If I was the owner, what would I do?
 

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 :lol:) 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 :oh:. 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 :yes:.

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!)

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

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.

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.

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

Doesn't castle have a stake in military stuff somewhat? I coulda swore they built some heavy duty controllers for military electric motor applications or something. Maybe I'm thinking Medusa though.

Anyways, if I owned CC, I would take an approach not unlike azjc's. Becoming the Traxxas of the ESC industry would mean tons of money, and more money means more potential to expand into other ventures. So once the company because something of that caliber, I would expand into Electric Vehicle controllers (1:1) and induction motors (1:1). I'd also continue to keep producing new and great stuff for RC cars, boats, and planes, and also possibly venture into some battery technology if possible.

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.

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.

Now we're talking.

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

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

Patrick

hahaha Yah Mon!

:lol::lol::lol: not until i get my MMM back ! then Ill buy you the 1st round of daquiris