4 ms·
I had a similar project on Kickstarter. https://youtu.be/xRviasOMCvk https://youtu.be/xRviasOMCvk We made 300k$ but then dropped the project and gave money ba
by dimitriarendt 8y ago
I had a similar project on Kickstarter.
https://youtu.be/xRviasOMCvk https://youtu.be/xRviasOMCvk
We made 300k$ but then dropped the project and gave money back to backers.
Basically beyond the "damn cool" effect there is no edge over quadcopter. It is less efficient. You gain something by the duct effect but the duct is heavy. It is very noisy. More sensitive to wind, especially when you try to reduce weight to make something affordable to build and sell. The only benefit was safety due to ducted fan but the point vanishes against mini drone the size of your hand like latest dji.
But for sure it s dann cool and fun tech to master. Kudos!
- madeuptempacct 8y agoThis is really cool. I find it very strange that it's less efficient though.
- georgeecollins 8y agoI believe it is because propellers get lift from air pressure, which is more efficient than just pushing air for thrust. If you are sucking air through an engine you don't get that bernoulli effect. I could be wrong. I am not an aerospace engineer
- dimitriarendt 8y agoThe efficiency of a propeller depends on the ratio thrust/area, the smaller this ratio the higher the efficiency. (See 11.7.3 at https://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/node86.html https://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes...) The issue with the ducted fan is that the propeller size is constrained and the weight is higher due to the mechanical structure. A small quadcopter has twice or more propeller area for a portion of the weight.
- georgeecollins 8y agoThanks! I learned something from this.