assumptions/statements seem correct to me. It is quite difficult for me to write more clearly and concisely than here: www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/helicopter_flying_handbook/hfh_ch04.pdf see chapter "Swash Plate Assembly". Just as serious a problem as friction between components is considering the loads on those components. I’m not sure here, but it seems that even without taking into account aerodynamic loads, there are quite a lot of non-obvious factors influencing the operation of the swash plate. For example, if the stationary swash plate is tilted (due to a certain cyclic input), then the rotation axes of the main rotor mast and the rotating swash plate do not coincide, and while the main rotor mast will rotate at a constant angular speed, the rotating swash plate will be forced by the drive links to rotate at a variable angular speed to maintain a constant orientation relative to those drive links (and thus relative to the main rotor mast) in the plane of rotation of the main rotor mast. This variable angular speed implies additional loads and vibrations that depend on the cyclic input.

[@Flopsaurus]

This is super awesome

[@stan690]

Doesn't the EC145 have ockwise rotation of the main rotors? Unless my brain is in backwards, this animation is going anticlockwise.

[@jerryf4806]

I flew the navy H 3 series for about 14 years and loved the bird….fantastic aircraft, but never had an intimate knowledge of the fully articulated rotor head system…… relied on faith and great sailors for maintenance. Tried not to think about it too much😫😎🧟‍♀️👨‍✈️🍻

[@airgaborpara3824]

Huge invention of human kind.

[@joemueller4738]

I can watch this over and over but still have hard time comprehending how it works , the controls changing pitch of each blade while spinning and still connected??

[@zubetto85]

please see the Swash Plate Assembly section here www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/helicopter_flying_handbook/hfh_ch04.pdf

[@joemueller4738]

@@zubetto85 thanks for providing me more information

[@ericalbert6954]

Magnifique, merci beaucoup !!!

[@giuseppemaenza9255]

Really great work, now I know more. Subscried

[@zubetto85]

Thank you!

[@HiddenWindshield]

Question: In the closeups of the hub, you have each blade and each shaft marked with a specific color, and the shaft of a given color controls the blade of the same color. So, why, when we're looking at the blade end-on, do you have the blade that's being controlled by the blue shaft marked in yellow?

[@zubetto85]

I used photos as reference, and in many of them the blade tips are usually colored yellow. I think this yellow is for safety reasons, as it makes the blades more visible.

[@santiagoecheverri5743]

Como para que se le dañe cualquier cosita y el mecánico del barrio le diga a uno : “si patrón, eso no es sino cambiar estas chumaceras y quitar esos resortes que no sirven para nada”.

[@TheElvenKeys]

so that's what they mean when they say "the front blades turn"

[@acostin4004]

whats pulling the control rods on lower swashplate.

[@communist-hippie]

I'm not an engineer. But those parts looks so weak and tiny, I guess the there must be some insane force in those rotorblades. If I never heard of choppers before. I'd guess/say that this wimpy construction never work. Apparently it does. And it's crazy insane cool

[@zubetto85]

Another amazing fact is that non-rotating rotor blades can be bent by the force of one person's weight, but when rotating, the same blades can carry tons of payload

[@yoavlahav12]

Why the lower part is held by only 2 actuators and not 3 ? 2 is not enough as the swashplate has 3 degrees of freedom. (collective, roll and elevation motions).

[@zubetto85]

Although, I have modeled this part quite roughly, you can notice that the third actuator is sliding along the main axis (details can be seen in the first video in the description)

[@syedusamamanzoor1838]

Awesome

[@Cyberdactyl]

No pendulum absorber weight animation?

[@zubetto85]

like here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqaXaZltqJqFq5o ?

[@TheFloozi]

Awesome!

[@alexwonner7469]

Génial, superbe, fantastique.

[@furahiakiswahili]

Halo sir am Philemon, from Kenya i was doing some some documentaries about helicopters and i came across your video, can use part of your video to demonstrate how helicopter fly

[@zubetto85]

Hi Philemon! Yes you can, I'm glad you found my video useful! Although it is not mandatory, I would be happy if you include attribution information (link to this video or to my KZbin channel) in your film.

[@furahiakiswahili]

@@zubetto85 Thank you so much for allowing me to you some of your content, i will add the attribution information , will also add the link.

[@mrcannotfindaname]

Shouldn't the pitch control rods be at 90 deg off the blade to compensate gyroscopic precession? Why are those rods only seem to be 45 deg off?

[@zubetto85]

It seems you are talking about the fact that the maximum blade flapping angle is achieved approx 90 degrees later in the direction of rotation from where the blade pitch was maximum. To compensate for this, the lower swash plate and the cyclic control stick (not shown in the video) should have 90 degrees phase shift between their attitudes.

[@SVAFnemesis]

I just wanted to git gud in Besiege...

[@lucywucyyy]

interedting how the swashplate is inverted on this heli

[@situationalawarenes]

Great work

[@sabekinawalinseefat8243]

Best! The best!

[@SchwarzerRaeuber]

thank you for shareing

[@helicopterovirtual-msfs6254]

Perfeito.

[@beny874]

Preeeeeeetttty

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Can you explain the difference between this mechanism and the rigid rotor hub on the AH-56 Cheyenne? I don't think I understand how either work, frankly.

[@zubetto85]

I only know the basic differences between rigid and fully articulated rotors

[@MyFavoriteDisease]

The rotor system shown in the video is a rigid one as well. "Rigid" does not mean that there is no swashplate, instead the term refers to the lack of hinges at the base of each rotor blade. www.flight-mechanic.com/types-of-rotor-systems/ EDIT: I just did some research on the AH-56's rotor system. It does have a swashplate, but it appears to be on top of the hub instead of below it. Interesting.

[@mister_ginting]

👍👍👍you say amazing

[@yuriistetsenko5948]

What are the hinges with little grey balls on the blades for? For balancing?

[@zubetto85]

I'm not 100% sure, but let me quote my old comment: "... these are vibration absorbers or pendulum absorbers and they have the same working principle as a tuned mass damper ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGK4ZYZ3nN5pZsU )"

[@yuriistetsenko5948]

@@zubetto85 Ok, thanks!

[@lifter1000]

what are the two little bulbs on each blade root ❓

[@zubetto85]

these are vibration absorbers or pendulum absorbers ( aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/87783/what-are-those-ball-shaped-things-on-some-helicopter-blades ) and they have the same working principle as a tuned mass damper ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGK4ZYZ3nN5pZsU ).

[@lifter1000]

@@zubetto85 thanks

[@РуденковВячеславОлександрович]

carbon based life forms+

[@dayannacontreras9947]

Hi, do you have the video of how you created it and by which program?

[@zubetto85]

Unfortunately, I have no tutorials but the software used are listed at the end of this video