Rc receiver shutdown

I am developing a parachute recovery system and have everything working except I need to shut down the motors when the chute gets ejected. Since the battery can be 3 or 4 cell, a switch would be big, heavy, bulky. I thought I could shut down the receiver by running the 4 esc’s into a switch then the receiver. If the software/relay could cut the power from the esc’s to the receiver, the motors would stop, and not tangle the parachute lines. I sit looking at the 4 channel 2806, thinking, but cant come to a conclusion. The software has a relay built in so at the time of ejection, I can complete a circuit or kill a circuit of 5v, a signal, etc. Any ideas?

Hello.

This sounds like a interesting project. You might be able to use our RC relay to turn off power to yours ESCs. Alternatively, the 4-channel RC multiplexer could be used to cut off the signals sent to your ESCs; the slave inputs could have signals to stop the ESCs from spinning the motor and switching the inputs would effectively turn off the motors. If you post a diagram of a proposed setup, I would be happy to take a look at it.

- Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy, I really appreciate that. I bought the multiplexer, but drew a blank, thinking perhaps I got the wrong thing. I will get the brain working on it, it usually comes to me in the middle of the night, about 3:00am. Now I know why I buy from you guyts.

I dont think the multiplexer will work. I believe I need a 4 way relay.

What makes you suspect multiplexer would not work? Do you need to turn off the four ESC independently? From your description earlier, it sounded like you wanted to turn off all the ESCs at the same time. If this is the case, you should only need a single relay to turn off power to all four ESCs.

Again, if you post a schematic or diagram of your proposed setup, I would be happy to look at it.

- Jeremy

After receiving another multiplexer, I got it to work just fine. It seems the first one I tried, and kept trying, and kept trying, just wont switch. I tried another. A second works fine. A little to stubborn or persistent or brain dead to try another sooner.

I am glad you got it working. Thanks for letting us know. If you are plan on getting another RC multiplexer for your project or as a spare, you can contact us directly at support@pololu.com with your order information and reference this forum post, we might be able to help you with a discount on a replacement.

- Jeremy