It's not a secret, that me, and QuadMeUp, are not only about quadcopters. From time to time I like to do something completely different.

When I was a child (10-12 or something like that) I loved to build boats. Simple crude design: styrofoam or bark, simple sail or DC motor and tinwire propeller. No RC link. Just let it sail in "somewhere there".

When I got a 3D printer and learned that servos can be converted to continuous rotation simply by replacing potentiometer with a pair of resistors, the idea to build paddle wheel boat powered by servos was almost obvious.

So, here it is!

3d printed paddle wheel boat

  • Hull can be 3D printed, STL files are available on Thingiverse
  • Wheels are powered by 2 TowerPro 9g servos converted to continuous rotation
  • RC link by cheapest FrSky compatible D8 receiver
  • 2S LiPo gives enough "juice" and with power usage of about 300mA it can sail for hours