Futaba S Bus Technology; Like USB For Your Model
Posted on January 5, 2010 by aaronredbaron
Futaba usually does not talk about new products until they are nearly ready for market. The Asian market often receives the first line of new technology out of this established Japanese manufacturer, and Futaba’s new S Bus technology is following that same trend. While no word is available about when we might see these systems in the US, the Asian magazine RCTech got their hands on one of the new R6108 SB Futaba receivers, and along with a Diagram Futaba Released in Japanese, was able to confirm the function of the S Bus system. USB (universal serial bus) connections allow multiple peripherals to connect to your computer through a single USB port; in a similar fashion Futaba’s S Bus allows a group of servos to function independently when ganged together on a single servo connector. Special Futaba servos (Futaba’s yet to be released PG series with an SB code in the name) will be used, and programmed through a PC, each servo is assigned a function. Using this configuration, a single signal wire carries the entire PPM data stream for all the channels. Each servo will only respond to is assigned function, even though they can all be ganged together with the signal wires in parallel.
This could greatly simplify things like a complicated wing with multiple servos. With Futaba’s S Bus technology on board, all of the servos on the wing could be ganged on one signal wire, meaning a single servo connector could be used for the whole wing (assuming adequate power can be delivered). S Bus technology will also allow modelers to deliver power directly to the power bus of the servos with a separate power source, preventing demanding setups from relying on the receiver’s power bus. For helicopter pilots getting into the latest flybarless technology, the Futaba S Bus technology will allow the receiver to connect with a flybarless stability system with a single servo connector, simplifying setup dramatically. While S Bus technology is sophisticated and will likely come with a matching hefty price tag, its exciting to see advanced technology competing in the market. With the new line of Mikado V-Bars already able to accept a signal directly from a Spektrum sattelite reciever, Futaba is playing their cards that incoperating the serial bus concept right into their recievers will be the ticket.
