One method of controlling the 12 cannons of the USS Constution is to use a PICaxe18M2 processor to read a single RC channel, then drive 6 servos that each drive two MAV valves to fire the cannons. The circuit is simple and the programming is too, and circuit cost about $25. The pic below shows the assembled radio box. The receiver is on the far left, my homemade PICaxe controller board is next, then the 6 servos and 12 MAV valves. I've used the PicAXE as motor and gun controllers in my MWC ship for a while and it is reliable. The 3-position switch just outside the box selects the 3 operating modes. First mode is normal single shot per xmtr stick movement. Press the left stick (or button), and the first cannon will fire. Release it. Press left again and the 2nd will fire. Press right, and the first right will fire, etc. It will start over once 6 are fired with left and right independent. The second mode is for tweaking. Each stick movement will cause a gun to fire, but the next 9 sticks will fire the same gun too before moving on to the next gun. The next 10 stick movements are for the 2nd gun, etc. The third mode will fire all 6 left or 6 right cannons in rapid succession per the stick movement. To not wait for servo movement, it now fires guns 1,3,5,2,4,6, but this order can be easily changed in the program. All parameters such as how long the MAV valves are pressed and time between gun firings is programmable. If 2, 3 or all 6 guns firing at the same time is desired, that is easy too. I can provide the circuit schematic and program free, but I am not prepared to build these for folks. Refer to the website picaxe.com for info on the PICaxe18M2 IC including free downloads of the datasheet, programming reference manual and free programming editor. With the editor, you can read and/or modify the program. Bill Here is the pic link if necessary: http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i346/Bill_By/Radio_box_12_cannons.jpg?t=1408288033
Here is a video of the 12 cannon radio box in action. The circuit should be able to handle any number of cannons from 1 to 18. For 4 or less, there are easier ways to do it though. Bill Link to video: http://s1089.photobucket.com/user/Bill_By/media/12_gun_radio_box.mp4.html?sort=3&o=0
Very clean and compact! Does the box fit under the winch trays in the back, or it going to have to go under the guns?
That is very awesome. Can you manipulate which mode its in from your transmitter or is it only by hand in the ship?
The radio box will be mounted under the guns and just over the water channel. This keeps the CO2 lines short. Also, I'll have to ammend an earlier statement. The PICaxe can only control servos from 8 lines, so the max number of cannons controlled from this setup is 16, not 18. It could be set up to fire 16 cannons using servos and the last two cannons using two solenoids controlled by the Picaxe. You could still control 18 cannons from 1 RC channel.
@ Jotsd: I thought only one mode would be used at a time. Tweaking is only done on the shore. If the multi cannon firing is allowed, I'd use that normally. If the "One button press for one cannon fire" MWC rule is imposed, then the single shot mode will be used. With a second RC channel connected to the PICaxe, then the mode selection can be changed on the fly. Processors are flexible. Bill
Got it! I can't see any good reason for the rules to limit you to firing one cannon at a time because that would be historically inaccurate which isn't fun lol I could see a use for being able to change back and forth to multi gun and single gun such as when you cut across the stern you might want one or two at a time rather then wasting all your shots but a broadside you would want em all
A shot across the bow was the historic norm when the aggressor wanted to keep the target ship as a prize. However, I don't think any of the AoS ships will strike the colors just because I threatened them. On future versions of the controller board, maybe a 2nd RC channel input could be an option for changing modes.
Oh yes a shot across the bow probably wont do much in this version of our great hobby and if it did that just wouldn't be fun haha. I was speaking on the possibility of crossing the stern to hit that penetrable area. Still one of the coolest things ive seen. I wonder how effective it could be if used in regular warship combat. Can it be programed to wait a specific amount of time before fireing again?
The system could be set up to wait a period of time between shots. I think they talked about 4 seconds before a given cannon can shoot again, and this could be put into the program. However, since a lot of people will probably be mentally counting, and since I imagine that seconds go a little faster in the heat of battle, I didn't want to be limited. The MWC rules do state 1 cannon shot per stick/button movement, so I don't think this multiple cannon per stick system would be allowed. I get 2 guns per RC channel in my MWC ship, so even 3 channel for 6 guns wouldn't be too bad. However, since I have several 6 channel radios and wanted to fire 12 cannons, I didn't want to buy an 11 channel radio to have enough channels.
Why can't you fire multiple cannons on the same channel? You can use double and triple sterns, right? Six barrels is no different than a double or triple. I thought the prohibition was on having a timer cycle the firing solenoid for automatic fire or three-round burst or something.
Another consideration may be gas supply. Moving enough gas to simultaniously fire 16 guns would be a heck of a lot of gas. I know I had a problem firing quad sterns off a single bottle in my Baden (froze the bottle). So a "ripple fire" pattern (Upper & lower gun deck firing together, followed by next pair, then next...) might be useful.
There was going to be a rate of fire restriction, right? It may work to have an accumulator store air pressure for each cannon, and they refill while waiting for the next shot.
I've had trouble with triples staying tweaked together. If one gets a little loose, it fires first and lets the gas escape. The other two had bbs on the way, but are now left in the up-tube. I end up with a single and two hunks of copper and brass. Tweaking triples requires a 2nd way to fire each cannon individually. With solenoids that is not too hard- just a separate switch for each gun in addition to the radio switch. Controlling the solenoids from the radio singly or in groups is not hard either. However, solenoids are fairly expensive ($50 ea) and MAVs are cheaper ($10 for valve and cap). I chose MAVs.
If you have the weight, consider running two regulators and bottles. As separate systems, not in-line (not all regulators are equal).
That's the solution I used in Baden. For AoS, I could see ships with two gun decks powering each deck of a seperate bottle, so each "pair" firing draws off two bottles. That would eliminate the freezing issue. I'd think firing full broadsides would still cause freezing problems unless there was a RoF restriction in place.
As gas expands, it tends to drop in temperature. Part of that whole PV=nRT thing that happens with a real gas instead of an ideal gas. A phase change, such as liquid CO2 boiling to gas, will also cause a drop in temperature. That's the specific heat of vaporization, IIRC. That's also how sweat cools your body, which you'll become intimately familiar with in boot camp. The drop in temperature can be enough to freeze water or moisture in the air. If that happens on the regulator, it can jam up the workings, and may cause it to fail high or fail low depending on the design. To mitigate this, you can use HPA to eliminate the phase change, you can include an expansion chamber to help ensure that all liquid CO2 boils before it reaches the regulator, or you can use multiple regulators and bottles to spread the temperature drop across twice the area. If you're feeling sparky, you could install an electric heater around the regulator, or a water circulating system to heat the regulator with warm water from the pond. I've seen Ben remove his bottle from Warspite with a big chunk of ice around the regulator after a battle when he blew an air line, and plenty of other boats that get a frost pattern on the regulator during heavy fighting. On full scale boats, this contributed to the loss of the USS Thresher when air piping froze during an emergency blow, preventing air from reaching the main ballast tanks.
I understand the basic premise behind it but not how if everything is working properly, such as a hose doesn't break or you have no leaks, then why would the bottle freeze.
