RC boat for whitewater?

[hugeh2o]

I am a professional kayaker and want to research designing or buying a RC boat as a whitewater camera carrier.

Here are my concerns:
1. Can I buy or design a boat that will upright itself when turned upside down?

2. Are there crafts/designs that have been designed for a small video camera?

3. The camera would need to some how follow the kayaker as he paddles through rapids or surfs waves. It is my vision to have the rc either in front of or beside the kayaker.
Is there a way to design a camera housing unit that would receive a singal from the kayaker? Then the camera unit follow the kayaker?

Thanks for any help,

David

[LtDoc]

David,
I think it's a good idea but considering the type of movement of the water you guys usually travel, not a very practical one. In calm water, sure. In fast turbulent water, I don't think so. The problems start with who is going to be running the thing, and is he going to be able to keep himself afloat too? Add in trying to keep the thingy pointed in the right direction in the middle of keeping it steered.
I'm not a 'kayaker' by any means and I'm also not a (very good) photographer, so take all the above with a large dose of salt...
- 'Doc

PS - But if you do it, I wanna see the pictures!!

[Kmot]

Just thinking out loud here..........

If the boat had a deep enough keel, a weight in there would tend to always right the boat if it rolled over.

What about tying a small camera carrying boat behind your kayak? Using a swivel, it would always be free to move in its own way without the tether line twisting it. If it were tied about, oh say 5 or 6 feet it should be able to keep your and your boat in view most of the time I would imagine. And you would not have to worry about using r/c controls. I wonder how you could control it anyway while paddling in the froth of a whitewater situation?

[hugeh2o]

Further explanation:
My sport, freestyle kayaking, often kayaks on a dynamic standing wave. eg- near our base we have a six foot standing wave. In front of the wave the water is smooth and moving 10-15 mph. The rc would be controlled from the bank, while the kayaker surfed.
In the sport of kayaking we make "foamy boaters." A "foamy boater" is a small kayaker made from either wood or mini cell foam. They are crafted like kayaks and we usually glue quarter (weight) on the bottom and they will upright themselves. These "foamy boaters" will do everything from run water falls to cartwheel in small hydraulics.
Alternative things kayakers have done for videos: 1. placed bullet cams on their helmet or kayak deck, 2. built a small raft that is tethered by a rope in front of the wave they are surfing, and 3. used a jet ski to video.
I am confident that an rc would work for the situation I am researching. But I have no experience with rc's.
I expect i could actually build a giant foamy boater that would upright itself. But do not know if the rc motor would continue to function.
Does anyone know an excellent builder who would be interested in this sort of project?

David

[Ray Farina]

There are Coast Guard patrol boats ( 30 to 40 feet) that are designed to self upright
themselves in case that they turn over. You might want ti look into their design.
Bluejacket Ship Crafters in Maine advertises that they build custom models.
www.bluejacket.com

[boatman1]

Wow running a rc boat in white water is difficult but i have done
some with my rc airboat & havent seen anyone else even try it
heres a video of me running in small rapids with my airboat
http://cajungatorairboats.com/v-web/gallery/albums/boatman/cajun_rippen_ww.wmv

[tim slocum]

Dont worry about the electronics too much.I have friends in the RC warship area and they protect their electronics,servos etc from water damage.And they totally submerg there ships.They do things like put their receiver in a balloon.If I understand correctly,you just need something that can sit out in front of you in fairly calm water and be powerful enough to maintain position with 15mph water going toward it.Couldnt you just film from the bank and zoom in?? Whats the benefit of the RC boat aspect of it?Just wondering.Vac U Boat makes a tug that is very stable in rough water.They make a video cam version of it ,and with a upgraded prop and motor should be powerfull enough to do the job.I had my Vac u tug in 6in waves and it handled it fine.I believe they have a video of a Vac u tug in the surf,showing how stabile they are.Check out Vacuboat website.Phil is the owner and he is nice,contact him and talk.
Good luck

[jmolwitz]

What a great challenge . I'd like to do the hull and the power system :)

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

The difficulty is speed, even at 15mph, the boat would have a hard time holding position in the fast moving water. Running time would be the second problem.
10 minutes is all most of the medium speed boats get on a 6cell pack.

It's not impossible, just a challenge. ;)

[pusar]

The other issue I see is if there is a problem AND THERE IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM The boat may be washed down the river. If you build it right it would be a real shame to loose it.

I have run my Villain EX in some 3 foot waves in Lake Erie. Jumping waves and hitting the chop is great. The boat can handle it.

I have run the boat in some choppy rivers and it worked well. The only problem is that once it flipped and by the time I put the reciever down it was quickly going down the river. I ran like hell and had to jump in to get it.

That was the last time for that.

A deep keel would be an issue. there is a reason kayaks have a smooth bottom. The under currents are tremendous.

As Umi said... Power would be a problem. Adding a camera and housing... This adds to weight. Your boat would have to be VERY fast and short lived to counteract the current.You may need a gas trimmer engine. I can think of 20 more problems with that set up. :p

The better the boat the more the cost. The more the cost the worse the loss. :o

Very intresting ......

Just my 2 cents. I guess it looks like a nickle's worth. ;)

Marty

[hugeh2o]

I think a gas model would be best.
Rescue: this is not as much of a problem. Since we are attempting to shoot video of the kayaker the kayaker serves as a rescuer to the rc boat. Again, I think it is important for a self-righting craft.
My idea: Our self-righting foamy boats use weights on the hull similar to a Zig Zag 2. Thus, weight from the camera would need to be as low as possible.
I can not imagine sending a rc boat into whitewater without it being capable to self-right.
Is there a self righting nitro boat available?

[pompebled]

Selfrighting hulls are usually electric powered and completely taped shut.(the camera will have a (wet) window to 'see' through)

A Petrol or Nitro powered boat will stall when turned over (resque!).

In addition to that, the quality of the images you'll get won't be too great, due to the movement of the boat and camera.
We run a camera on one of our US1M and when the water gets choppy, the pictures are sickeningly bad, not to mention the fact that 99% of the time the object you're trying to film, is not in the frame...
It's very tedious and frustrating work.

A much more stable camera platform would be a large (model) helicopter, designed for the job.
You'll need a skilled pilot and camera operator to get good results.

Good luck!

Regards, Jan.

[DanL]

hugeh2o,
I've seen video from RC boats on smooth water. Very bouncy, very poor framing/composition, not evry interesting to watch because of the low quality.
Pomplebeds helicopter idea is in my opinion the best approach. Fast, maneuverable, can be held almost dead still, no water exposure, no water on the lens.
Having a pilot control the helo RC and another operator controling camera function, you could get some great shots.

[grantham]

David (hugeh2o),

it appears to me that you have 2 ways of overcomming the problem of the boat turtling. Firstly you could design or modify a power boat and put a keel on it like the one metre boats have and put a decent motor in it or you could simply make it rely wide. :)