General discussion of r/c project

[Derwin]

Here are a few emails that I received from MVR. He gave me permission to post them. If his projected prices are correct, I think this project may never get done! But if we can find cheaper sources, or even outsource this to China, than we may still be able to get 'er done.



Hello Derwin,

Ok, had a long discussion with my Uncle in the Akron area who 4 years ago retired out of the injection molded plastics business. I'll try to make sense out of all my notes. I described to him what we are doing and encouraged him to check out the web site (and to hopefully get him involved). I told him that we are looking at ~ 6 parts and 3K to 5K units.

First off he said it makes no sense to purchase the injection molding
machines @ ~ $150K. In addition it apparently takes a lot of training/experience to do molding. 18K to 30K pieces is a small, side job for any injection molding outfit.

Biggest cost is the tooling (molds) which can be combined into one unit to save costs, but will still run $20K to $100K depending on size and even more, the complexity. Once that is done, the cost to produce the parts is only pennies a piece.

On CAD - he recommended AutoCAD, cheapest @$4K and widely accepted. However, he said to forget it if we don't have someone who is completely familiar with the program. It would take us too long to learn and become adept.

His recommendation was to find a "Rapid prototype" or "3 D Design House" outfit that could take our prototype, render it in CAD, then do a Stereo Lithography(SLR), or use a DTM(?) to turn out a couple proof prototypes. These would not be made of the proper materials, but can be used to check fit/finish/details. Then we proceed to the actual tool (mold) machining and then production with filled poly carbonate (glass or carbon filled-design house can help with actual material specs).

He states that the Chicago area used to be just packed with outfits like
this, but since China, they have dwindled. He did also say that it could be done long distance, but would require travel ... much easier to have them close for a few sit down meetings.

Hope this all helps. Will be talking to my brother this PM about CNC
machining ... keep you posted.
Regards,
Dave


Just did a search ... there are 7 in my general area (35 mi) and one is just 10 miles away. Not sure how many of those would do exactly what we are looking for, but a number of their descriptions sound right.
Dave



Hi,
Good news, my brother in LA with the CNC machine shop says he'd be happy to work with us! Better yet, he has CAD (uses it all the time) and will do our CAD drawings.

Sigh... side note, he's a young guy struggling to make a go of his business, so while he didn't ask, I'd like to see him compensated for his time. He'll get on the site tomorrow and see what we are up to.
What do you think?
Regards,
Dave

I told MVR that we would love to have his brother on-board with this project, but it is all dependent on what he would charge. I'm not exactly rolling in money! But I would be willing to offer a modest sum just to get his help.



So, it's coming to the time (2 or 3 weeks?) where we will be stuck until we get something from Ian.

We'll have a prototype up & running that is approximately the right size and if all goes well, we will be stalled. Only hold up I see -

1. I think this motor package I'm working with may be TOO powerful. Rated at 35MPH. After I bought it and was looking on the internet, I found there was a wheelie bar kit to keep the front end down :-)

2. I'm not sure the cut down drive half shafts (from 1.5" to 1/4") will stand up to the torque.

The fix here is to go to the next smaller size motor/trans. This would also
allow for more standard size half shafts.

My next question is ... can we order 3K to 5K of the trans/motor combinations from the manufacturer. Also, spring/shock units, half shafts, wheels/tires? Then the controller/receiver/servo combinations?

IMHO we need to have that all lined up before we spend money on even the first step of CAD design. Got to have that stuff locked in to design too.

Ideas?
Dave

I have been trying to get ahold of Ian, but so far no response. The last email I received from him was a few weeks ago when he stated he would get us the files "when he returned to Los Angeles". So, he has obviously been out of town lately. Hopefully, we will be getting the files soon.

Please post any replies/comments to this thread. We need the participation of ALL those members who are interested. Any and all help that we can get is appreciated.

Derwin

[rogwild]

I have been trying to get ahold of Ian, but so far no response. The last email I received from him was a few weeks ago when he stated he would get us the files "when he returned to Los Angeles". So, he has obviously been out of town lately. Hopefully, we will be getting the files soon.



Derwin

OR........He has just "BLOWN YOU/US OFF", like he has the FTR Forum for the past month or so. He has kept one 'promise', when he said that he would no longer be keeping his earlier commitment of keeping his supporters 'updated' with bi-weekly reports........ Promises of images of the 'revised' "D" design, now past the Alpha completion date announced by Howard. I guess the OLD TREND of Vv continues.

I guess now I'll hear from all the people making excuses for Vv and Ian, about how 'busy' he is and not wanting to delay the production of the V~1; but how long does it take to make a post like:

"Here are a couple renderings of the latest ideas for the 'revised' "D" concept", and post some pictures that they must already have (to 'approve' them)? Maybe 5-10 minutes?

[Derwin]

Hey, I agree 100% with you, Roger. But what can we do about it? It's my opinion that we are fortunate to even be in a position to receive anything at all from Ian and the Venture Vehicle team. I'm thankful for whatever updates he makes, and for whatever help he can give us on our r/c project.

But you are correct in everything you said. And, yes, it would only take a couple minutes to post a sentence or 2 on the forum. Why he doesn't do it......your guess is as good as mine. :(

C'mon, Ian. Let's here from you! =y:

Derwin

[RAN]

OR........He has just "BLOWN YOU/US OFF", like he has the FTR Forum for the past month or so. He has kept one 'promise', when he said that he would no longer be keeping his earlier commitment of keeping his supporters 'updated' with bi-weekly reports........ Promises of images of the 'revised' "D" design, now past the Alpha completion date announced by Howard. I guess the OLD TREND of Vv continues.

Ummm.... consider this repeated :rolleyes:

[MVRacing]

Hi All,
One other point I forgot to mention on the mold ... the poly carbonate is very asbrasive and wears out the mold tool, but since we are making such low numbers of parts the cheaper aluminum tooling will be adequate, putting us in the low range of that $20K to $100K tool cost. Again, a lot depends on complexity.

We have any tool(mold) makers out there??

[V BUZZ]

hey guys i got a call from my brother last night. before you go spending a lot of money on something let me look into this real quick as i am a tool maker my self and have many resources when it comes to plastic parts, there may be a better way


what quantities are you looking to make here as plastic injection tools are really set up for mass production there are other ways


let me know and ill get some info for you guys

[MVRacing]

Hi ya Buzz,
Right now I'm looking at 4 or 5 parts ... 1 the pod chassis, 2 the body pan, 3 left & right rear lower a frames (could be same?) 4 shock tower. This depends on if we can get the quanities of Tran/motors & drive half shafts, springs/shocks from another manufacturer ... if not, then add a bunch more parts (10?).

For quantities - it will probably depend on costs - 3k to 5k RC's? Derwin will make the decission on that.

[cpaddock]

Howzit Buzz! Thanks for hopping on board! You sound like just the person we need to steer this ride to reality. In view of injection molding $$$$ costs, we should probably
be looking at vacuum forming the body shells (main cockpit, upper and lower halfs,
and motor pod shell) as well. I was prepared to whittle out the model male body forms by hand, but would happily relinquish that task to your CAD system.
Ian, we NEED those files!

[dobdru]

I have been Following the post here and there I am interested in both the Paper cut outs and the RC just to pass the time till the real thing becomes available, but when will they be available? and will the rc be preassembled? I mean I know I will have to put the paper one together....I'm going to print mine on That really thick paper I used back in college for my Writing assignments....

[Derwin]

Well, as most of you know, the people at Persu have "PULLED THE PLUG" on our remote control project (pun intended!). But we can still go forward by creating a remote control vehicle based on another design....let's say the Phiaro or the Carver or, what about a r/c based on the Dagne.

Here is a prototype that has been made (I think this is what we have been looking for!).....

T1dv6Nu-6fQ


vSe-edlWvFg


As I said, this was just a prototype. In order to have these things actually made, we would need to place a large order. My guess is that they would retail for around $250 per unit (because our order quantity would still be considered small). This would be a very "limited edition" r/c vehicle, obviously.

I think this would be an incredible thing to "play around with" while waiting for our Persu Hybrid.

What do you think?

Derwin

[Riko Kruit]

well ... I like it

;-)

[MVRacing]

That looks really good! What are the chances of getting one to evaluate?

[Jack Willard]

On CAD - he recommended AutoCAD, cheapest @$4K and widely accepted. However, he said to forget it if we don't have someone who is completely familiar with the program. It would take us too long to learn and become adept.

Perhaps I might remind you that I am an AutoCAD expert. That's what I do and have been doing for over 20 years. And, we/I already have the Persu 3D body shell design files, which I have converted to AutoCAD.

The problem, as you have mentioned, is that Persu Mobility won't let use that design as yet. What do you think the chances are that you could obtain 3D CAD files on the Phiaro?

[Derwin]

Well, I have somebody looking into this right now.

Hopefully we will hear some positive news soon.

Derwin

[Riko Kruit]

what if we just take the Carver One ?!
or ... our own design ...

it is just about the shells we put ON the RC model right?

[Derwin]

what if we just take the Carver One ?!
or ... our own design ...

it is just about the shells we put ON the RC model right?


Well, we could put just about ANY "shell" on the vehicle. That's really not a problem. I think it would be fairly easy to create the shell of the Carver. But we need the SPECIFICATIONS for the r/c vehicle. If I had the specifications for the vehicle in the video, then I could indeed get this thing created very quickly.

It's all about how they went about making the r/c vehicle. The shell is an after thought, and can be made into just about any design. Although, I think the Carver design would be best.

Derwin

[Jack Willard]

Riko,

The Carver shell design would be perfect. Can you get us the 3D CAD file(s) on the body shell, preferably in AutoCAD .dwg format? With that, I can resize it down to whatever is needed to put onto whichever R/C chassis is used. It's just figuring out how to attach it, and which process to use manufacturing the shell. Pretty easy really.

[rogwild]

I really like the 'turning performance' of this one. Looks even more 'nimble' than our prototype. Using the shell design of an existing production (Carver), or pre-production vehicle (Phario or Persu) might cause 'Trademark' or 'Copyright' problems, and cause delays getting 'approval'.

How about taking the general dimensions of the old VV and 'smoothing out the lines and design features to make a 'streamlined' Generic body shell? Then when we get the 'Green Light' from Persu, we can just offer a detailed 'body upgrade' (bolt-on) replacement with the same mounting locations.

[Miracleman89]

I think we need to take this one step at a time fellas! I would think the first thing we need to do is contact Phairo industries and find out all we can about their prototype and if they would be willing to sell the rights to us. Then we can go from there! Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Remember the whole cart before the horse saying!

On a side note I have to agree with Rog on this one! Their prototype appears to be more nimble and agile then our original prototype! Plus, I have always liked the Phairo Eternity design! So let's let Derwin and his people check into this prototype and see where we can go before we all start coming up with tons of ideas! No offence! The ideas a lot of times are so great we get distracted and I think it is best that we have a general direction we are headed with the project before we start firing ideas out! Just a suggestion. I doubt seriously we would be looking at $250 retail though! My guess would be closer to $65.00 per unit depending on our order, especially if they are made in China! However, Please NO LEAD PAINT!!! LOL

[Riko Kruit]

aren't we (you) doing the exact same thing when talking about V1, Persu, Dagne etcetera? haha, spamming tons of ideas on a vehicle that does not even exist? that's the fun thing about posting on a forum, right?

i will try to get in contact with my contacts at Phiaro, however I presume this was a one-off thing, maybe they can help us making the next step!

[Derwin]

So let's let Derwin and his people check into this prototype and see where we can go before we all start coming up with tons of ideas! No offence! The ideas a lot of times are so great we get distracted and I think it is best that we have a general direction we are headed with the project before we start firing ideas out!

Well, mm89, I have to go with Riko on this one. The forum is all about pitching ideas on any and all subjects that come up. We spent the better part of 2 years kicking around ideas for the VentureOne, and the thing still doesn't even exist!



I doubt seriously we would be looking at $250 retail though! My guess would be closer to $65.00 per unit depending on our order, especially if they are made in China!

And what exactly do you base your "guess" on? Have you contacted any factories in China, or anywhere else? Have you talked with any factory about the expenses involved in tooling up to make this? Brian, I think you need a dose of reality on pricing these things. I'll give you an example.... I'm working on a project over at my Rocketbelt Society. We are creating a statue in honor of the rocketbelt flight in front of President Kennedy back in 1961. This statue will COST me a couple bills to make. This is a simple statue, with no moving parts, no engine, etc.

This remote control vehicle, if produced, will be a very exclusive item. We are not the Mattel Toy Company that gets tens of thousands of items made at a time. If we produce these vehicles, they will be made in a very LIMITED QUANTITY, and therefore will cost considerably more. I estimated the pricetag on this to be a couple bills based on my experience in getting things like this done. Heck, it could even be more! But I can assure you that it will cost far more than $65 per unit just to get these made.

A reminder..... Whenever you purchase something that is in limited production, the pricetag is high. This is true no matter what product you are talking about. So, if we go forward with this, then I think we need to go forward with this understanding, or we should stop this project in its tracks right now.

My suggestion would be to take a vote on how many people would be willing to pay $250 per unit for this limited edition vehicle. I know everybody (including me!) wants to get things as cheap as possible, but we have to face reality on this one. If the end result of the vote is that people are not willing to pay that much, then I guess we have our answer before going any further with this project.

PLEASE VOTE IN THE POLL AT THE TOP OF THIS THREAD!

Derwin

[Derwin]

I think I just screwed the poll up! o:o:p:s12

Anyway, I wanted to delete option 2, which was a bit sarcastic, and just have the straight YES and NO options. Well, when I did that, it deleted all of the voters that voted "no". The votes are still there, but the NAMES vanished. The outcome of the voting has NOT been affected, though. Just the names appearing under the vote.

As of now, it looks like a landslide election against this project. I was kind of thinking it would go this way, though. Since we don't have deep pockets to create thousands of these things, and since the demand for such a thing is extremely limited, the production costs makes the individual price for these things just way too high.

Oh, well, maybe it's a good thing that PM pulled the plug on this project to begin with! :Beer:

If somebody else knows of a way to get this done, then please step up to the plate.

As of now, I don't think I'll spend anymore time and/or money in the development of this thing.

Derwin

[rogwild]

If you market the RC as 'limited edition' of a specific vehicle, then of course your numbers will be very small (in the 100's). I didn't vote for it since it was a 'Carver' (I don't like the front end design). If on the other hand, it is a generic 'fun', unique and inexpensive RC toy that parents could get for their kids, OR 'upgrade' with a detailed body (possibly at a later date), then your market would be in the thousands.
I would pay $100-200 for a nice quality 'generic' 3-wheeled 'tilting' RC vehicle, especially if it could be 'upgraded' with a detailed body of the Persu Hybrid, Phario, etc. at a later date for under $100.

[Derwin]

If you market the RC as 'limited edition' of a specific vehicle, then of course your numbers will be very small (in the 100's).

Roger, If we went forward with this, and actually built a remote control vehicle, it would indeed be a "LIMITED EDITION" due to the fact that we are not the Mattel Toy Company. We don't have the money to sign a contract with the factory to make "THOUSANDS" of these things.

When you go to a factory, whether it be located here, in China, or anywhere else, the first question they will ask you is..."What quantity will you order?". The price they give you is completely based on the answer to that question.

Since we would only be ordering a very LIMITED quantity, the price is incredibly high. I do not have the money, or the inclination, to order a bunch of these things, and then be stuck with them! I really do not want to begin a marketing campaign for a little toy like this. I really have no desire to do that.

But you also have to take into consideration the tooling-up that the factory must do to begin production. This is very costly as well, and is NOT included in the unit price that they would give. The factory does not "eat" the cost of making the dies, etc., that would be needed. That cost is paid by the purchasing party.

Bottom line is this..... No matter what we "call" the vehicle, or what "design" it has for a body, this will be incredibly expensive to get made. If we got about 50-100 or so people that would be willing to pay $250 per unit, we MAY be able to do it. But short of that, its just not going to happen.

Like I said, if somebody else knows of a way to get this done, be my guest.

Derwin

[Miracleman89]

first of all, the reason for the numbers I gave was because everywhere you look the economy is taking a hit and prices are dropping on damn near everything! By the time we would be ready to build this project who knows where the economy will be and what parts will cost! This was simply a guess anyway! Also I am very much aware the we are not mattel!!! or hasbro!!! or any other toy manufacturer!!! I also understand that limited production would make the cost higher! However, in todays global economy it would be fairly easy to get companies to compete for the contract to build this thing and as a result lower costs! Furthermore. statues require a ton more detail and with heavy detail comes heavy cost! I just don't think we are talking a $200 bracket! I am thinking you might be looking a somewhere between (your right $65 was low balling it but) $100 and $180

[Miracleman89]

Well, mm89, I have to go with Riko on this one. The forum is all about pitching ideas on any and all subjects that come up. We spent the better part of 2 years kicking around ideas for the VentureOne, and the thing still doesn't even exist!

Sorry for pissing in you guy's fruit loops. That was not my intention!

I was just pointing out that sometimes we get wrapped up in the ideas and as a result lose sight of the goal. (IE. a finished product) case in point is your qoute above! 2 years and still it does not exist! I am not saying that it isn't fun but I think at this juncture we need to start thinking tangible!

[Riko Kruit]

do you realy think a new product can be on a market like the USA within 2 years?!

[Derwin]

I just don't think we are talking a $200 bracket! I am thinking you might be looking a somewhere between (your right $65 was low balling it but) $100 and $180

MM89...

Again, I have to ask what you are basing your figures on. It's very easy to just pull numbers from out of the sky, but it's not realistic. Just to "say" that it "should" cost around $100 to $180 is well and good, but what in the world is that based on?

I have been on the phone with several company over the past several months (actually since we first came up with this idea!), and the first thing they ask is what QUANTITY do we desire. When I tell them that we only want about 100 or so units made, they laugh in my face! Then, after they finish laughing, they tell me the costs involved in tooling up for production. I never received any "firm" figures, but I got estimates that were very high.

If we created this, it would be in very LIMITED NUMBERS, and therefore would be a "Limited Edition". The cost to make these could be between $180 and $220 per unit. Now, to get the ball rolling, I would have to order 100 units. That would be around $20,000, plus shipping from China. If ALL 100 UNITS sold (and that's NOT a guarantee!) for even $250 each, I would profit around $3,000. To me, it's just not worth risking over $20 Grand just to make $3,000 or less. And that's saying that they all sold for $250. And, if I sold them for $180 or $220 each (my cost), then why do it? Why invest over $20,000 if I am getting no return?

Like I said, it's easy to throw figures out there, and say that the "world economy" is bad, so we can get a good deal, but it just does not work that way. I have been negotiating in the past couple weeks with a couple companies in China on 2 separate projects. One is a company that makes sublimation machines. Well, I purchased these same machines 2 years ago for a certain price, and now I went back to buy a new batch of machines. Guess, what? The price of these SAME machines WENT UP! Now, you would think that due to the world economy that prices would be cheaper, right? Well, NO! You know what they told me? They said that the value of the DOLLAR has gone down, and that is the main reason for the price increase. So, in MY EXPERIENCE with dealing with factories, prices are not going down, but to the contrary...they are going up.

In any event, I don't think any project is worth doing if a profit cannot be made by the person/company putting out the money for the project. The feedback I have received pertaining to this shows that either 1) people expect to get it at "cost", and/or 2) people just don't know the actual cost of getting an item like this manufactured in low quantities. Either way, this project appears to be dead before it got out of the womb. o:h"we"ll1

I would think the BEST way to proceed with this, is to just come up with a set of PLANS for this vehicle, and then let MEMBERS make them individually. This way we would still be able to enjoy the little bugger, and have fun in actually building it. What do you think?

Derwin

[rogwild]

I was always for a 'kit' or 'Plans & Parts List', as the cheapest and quickest solution. A detailed molded body could be added later. In the meantime, even a 'cut-out' body made of some type of flexible plastic sheet or heavy paper could be used.

[Miracleman89]

Well now I see why you are saying $250 a piece! If you are only ordering 100 units That makes since! I was thinking limited but I was thinking a lot larger number! More like 1000!

[Derwin]

I was always for a 'kit' or 'Plans & Parts List', as the cheapest and quickest solution. A detailed molded body could be added later. In the meantime, even a 'cut-out' body made of some type of flexible plastic sheet or heavy paper could be used.

Yep, it seems to be the best way to move forward with this. Roger, I know that you mentioned this many, many months ago (actually sometime last year!), and we should have taken your advice. It was/is a good idea.



Well now I see why you are saying $250 a piece! If you are only ordering 100 units That makes since! I was thinking limited but I was thinking a lot larger number! More like 1000!

Hmmm. And if we had 1,000 units made, and they cost only $100 a pop, then who were you thinking was going to come up with $100,000 to get this done? Brian, I think you should do the math on this stuff, really! This is a whole lot of money either way you look at it. And if done how you were thinking, it would have been even MORE money to put out. Like I said, we are not Mattel or Hasbro, who could put out $100,000 and not even blink an eye! This project was NEVER to be one that would cost this much money. I was always thinking in the few thousand dollar range, and not in the 6 figure, or even 5 figure range.

anywho.... I agree with the idea Roger had many moons ago.... Let's put together some workable plans on how to build this sucker. Then maybe we can go ahead and actually have SHELLS built. This would not be too expensive, and might be fun.

What do you think?

Derwin

[Derwin]

Well, fella's, I was just contacted by Ben Werner, the owner of Revolution Motors. As most of you know, they are developing a vehicle they call the "DAGNE". Well, he stated that we could move forward with the development of a remote control vehicle based on the DAGNE. Ben told me that they would be willing to help us with this project by giving us technical pointers, as well as some specs on how to build the chassis.

I, for one, am very excited about this, but I would like to get your feedback.

Please let me know if you guys/girls are open to the idea of the club creating a remote control vehicle based on the DAGNE.


Derwin

[rogwild]

Last time I communicated with Ben on their website, they had not yet decided on how they were going to 'integrate' the 'tilting body shell' with the 'steering/tilting' front wheels'. So I don't know if they have a 'completed body design' yet. We could do a frame/chassis tilting prototype, like the proposed Persu 'Kit'. I think a Remote Controller (with a Joystick, that operated like the proposed Dagne Joystick) would be Way Kewl!

[Derwin]

Last time I communicated with Ben on their website, they had not yet decided on how they were going to 'integrate' the 'tilting body shell' with the 'steering/tilting' front wheels'. So I don't know if they have a 'completed body design' yet. We could do a frame/chassis tilting prototype, like the proposed Persu 'Kit'. I think a Remote Controller (with a Joystick, that operated like the proposed Dagne Joystick) would be Way Kewl!

Yep, your right, rog! Ben told me that they STILL have not settled on a body design yet. But he said that he could supply all of the technical information about the frame, and this should keep us busy. Then, when they decide upon a body, we can go ahead and make the shells for the r/c vehicle.

Anyway, I think this may be a good option for us, and YES, the joystick idea would be incredible!

Derwin

[rogwild]

Anyway, I think this may be a good option for us, and YES, the joystick idea would be incredible!

Derwin
Yes, and a good 'Training Aid' for future Dagne Joystick drivers.
And 'maybe' some of the talented people on this list could even help 'design' a cool looking front end for the Dagne.....to go with the nice side and rear views.

[TazmanianKoala]

I also like the technical design of the Dagne. The prototypes that RM shows on their videos looks at least a lot roomier than the PM.
A r/c kit would certainly clarify how the body will tilt, and then help shape the body.

[tugboatwilly]

What about doing a ride aboard on a go cart chasis size? Surely the Hot Rodder types can shade tree something rather than a bunch of remote controll thingys. I am thinking a cable rig using the VW emergency cabling system like the early turn brakes on sand rails. You turn the wheel to the left and the cable attached to your handgrip tilts the unit? How about it MM89

[Miracleman89]

What about doing a ride aboard on a go cart chasis size? Surely the Hot Rodder types can shade tree something rather than a bunch of remote controll thingys. I am thinking a cable rig using the VW emergency cabling system like the early turn brakes on sand rails. You turn the wheel to the left and the cable attached to your handgrip tilts the unit? How about it MM89


Are you talking building a go-kart type of vehicle that would allow us to experience the feel of riding one of these bad boy?

[espresso_curve]

I like the go-cart idea!!! Forget R/C let get into something we can ride. Well, that is probably more of a dream than the R/C but it's okay to dream sometimes :)

[rogwild]

I like the go-cart idea!!! Forget R/C let get into something we can ride. Well, that is probably more of a dream than the R/C but it's okay to dream sometimes :)
Nice idea, I like it also; but I would think we'd be talking 'thousands' of dollars instead of 'hundreds'. Sort of expensive for a 'toy' we couldn't legally use on the streets. But a LOT of FUN,.... I know a few abandoned airstrips in my area.....hummmmm?

[Miracleman89]

Oh man!!! Yeah that is what I was thinking when the idea came up, "wow that will be expensive, but I like the idea!" I could get by with driving on in town roads but I would have to purchase a plate and put it through a safety inspection! Not sure what that would cost? Plus depending on it's final height, I would also have to purchase a dumb looking bicycle type of flag so larger vehicles could see me. It would definitely be fun though!

[Derwin]

After thinking about this for a while (actually several months!), I've decided to make public what transpired between the club and Persu Mobility regarding the remote control vehicle project.

As many of you know, Ian was cooperating with the club in providing us files to help us create a remote control vehicle designed after the Persu Hybrid. Obviously, he also gave the club approval to move forward with the project.

Well, when Ian left the company, so did approval for the project! I was contacted by Persu officials and told that we NO LONGER had approval to create the r/c vehicle. After going back-and-forth quite a bit, we finally made a settlement in regards to this.

Persu Mobilitiy (Venture Vehicles at the time) agreed to send me funds to cover any "loss" that I may have incurred do to the project. They were most gracious in their offer, although I would obviously still rather have the approval to make the r/c vehicle!

Below is a copy of the check that I recieved from the company.

Again, I thought I should make this public so that all club members would know exactly what has transpired behind the scenes.

Derwin

[Mike kZ]

Did the project cost that much?

[Derwin]

yes.

[MVRacing]

yes.


And that is with out me being re-imbursed for the prototype costs... but I didn't expect to be re-imbursed. I had fun making my own 3 wheel tilting RC.

[slowblast]

MV, Do you have picture of you prototype? I would like to see it?

[MVRacing]

MV, Do you have picture of you prototype? I would like to see it?

There are photos & video in threads "Detailed Specs & Ideas" and "Front suspension"