3 ms·
Right, this doesn't make much sense. You can add fly-by-wire and autonomy to a helicopter as well (it's been done). The two come from different backgrounds, th
by lastbestmatt 10y ago
Right, this doesn't make much sense. You can add fly-by-wire and autonomy to a helicopter as well (it's been done). The two come from different backgrounds, though: people are familiar with "drones" being relatively cheap and easy to fly. So scale it up and add a person, and now it's both easy-to-fly and accessible to your average commuter.
Of course, this reasoning doesn't usually account for the cost of implementing all that safety and redundancy stuff that was previously just understood to be possible. Not to mention the cost of getting it FAA-certified when you're done.
- dannycodes 10y agoOn the other hand, having 12 rotors is already much better redundancy than a helicopter. Maybe they're onto something.
- blakes 10y agoAh, but don't forget that the rotors on a helicopter can be pitched (like wings). I'm not sure the rotors on this "drone" can do the same thing. A helicopter can land with the engine out by using it's rotors like a wing essentially. If these rotors are fixed, then essentially it becomes a falling brick.
- FabHK 10y agoAh, the dreaded 17-engine approach! :-) On the Volocopter, the 18 rotors are fixed pitch, but yeah, a couple of engine/rotor failures are no big deal. Beyond that, ballistic rescue parachute: autorotation is not an option.
- nine_k 10y agoAFAIK, helicopter's rotors cannot be used 'like a wing', that is, for gliding. They can be set to auto-rotate in the direction opposite to normal and thus slow down the descent (even a completely vertical descent) and provide some control during it. I suspect that there can be a way to relatively passively control auto-rotation of drone-style rotors. Pitch control is much trickier. It's not unheard of (even model planes sometimes have variable-pitch propellers), but it would noticeably complicate the rotor, lowering its reliability. I suspect that a fixed-pitch rotor with an independent mechanical axis brake could be much more reliable with comparable efficiency.
- theoh 10y agoAutorotation doesn't involve the rotor rotating in reverse. It involves changing the pitch of the blades so that an upward airflow keeps them moving while they generate some lift. It's like a wing in the sense that it resembles the operation of an autogyro, which has an unpowered rotary wing.
- lastbestmatt 10y agoWell that's true to some extent, although it remains to be seen how the motors they're using compare in reliability to an engine and conventional rotor system. Engines and rotors are pretty reliable when operated within specs. In any case, the controller is probably going to be the bigger reliability factor here, and having more rotors doesn't help with that.