Spektrum's New Active Vehicle Control - Opinions
 

Hi Guys,

Just saw the video for the new Vaterra MT and Losi Rally with Spektrum's Active Vehicle Control and wanted to ask if anyone knew if Radio Makers like Futaba and Sanwa would follow suit?

I want to buy a Futaba 4PKS-R but wonder if I should wait and see if they follow Spektrum's lead with the Active Vehicle Control.

Let me know what you think.

Here's the Video on The AVC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oPH42LwvqY

Wonderful driving aid, if you don't know how to control your vehicle.

And for racing, would probably fall under the gyro ban that will get you a) thrown out and b) known as the worst of the worst because you weren't even cheating to make your car faster, you were making it drive better than you could...

As far as it helping a newb learn how to drive, you're better off just turning down the throttle epa and gaining speed back slowly while learning true car control.

:lol::lol: At like 3 minutes..uhh duh if you don't give any steering input it's gonna run off course.

This really isn't new. Drift gyros have been around for awhile.

All this is going to do is make it harder for a basher to decide to race..."What do you mean I have to drive the car? I've always had my radio help me."

We've come to a point that RTR stuff is so over powered that they have to implement gyros so new people can drive them.....anybody else see an issue with that?????

Anyone who's flown a heli can understand and appreciate the use of a gyro, they use them for a reason. To put them in a land based vehicle..JFD

I won't explain what JFD means.

bunk
but some people will buy it and love it

Hey I got an idea, what if you built it into a jogbra ?
The ladies would love some electronic stability assist.
No wait, pants for drunk people to keep them from staggering.
yea yea thats the ticket

I imagine with this the gyro assist will get re-worded to cover it. It is a great thing for bashing or even as training wheels for a new enthusiast. But is has no place at all in a competitive event.

Yeah, if anyone really wants this "feature", then this entire hobby is probably not going to provide the instant gratification that person desires and they might want to consider sticking to video games, etc.

I don't get how this is a great thing for bashing. Isn't part of the fun of bashing spinning out and stuff?

Soon, we will have an app on our phone to have it drive the car for us.

But then again, pair up the stabilization with this POV setup somehow?

I think that would be fun combo for an ultimate basher... You could sit inside the house and still chase the neighbors dog up the street :lol:

It likely wont make it into other brands as it is a patent pending technology at this time.

For racers, there is a blinky mode so you know its off. However, this isn't for racers which is a very small portion of the market but is for the other 90% of the market that would be more of an enthusiast.

Before I tried it and worked with the team to develop this, I wasn't someone that thought it would be good at all. Now that it does what it does, I am totally sold on it for people coming into the hobby. For those that are in the hobby and have great vehicle control, you can turn it off, although in very low traction situations, it can aid you as well.

Think about the first time buyer. Go buy a car that says "way too many MPH" on the box, they go, grab the throttle, it oversteers, spins out and then hits a curb. Maybe after 10 or 20 times, that gets old. They have no one that knows what EPA is so they don't know what to do. Well, what they do is throw that car in their closet and never touch RC again. Would you really say that is best for the hobby? Not really.

Always keep in mind, it is fully and easily adjusted so it is something you can grow out of and even something that comes in handy from time to time to say let the wife or GF drive, or your kid that is new drive. You cant just think as a hardcore racer (which I admittedly am), you have to think like someone that knows nothing about the hobby and how to get them to have FUN with their new purchase right away so they are hooked and enjoying it.

That can be part of what is fun, and you can easily do that by turning the knob. For some, they want to go down a trial, while others want to hit a perfect jump...and so on and so on. To each his own and know you have something that can help those that don't have full control.

Folks, I cannot count the number of people we have had try this thing from Newbs to A-main at the worlds level drivers. They ALL said it is cool and works great for what its intended to do. It is intended for people to pick up the car and have the FUN that it is intended to have.

I see what you're saying Ryan but I'm old school, and a racer (only). I started when you had two choices. Figure out how to drive like everyone else, or this hobby really isn't for you.

But I'm of the mindset that 1000cc sport bikes shouldn't have ABS and traction control either..I got out voted on that one too, so what do I know:rolleyes:

KO did it first...

They've had a surface RX with a built in gyro for at least 6 months now. They KO KIY can change settings on it/enable/disable/etc
http://kopropo.com/america/radios/radio-receivers/

I see what you are talking about and that is more for drifting I believe, although I could be wrong.

The AVC is a full help system that actively feels what the car is doing and does all that "stuff" us racers have learned over the years to do when driving. That stuff being a good deal of steer/counter steer, and throttling.

Basically, with the advent of RTR cars that go way too fast because that is what consumers want these days, we needed a system that keeps them in better control over them and that is what this is.

You can read a little something written on Big Squid here about it...

http://www.bigsquidrc.com/the-cub-re...mburg-or-bust/

I think it's cool. I love gadgets. If I was a purist I wouldn't drive a Lancer Evolution X MR, with as many gadgets as any car out there.

I'll probably pick up one of these AVC RX/TX's just to play with.