If I was the owner, what would I do?

[lutach]

Well guys, I've been wondering the same thing. If any of you guys were the owner of Castle Creations, what would you do to make this hobby more exciting for everyone?

I'm going to say, I would do what Schulze does and just make good controllers that cover the whole spectrum of the hobby. I would make anything from 10A up to 1000A (If possible ) and make them handle up to 100V. A lot of controllers out there are capable of doing it all. I have a few that I can use in my cars, but if I decide to get a boat I can use it in it or take it to the sky. I have tons of ideas for ESC and if I had a factory, I can't imagine what goodies I would be working on. I'm just waiting for the day voice command hit the BL ESC market . What about programming your controller right on it using a small LCD and a few buttons (Keyence Rapida Pro anyone http://hobby.keyence.co.jp/english/speed.html#rap). That's just me, but I would love to get all of your opinion. Man if I had a factory .

[lincpimp]

Well considering that CC is a relatively young company, I am sure Patrick is trying to build his business. He is wading in largely untested waters, and every decision is potentially capable of making or breaking him. I am sure that CC will develop more products, but they do have to sell this stuff, and more is better. They seem to have the air market covered. Patrick even mentioned that the boat market is barely big enough to keep his boat controlers viable.

The car market is growing, and CC appear to have the best tech and product development. Higher voltage is becoming more popular. I feel that as the mfgs produce more large scale electric vehicles, and the market grows, we will see more HV car controllers. We here are but a handful of people, and not really capable of buying enough equipment to make it worthwhile to CC.

Patrick did say that he could make an 8s car esc, which sould great to me! I want one, lets start pestering him for it! (Sorry Patrick!)

[lutach]

What if you owned it, what would you be making for us?

Originally Posted by lutach

What if you owned it, what would you be making for us?

I would build the business for the mainstream and offer the lowest price possible and make the money on volume of sales...otherwise if you do what you are suggesting your product will be expensive trying to sell to a very small market(Mostley adult men who have the resources to buy the ESC.) My goal would be to become the Traxxas of the ESC market and try to get more kids involved asking thier parents to buy the product for Xmas/birthday

[lutach]

Originally Posted by azjc

I would build the business for the mainstream and offer the lowest price possible and make the money on volume of sales...otherwise if you do what you are suggesting your product will be expensive trying to sell to a very small market(Mostley adult men who have the resources to buy the ESC.) My goal would be to become the Traxxas of the ESC market and try to get more kids involved asking thier parents to buy the product for Xmas/birthday

Yes, good one. That is one of the concepts I learned a while ago when I used the be a Stock Broker. I now use the same in my business. You will find some posts that I've made here and in other forums saying the same thing. I make more money selling more electronic components and I don't like making less profit selling at a higher price. This is what I'm trying to get from anyone who post.

[lincpimp]

I would focus more on the car market, and most likely develop more motors. I expect that is what Patrick is doing. He has neu in his pocket, and a factory in china. I am sure that he is overhauling most of his products at the moment, and developing other stuff that will sell well (main point of any business).

I am sure that we will see some interesting products in the near future. Once the development and qc of the current products calms down, I think some interesting stuff will be available.

Personally, I am a car guy. I want a Hv car esc. Capable of 6-12s lipo, properly heatsinked, with a ubec integrated in the case. I would not integrate the bec with the brain board, but would like it in the esc case to clean up wiring. The size of the esc would be bigger, but most chassis can accomodate a quark 125b size esc. I am sure that it would be taller, but that is ok. Computer programming would be required, and a seperate programming box could be sold seperately for those that desire that (racers that are away from home for example). Something with 150 amps capability should cover most applications up to 5th scale. Maybe make a smaller model, say around 60 amps, that would be for smaller vehicles like a 10th MT.

[lutach]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

I would focus more on the car market, and most likely develop more motors. I expect that is what Patrick is doing. He has neu in his pocket, and a factory in china. I am sure that he is overhauling most of his products at the moment, and developing other stuff that will sell well (main point of any business).

I am sure that we will see some interesting products in the near future. Once the development and qc of the current products calms down, I think some interesting stuff will be available.

Personally, I am a car guy. I want a Hv car esc. Capable of 6-12s lipo, properly heatsinked, with a ubec integrated in the case. I would not integrate the bec with the brain board, but would like it in the esc case to clean up wiring. The size of the esc would be bigger, but most chassis can accomodate a quark 125b size esc. I am sure that it would be taller, but that is ok. Computer programming would be required, and a seperate programming box could be sold seperately for those that desire that (racers that are away from home for example). Something with 150 amps capability should cover most applications up to 5th scale. Maybe make a smaller model, say around 60 amps, that would be for smaller vehicles like a 10th MT.

Now we're talking.

[Pdelcast]

If I was the owner, I'd spend a LOT MORE TIME in Jamaica.

[gixxer]

I think azjc answered it very well. I really like the idea of hv but I totally understand its not for everyone do mostly to the price.

[lutach]

Originally Posted by gixxer

I think azjc answered it very well. I really like the idea of hv but I totally understand its not for everyone do mostly to the price.

Also good, but one can learn from the Euro giants. They will use one PCB, but with different components for a higher voltage controller. Wan to see a good example: http://www.schulze-elektronik-gmbh.de/fut-val-e.htm. Scroll down and you will see the last 2 pictures. One is with the BEC (More components) and the other is Opto (Less components). The Opto will use higher voltage MOSFETs and they do cost more if you buy from catalogue distributors, but for me it doesn't make a difference, I get them cheap. One example is the NXP MOSFET I got for my controller, it was being sold at DigiKey for $1.50 each and I bought them for $0.45 each and I could've gotten them cheaper, but I only found one Reel. I know companies have big overheads, but lets leave that to the side for a little bit as it contributes to the price of a product much more than the components used.

[Pdelcast]

Originally Posted by lutach

Also good, but one can learn from the Euro giants. They will use one PCB, but with different components for a higher voltage controller. Wan to see a good example: http://www.schulze-elektronik-gmbh.de/fut-val-e.htm. Scroll down and you will see the last 2 pictures. One is with the BEC (More components) and the other is Opto (Less components). The Opto will use higher voltage MOSFETs and they do cost more if you buy from catalogue distributors, but for me it doesn't make a difference, I get them cheap. One example is the NXP MOSFET I got for my controller, it was being sold at DigiKey for $1.50 each and I bought them for $0.45 each and I could've gotten them cheaper, but I only found one Reel. I know companies have big overheads, but lets leave that to the side for a little bit as it contributes to the price of a product much more than the components used.

You do know that Castle is bigger than Schultze and Kontronic combined right?

Patrick

[lutach]

Originally Posted by Pdelcast

You do know that Castle is bigger than Schultze and Kontronic combined right?

Patrick

Yes, $7 million in sales for 2007 is not bad. I'm sure that number might be off, but it was just a quick search I did. I just can't stop scratching my head and seeing the Europeans having some HV fun with their cars. I know the airplane and boat market are big, but I see many more vehicles being sold a LHS than I do planes. My LHS for example (Xtreme RC Addicts) mainly deals with cars. They have a nice indoor track and it would be great for Castle to have a little gathering there.

Originally Posted by lutach

Also good, but one can learn from the Euro giants. They will use one PCB, but with different components for a higher voltage controller. Wan to see a good example: http://www.schulze-elektronik-gmbh.de/fut-val-e.htm. Scroll down and you will see the last 2 pictures. One is with the BEC (More components) and the other is Opto (Less components). The Opto will use higher voltage MOSFETs and they do cost more if you buy from catalogue distributors, but for me it doesn't make a difference, I get them cheap. One example is the NXP MOSFET I got for my controller, it was being sold at DigiKey for $1.50 each and I bought them for $0.45 each and I could've gotten them cheaper, but I only found one Reel. I know companies have big overheads, but lets leave that to the side for a little bit as it contributes to the price of a product much more than the components used.

Graphics card companies (ATI and Nvidia) tend to do the same thing. There's only I think three different boards/basic designs for the 8 series Nvidia cards, but there's the 8400, 8500, 8600, 8700, and the 8800, and then all of their variants (GS, GT, GTS, GTX, Ultra, etc.). So you're looking at at least 10 different cards from three basic platforms. All they do is either lock some pipelines, change the GPU, the Vram varies from card to card, and maybe a few other tweaks like bios. Other than that, you can unlock something like say even a 7200 up to a 7400 spec (sometimes...).

It's a good business practice, and it helps tremendously in cutting down on cost for different product lines. The only down side is that for graphics cards, sometimes people figure out how to get a new bios on the card, unlock some pipelines, or whatever, and so they essentially have a card that sells for at least 50 bucks more for free. ESCs are probably harder to do that with though...

[johnrobholmes]

I would develop a few more RC car products, higher voltage mostly. Then I would get into electric scooter/motorcycle power systems. They could be built just as fast as 49CC scooters, but with much better lifespan and cost/mile

[lutach]

Originally Posted by johnrobholmes

I would develop a few more RC car products, higher voltage mostly. Then I would get into electric scooter/motorcycle power systems. They could be built just as fast as 49CC scooters, but with much better lifespan and cost/mile

Awesome. I was going tobuild a HV electric go kart, but the companies that were going to supply me with the brushless motor and ESC backed out. I was only going for 44kW and 70 N.m. and it spins at 24000rpm max. I think the only kart that could keep up would be the motorcycle powered beast seen in youtube.