Fully 3D Printed TANK - Brushless Gear Drive

[@rcpattaya230]

Thank you so much for just being no nonsense, simple and straightforward. I've been watching you for many years now, and you haven't changed. You produce great stuff, share it and just do what you like. Stay who you are please and keep making these wonderful videos.

[@MrB1923]

Did you know there's a ratio of track size to body size that is optimum for tanks? You may want to do some research to optimise your build. 👍

[@ajuc005]

I don't think it matters with it being so light. It will just slip :)

[@oliverer3]

@@ajuc005 it would probably get a bit better grip with slimmer tracks as there would be more pressure between ground and track but then it might sink in soft materials instead

[@ajuc005]

@@oliverer3 maybe a compromise - tracks that have an extrusion in the middle 50% of its width for grip.

[@markifi]

I think this ratio is more of an aesthetic choice, you have to have good looks for the thumbnail. besides it's a test of pla gears, so it's really a prototype of a prototype I guess

[@JohnsonTheSecond]

Just wide enough track to stop it from sinking in snow or mud. Ratio of track area to mass*

[@boomfiziks]

That was neat! Here’s an idea: I realized when you showed the aerial view, you could’ve drawn a picture (or write something) in the snow. Either use the tracks to make the design or have some sort of colored water sprayer to make a large dot matrix print. Your videos have been inspiring my students...thank you.

[@whitejtw]

Ooh yeah that's a great idea!

[@lancenguyen481]

Or you could set up a plow like system to indent a line in the snow

[@mehmetmalli]

That’s how those weird giant farm signs were made

[@NeoIsrafil]

Oh yes! This would be epic!

[@FAB1150]

@@lancenguyen481 that would be awesome

[@jirkajavora5465]

Take a look at herringbone gears, they're harder to design, but provide much smoother and reliable action.

[@soldadoryanbr7776]

The Tupperware saga continues... Also,we need googly eyes

[@johnpossum556]

He needs rubbermaid to step up and become a channel sponsor.

[@ericlotze7724]

I'm going to semi-hijack this. Perhaps an airboat/GEV/swamp airboat made of tupperware would not get stuck for the boat?

[@ericlotze7724]

Doesn't some engineering channel add googly eyes to everything lol.

[@esra_erimez]

@@ericlotze7724 William Osman?

[@DeathracerXD]

SoldadoRyan Br777 nice pfp

[@Henchman1977]

Someone let Ivan Miranda know you can build a 3d printed tank without spacers.

[@juliusewert3697]

SPACERS!!!!!111

[@qs138v3]

Ian Colquhoun and in one video smh

[@DK-Design]

I spotted SPACERS! @3:31

[@abdulkader5470]

He also used spacers as well. Chack this out: 3:33

[@Kezat]

lies

[@RcLifeOn]

If you can ride a 200% version I might make one.

[@rctestflight]

Now you have me thinking ;)

[@zdm5290]

@@rctestflight Time to build a bigger printer!

[@jaymiddleton772]

If you haven't stumbled across it yet, check out Ivan Miranda's channel on KZbin.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

@@rctestflight >>> THINKETY THINKETY THINKETY...👍👍

[@ericlotze7724]

Tpu tracks perhaps for more "grip" ? That or perhaps texture/angled sharpening/spikes etc?

[@randywetzler5976]

Amazing amount of energy and work you put into designs, builds, and videos! Keep up the good work.

[@afbennett3038]

You’re a damn genius, this thing looks amazing

[@twierchola]

7:50 that's a cool sequence

[@bee2hive]

Nice camera moves!

[@adamms96]

Some sweet tunes w/ some dope camera angles very nice

[@lewiejones1570]

I recommend looking into nylon filament for making super durable gears. It's a pain to print but is the definitely the most durable 3d filament.

[@pterodox123]

Hey thanks for taking the time to share this! It's always frustrating to see designs not get past their 5 iterations. You don't do that! Problem solving is part of your mo. Good job man!

[@phrayzar]

Beyond impressive. You always seem to think outside the square, and the creativity of your design process is admirable.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

A very cool design! How long did the print take?

[@alessandrogiovanardi558]

for the gaerbox: lower rpm->more torque->larger gears, the warnout of gears is proportional to the pressure of conatact, less levage equals more pressure

[@johnpossum556]

he should have used a wormscrew drive. Less parts, more reduction.

[@grahammcnally4799]

@@johnpossum556 I think that the pla would've broken with so much torque change in a single gear

[@justingort1]

@@johnpossum556 wormgears would be space efficient. But energy wise they are pretty inefficient added too the large pressures on the wormgear

[@JeromeDemers]

@@grahammcnally4799 yes also the direction of lamination of printing. You would print it like position like coke can. This mean while under torque, it would pull in the wrong direction and split easily. It can be done for sure! Don't get me wrong.

[@Mike-oz4cv]

Is wear only proportional to torque? Shouldn’t it be proportional to transmitted power which is the same for all gears?

[@nanoadrian1]

It would be nice to see more of the CADing/design process. Great video! Very nice tank.

[@nedash71]

That gearbox is very impressive! I am super impressed that it held up to all that use. That failure in the muddy field is called throwing track. A twig or something got caught in between the wheels and the track and pried it off. The reason for *that* was not enough track tension. You could increase track tension by adding an idler wheel somewhere in the design, or make the wheel on the opposite end of the drive sprocket into an idler wheel. Warning: properly tensioned track will stretch out over time. This happens until it is loose enough that you start throwing track again. So if you have an adjustable track tensioner you need to keep tabs on it. Also, longer center guides on your wheels can help you recover from situations that might cause the track to come off. Nice work!

[@rmdcade1717]

Love those dramatic aerial shots.

[@kwhp1507]

What I find the most impressive is the accuracy you managed to get with your gear meshing distances and what not. Since it is 3D printed and you had to “help” the fitting of the rods and axles and still managed to get what I would consider a perfect mesh.

[@thecreaturefpv9295]

Your videos are GOLD. I can’t get enough of that dry humor, and to top it off, the projects are always so innovative. Thanks!

[@patrikgrnli3155]

Awesome! Really like those long endurance missions you put on your creations. This and the atuonomous boat have to be my favourite. Keep it up!

[@blackbirdboy1]

Very cool. I'm never going to be able to build something like this (I don't have a 3D printer), but watching you show what is possible to do with a 3D printer is amazing. Looking forward to seeing what else you have in store for us, to keep us sane in these crazy times!

[@TimTamsLOL]

Nice vid. I'd love to see how tracks printed from TPU would turn out

[@lacucaracha111111]

Multimaterial TPU surface

[@bartybum]

TPU surface would probably be best, otherwise it'd take insanely long. That being said, a two-piece TPU belt could work quite decently

[@Fpvfreaky]

For test pla is great when you know the model works. Then the advance build begins.

[@koreyokeene]

Idea if you feel ambiguous. Some may think it's dumb but felx-seal has a rubbery texture to it and if you take off the you don't want felx-seal on you could spay or brush or roll it on to the trad for more grip!!!

[@georgethompson3202]

Hi rctestflight, love how the tank turned out, I had an idea for your concrete traction problem. And it would help overall too. On your treds you should glue or rivvet little rubber flaps on the edge that touches the ground almost like paddles?... it would dig into the snow and also the rubber would grip on tarmac, you could make these easily with only Bicycle inner tube rubber, cut strips and one by one add them to the end of the track sections. Hope this helps and happy adventures

[@scottwood1143]

Great stuff Daniel. Loved the hyper zoom-lapse drone footage during the ‘field’ testing.

[@caradu9973]

You have my heart every time I see a new video of yours that comes across my suggested I'm Blown Away

[@Joey-Jdi]

Proof you don’t need top quality prints to make a great working and functional machine! Love it

[@dividingbyzerofpv6748]

The track repetition in the snow is really cool to see it's consistency.

[@jonniklas5020]

Yet another cool Video by rctestflight. Thanks for the entertainment throughout the years

[@sentientcloud]

Really cool! I am in the process of making a 3d printed rc Tank so its cool to see other people doing it.

[@ruftime]

Boy, tanks are in!?! Awesome stuff Daniel. Arbor press.....not necessary.....but certainly more fun😎

[@jeffhampton8781]

Seriously cool. Your engineering skills and ambition are impressive as always.

[@mancheetah5610]

surely you have a soccer field in the area. You know, I nice level, even and spacious area to put your awesome creation through its endurance test without external influences.

[@DEAD4LIVE]

Wat if ppl start playing soccer?

[@landlocked4771]

I have been following you since the beginning and you amaze me, the bible tells us to treat younger men or women as sons or daughters, older as fathers or mothers and the same age as brothers or sisters and son you really have it going and it pleases me to no end to watch your videos and marvel at your ingenuity and I thank you for all you do.

[@michaelwestcamp8300]

“Ah yeah look at that torque” hahaha amazing

[@joyfuflower]

The narration during the montages had me in stitches! Great video!

[@DinkeyMalcho]

Man, thats amazing! Thx for sharing the stls!

[@adnamamedia]

I would have really liked to see you put one of those lower-ratio gearboxes in there and have it go crazy fast

[@qislegit.donttrustthemedia6232]

Rover: "What is my purpose?" You drive in circles

[@graysonhobby]

That is awesome! - Nice work - We will be building / printing one of these soon!

[@Axodus]

This is the creativity I subscribed for in full action.

[@Axodus]

Tupperware is unsung hero of these videos.

[@sirphade]

Very nice design. You chose a good material for the gears for PLA has high resistance to abrasion wear. The only disadvantage is slow biodegrade with water over time (years), but the #1 for you would be that PLA gets more brittle with UV from the sun. I paint or at least clear coat my outdoor projects in UV resistant paint which doubles as waterproofing as well. You have some clever features: the nested gear layout, heat dissipation fins that double as cool factor, Good track width /support ratio, Large front driver wheels, and #1 is it's simplicity. As for PLA gear lube, I've used white lithium grease in production gears. It's friendly with PLA, and the tiny little layer grooves made by FPM machines such as yours hold the grease well like an impregnated industrial plastic. Very little is required. Very Nice! I look forward to your next video. -Boone Brandenburger

[@ryanmccawley5467]

How neat is that! You can tell it’s a 3D printer by the way it is.

[@dinosoarskill17]

i love seeing printed parts, especially pla, stressed like this. so awesome.

[@JimNichols]

Your shop is amazing!!!! Damn son! great video, great build, seemingly awesome skills. Great job!

[@benboone007]

The level of excitement here is top notch, how neat is that

[@ChrisMuncy]

Very impressive Daniel. Look forward to the next tank video.

[@kickingforchrist]

Nice build! PLA pretty durable. I ran pla caterpillars, joints were even pla instead of wire, and they lasted about 30 half hour runs on my TinyTrak tank...they never snapped just stretched...

[@uewepuep]

Definitely my favourite thing you've made.

[@grahammcnally4799]

I liked the boats waypoint missions for some reason

[@surrealengineering7884]

That's a really simple desing and at first i though: That seems a little easy... But it looks like it works great and even better than some of the overengineered designs i've seen here on youtube! Great Job!

[@ShaunHusain]

You could make a spot on front could put a mop handle into and have it push you along on the skis using your hand to provide down force, there is some commercial motorized ski thing that does it for cross country or going up shallow hills. Handle would stick out front at like 45 or 60 degree angle so pushes you forward and you can provide down force or in the commercial version it attaches to a belt.

[@bob2859]

I'm pretty sure it'd be able to climb vertically if traction was no issue. Unless you're planning on a lot of cargo, you might want to make your gear ratio such that the force at the radius of the driven wheel is less than tank's weight. More battery or more speed!

[@randomwatermelon1]

When I saw him make the tracks I was like "That is ALOT BIGGER than I thought"

[@GeneralLeeStupid1]

"How neat is that?" Thats pretty neat!

[@Flieger46]

Always great to see a new rctestflight, Keep up the good work !

[@hypnoticatrance]

Looks like a very cool project! Maybe it would be an idea to make a closed gearbox. Then you could fill the gearbox with grease so that the gears are lubricated. That would also minimize the noise somewhat.

[@jaketurnerfpv6027]

I found your channel tonight, and was browsing your older videos... solar plane V4 was awesome! Then I went back to your channel and had seen you uploaded this 4 minutes ago... the timing :D

[@moreboost]

Kool camera patrol tank? Lol that was an awesome run time.

[@FlowersForYou629]

You could look into a coating for your tracks like a bed-liner coating or Flex Seal. Maybe only coat the ground interfacing sections of the tracks?

[@rarra]

What an excellent engineer. Well done!

[@markifi]

Tanks for releasing the files for free

[@johnnyboyfpv6065]

The tank needs an fpv cam, and a ton of speed!

[@Azety93]

i just watched few of your videos, im totally impressed by your creativity and skills. So young ! i would not be surprised if Hollywood hire you. i really loved your video in the desert with the bike rider, and 16mm video on Kodak 50T. Cheers from France

[@MarcAntoine01]

Ah un français ! Tu va l'imprimer ?

[@Flieger46]

Maybe you could also do a sort of commentatet desigining session ? I´m always wondering whats going through your mind when designing the tracks for example, for somebody with a limited ammount of experience in cad drawing it would be very interesting to see this i think.

[@MarcAntoine01]

Would be interesting for sure

[@paulmakesthings]

Been super excited to see the result of this! Awesome work

[@sentientcloud]

After seeing this video you motivated and inspired me to finally get a video done of my 3D printed rover tank that I made. Thanks :)

[@Toxicity1987]

PLA is probably one of the best plastic materials for gears. Its high hardness makes it pretty resilient against wear. We use other plastics like ABS or PETG because they are more flexible and doesn't break that easily, but because they are softer they wear out faster than PLA.

[@nThanksForAllTheFish]

That is interesting. Is there a good source for more testing data - like printed gear dimensions/layer height/gear speeds/torque vs plastic type? Seems like Nylon would be ideal but it I thought it's properties are closer to PETG than PLA.

[@Toxicity1987]

@@nThanksForAllTheFish Nylon has the best tensile strength, but that os not really important for gears, except if you are using them with very high torque, but then maybe aluminum or steel become the better option.

[@confuseatronica]

the random track color is cool. i know you did it because it was whatever color you had, but its still jolly. Looks like tracks made of old scarves

[@anderswahlgren9308]

Thank you for doing things that i would like doing unless life was in the way.. And thank you for making great quality videos.

[@socrazybmx]

really excited for the inevitable "Autonomous Solar Powered 3D Printed Tank" videos!

[@GeorgePrince]

The wonders of 3D printing, ingenious engineering! Keep the good work up!

[@watswat123]

Hey, what ESCs do you use? I'm trying to find some of the drone style ESCs that support reversing the motors.

[@MarcAntoine01]

I'd love to know that

[@jameswho5517]

@@MarcAntoine01 Spider 30A Opto Small ESC i think but how he get reverse i dont know

[@Fpvfreaky]

Tank ski’s next up. Good job. And that time with the vids must of taken ages. It works really well Daniel 👌

[@Intro2Love]

in inner and outer edges of tracks flat panels should help with traction on flat surfaces. if your 3d printers capable of printing in less rigid and more rubbery/flexible materials thise panels would benefit from this😎👍

[@JustJackOnYoutube]

This man makes everything big

[@nesyboi9421]

another thing to note when building tank tracks, the rollers should be exactly that, rollers. They need to roll on top of the tracks to keep them in place, not actually engage the track with teeth like yours do. Also tanks shouldn't always be slow, actually its better for them to be fast, especially in the case of modern MBTs and such. But I guess this understandable because its only a test bed for a gearbox. All in all though its a great build if you ignore the small details and its great fun to watch!

[@AndrewSpencer2]

That is awesome! You should build an autonomous lawnmower to run the waypoints first, get rid of those thorn bushes!

[@Talvara]

very cool, I'd consider making a hollow groove in the tracks and fill those with a rubber shape cut to fit.

[@AlvaroQF]

Absolutely amazing!! Great tank, great design, amazing video

[@rchaven-whooptang5211]

Would love to see how it would fair if the tracks were made out of TPU instead of PLA. It's abrasion & chemical resistant, and depending upon the brand/shore rating, that extra little bit of flex for the grooves would probably help it bite/grip surfaces you experienced issues with even better. Looking forward to what else you have in store! Keep up the great work!

[@Skydive4ever]

Another very cool project :-) Looking forward to the next video :-)

[@user-hp3xb3ph1z]

@rctestflight Great video! Also what program do you use to design with?

[@Enginair]

This video was extra sarcastic. I love it. I'm curious to see where this little tank goes next

[@doitallste]

The drone shot was sick

[@among-us-99999]

Can you give it a little robot arm+FPV cam? For a garden mars rover capable of carrying pebbles around

[@dinosoarskill17]

For some reason functional gears have been my favorite thing to print. I am curious as well to see how the PLA holds up.

[@jerwallzz]

That tank is awesome dude, you are a genius!

[@simoncycling6685]

The future of modern warfare ... thousands of these everywhere ..!! Good work !

[@jimtinkering]

Great job love seeing all your projects. I remember an old kyosho car video that suggested using toothpaste to run in the gearbox to remove the burrs on the gears then switch to grease. Also I've had good luck with the gear generator in inventor, I generated and printed 40:1 worm gears and printed in pla

[@panexplosivoh3113]

Great video, great thumbnail. Subscribed

[@MissFiona1982]

I think that waypoint autonomous tech would be great in snowmobile/atv adventure tours

[@heli400]

Oh,... and I wouldn’t have geared it down so much either. It was fun watching that thing just rip thru the grass

[@DarkMaster0]

Love this build

[@GregKelley]

Hope you're working on your deep snow design improvement. Just waiting to start printing! The proper geometry you're after for those great teeth is called an involute curve. I'm an engineer and designed proper gear teeth. When I get your final design I'll make the gear teeth for ya.

[@maxdarner5672]

if you hate dealing with supports, there is an experimental option in cura (if thats what you use) called tree supports, all of the support is based on the baseplate, none of it is touching your print, except for the part its supporting. In my experience it only takes a little bit more filament, which shouldnt be an issue. So if you're reading this, give it a go.

[@koubenakombi3066]

Congrats! Great project!

[@cedivad]

Yours is the only channel I consistently or should I say ever hit the like button on.

[@pauljs75]

1 out of 3 in the 3D printed tank build. Although you had a track separation, you didn't hammer the bearings in with your screwdriver handle, and you didn't strip out a drive-shaft connection by over-speeding the motors. It's an unwritten rule now that those are customary things that should be performed at least once in 3D printed tank builds.