Hello guys. This is a very interesting development for the jet community.
Gaspar has managed to create a 100% digital control link on his engines.
By this I mean: Digital ECU, digital serial bus, digital brushless starter motor and digital brushless pump.
The first 3 were already available on the M140X. However the brushless pump is the last component that was missing for a fully digital control system.
This is now done and the following benefit of a super fast fully digital control loop are available:

The super high cadence ECU processor coupled to the high bandwidth Xbus digital serial bus enables to pilot brushless digital starter motor and fuel pump pole by pole.

This means the following for the starter motor:

A much higher starting torque giving a more position clutch engagement and less clutch and o'ring wear.

A punchier starting thanks to the motor torque.

A more positive starter motor disengagement.

A more clever piloting of the starting cycle.

For the pump, the following benefits are achieved:

A very precise control of the fuel metering since the ECU can pilot the pump pole by pole and control resolution is 1 RPM! Fuel metering s now to the milliliter!
A very fast change in the fuel flow output. The fuel flow is monitored 100 times per minute and precisely altered as soon as change in the combustion cycle is detected
In practice this means a much more stable combustion cycle. This is especially important for operating the engine in extreme outside air conditions. Very cold or very warm and humid, as well as in high density altitude conditions are not a problem for the new engine. Also, Idle regime is even more stable than before.
The brushless pump itself is a professional grade type. It features two ball bearings, automotive seals and reinforced pump gears.


The new system is available on the Merlin M140X that is now called M140XBL.

http://www.ultimate-jets.net/collect...rlin-m140x-mk2

The fully digital M100XBL will come later on and we will put it on the web site when available.

A big BRAVO to Gaspar and his team for setting the standards on the market a BIG step higher!

The Merlin VT-80 is not expected to be updated at this stage as it targets a very competitive price to power ratio.

very impressive.. now we just some axial flow turbines

Is the brushless motor sensored? If it isn't its not going to be smooth at start up, as anyone who has fooled with the electric planes no at startup electric motors twitch to find there position.

this isn't the case with sensored motors as they remember the position based on the sensor.

brushed motors don't need this because the commutator acts as the sensor.

Other than that sounds good with everything else.[8D]

No the motors are not sensored. Sensored units were tested and made no difference:
As the starter motor has a centrifugal clutch, if the motor twitches to the closest pole for start, the clutch doesn't move. It is not even recognizable from the outside.
Similarly, the fuel pump starts at the priming stage. A twitch on that occasion doesn't matter since the motor goes very slowly and the hot cycle will only start when a EGT rise is detected. The only thing is does is bring the fuel back by 1 mm in some cases.

Maybe 10 years ago, now days they are super smooth even without sensors. Specially the car applications.

Love the teeny weeny tiny ECU.. All those bits and bobs in such a small package.


Roger..

Congratulations to Gaspar in taking the next big step forward to improving control of small turbines. Use of better brushless motors and pump will make starting so much easier and under better control. This is has taken a serious amount of work to achieve.

John

Good to finally see some improvement in ECU design. The main benifits would be reliability and power consumption. With the rather lengthy kero start cycles the starter will have an easier life.
Back in 1998 I developed a system that could control the speed of a brushed motor very tightly under varied loads. This made Gas starts super smooth. When I switched to Kerostart this requirement was mostly negated since our start atomiser needed a lot of pressure. I abondoned the idea of a high amp kero ignitor glowplug almost immediately. So we could do full kerostarts on a regular 4 cell nicad pack.
At the same time I opted to place all valves and control logic under the front cowl. There was a serial link between ECU and engine. By 2001 this system was working like clockwork. And still does.
Since then I improved startime down to 20 seconds using a 5 cell pack. Many users have now swithed to 2S LiFe packs. The pump speed software allows change in supply voltage over this range with no adjustments to parameters.
Slowly since then some have caught up. Since then I have been researching the concept of a contactless starter/generator. I may get motivated to complete it next year.
The brushless starter/pump is a big improvement by Gaspar and users will have a great advantage over what has gone before.
Good work!
Andre

Really good news. Go Gaspar!

Yes, just to add my congrats to Gaspar and the team, Im sure there are many more evolutions in the pipeline which Gaspar has been working on for years. I remember some time ago when JM was just starting up Gaspar introduced the hall effect rpm sensor which has since been adopted almost universally.

There will be some innovations which others have had success with but what is unique is that they are here to stay with a mainstream commercially successful company.

Rob.

Yep.

Really impressive!

Bob

So if I were to order one today, when would I receive?
In other words are they ready for shipment or they a pre-order item?

BTW - this is the way to go....Brushless all the way!

You can put in a pre order with your dealer, the M140XBL is available from June, 17.

Rob.

A lot of us "electron head" guys who have messed with electric power for years have been wondering when we'd go "brushless" for a long time but there were detractors and people who were pretty set on brushed motors being actually better. I knew someone would push through the challenges, I'm impressed with the announcement. I've been flying Gaspar's last two generations of newer ECU's and it doesn't surprise me he's the one to do it. Nice job, very much looking forward to hearing how the end users like it and how it works in practice for the regular guy. For me, being a high altitude guy plus an electron head, I think this is right down my alley.

Great work!

Things in any field advance one small step at a time gradually getting better then BANG,
a quantum leap which makes everything before it second rate. Before you know it the
quantum leap is the new standard just like this will surely be.

I can see this being the same as the brushless/lipo revolution that changed electric models.

Questions:

Will this system be available & compatible as an upgrade for older engines like, in my case, Wrens?

Will this system become available to other manufacturers who currently use Gaspar's systems?

Will this system be offered as a retrofit for engines which don't use Gaspar's system, e.g. Jetcat?

Will this system have the smarts to operate gas start engines as well as kero start?

If I smoke an ECU or pump I'd like to know if I have a new option for repairing my existing engines.

John.

its about time someone comes up with that

1. The system can be adapted to older engines but it seems that all the sensor chain shall be changed to use the XBUS digital link. Probably quite pricey. I am trying to get Gaspar to do exactly this on my older M110GE. I'll know more about this very soon.
3. Up to the company making the engine I guess. I think that most major manufacturers will offer their own protocol in a few years from now. There typically is a delay of 2-5 years when Gaspar creates a new product and other manufacturers follow on.
4. Theoretically yes. However this would have to be developed specifically. Since all the new engines are kero start, development for older generation gas start turbines is unlikely to happen in my opinion.
5. Are you trying to find an excuse fro an upgrade ?

As soon as I get a M140XBL, I'll put it on the test bench and report on the blog and here as well. Few weeks to wait...

Guys, I just got the confirmation pricing wise: no price increase for the new technology. Quite amazing considering the enormous R&D cost engaged.

No, not really, things are humming along nicely at the moment.

But come new engine time if something significantly better was available .......

John.

hey all
have any of you guys out here had a merlin 140x flying yet
if so what gap have any of you used in the setup ?? ive got mine set at 23mm

any feed back would be great

adec

Will an upgrade be available for the Merlin G90?

Mike

Probably best to ask the factory I would think.

Regards

Rob.