4 ms·

that looks very cool and well controlled. since the rotors are at fixed positions some of the thrust be in opposition to other rotors. isn't that wasteful?

slackingoff2017 9y ago
Eh, drone flight is already pretty inefficient so it might not make much of a difference. Regular RC heli's are much more efficient than quadrocopters, I have no idea why the quads "won" popularity-wise
- ge96 9y ago
  I felt the same, like you're flying on thrust not lift... having a background in rc planes (3D flying) usually you need 250watts/lb to hover at half throttle and yeah I always wonder how drones will fly for a long time being a thrust-based flight. If they had fuel cells or something... gas is great with regard to keeping output and decreasing in mass... but batteries same mass, decreasing power... I don't know. edit: I realize thrust/lift arguably the same thing ie. rotating airfoil/wing but purely talking about energy consumption ie. motor off or low power for level flight.
  - convolvatron 9y ago
    the forces are the same...but isn't there at least a qualitative difference between a 'lift wing', which creates a force tangential to the flow of air and a 'fan' which shoves air one way and moves in the opposite direction? (obviously I'm not a aeronautical engineer)
    - ge96 9y ago
      I mean, a propeller is two wings mounted on an axis facing opposite directions rotating "infinitely" 360 degrees so... I don't know, I'm not an AE either.
- WildGreenLeave 9y ago
  Probably because flying a drone is easy while flying a heli is extremely difficult. In the end the biggest part of the people flying drones won't be able to fly a heli.
  - andygates 9y ago
    The hardware is also a lot less complicated = cheaper. Fixed-pitch props are just simple plastic parts. Variable-pitch rotors are a whole (delicate) mechanism.
  - slackingoff2017 9y ago
    It's only easy to control because of electronic gyros and control. Without those a quad would be more unflyable than a hell. I'm not sure why the automatic control systems haven't made their way to regular helis
    - nomel 9y ago
      They have, even in the mini copters, like the Nano CPX, for $99. This doesn't have the self leveling, but I think that's a much harder problem with a heli at a reasonable angle.

slackingoff2017 9y ago

Eh, drone flight is already pretty inefficient so it might not make much of a difference. Regular RC heli's are much more efficient than quadrocopters, I have no idea why the quads "won" popularity-wise

ge96 9y ago
I felt the same, like you're flying on thrust not lift... having a background in rc planes (3D flying) usually you need 250watts/lb to hover at half throttle and yeah I always wonder how drones will fly for a long time being a thrust-based flight. If they had fuel cells or something... gas is great with regard to keeping output and decreasing in mass... but batteries same mass, decreasing power... I don't know. edit: I realize thrust/lift arguably the same thing ie. rotating airfoil/wing but purely talking about energy consumption ie. motor off or low power for level flight.
- convolvatron 9y ago
  the forces are the same...but isn't there at least a qualitative difference between a 'lift wing', which creates a force tangential to the flow of air and a 'fan' which shoves air one way and moves in the opposite direction? (obviously I'm not a aeronautical engineer)
  - ge96 9y ago
    I mean, a propeller is two wings mounted on an axis facing opposite directions rotating "infinitely" 360 degrees so... I don't know, I'm not an AE either.
WildGreenLeave 9y ago
Probably because flying a drone is easy while flying a heli is extremely difficult. In the end the biggest part of the people flying drones won't be able to fly a heli.
- andygates 9y ago
  The hardware is also a lot less complicated = cheaper. Fixed-pitch props are just simple plastic parts. Variable-pitch rotors are a whole (delicate) mechanism.
- slackingoff2017 9y ago
  It's only easy to control because of electronic gyros and control. Without those a quad would be more unflyable than a hell. I'm not sure why the automatic control systems haven't made their way to regular helis
  - nomel 9y ago
    They have, even in the mini copters, like the Nano CPX, for $99. This doesn't have the self leveling, but I think that's a much harder problem with a heli at a reasonable angle.