Hello,
I have had high interests for multicopter drones for quite some time now, and after some research, I am willing to start on a project. I am new to RC in general, but I have flown some planes and helicopters before. I am thinking of a 12 motor multicopter design. I am thinking about using electric motors to power the drone. I plan it to be a sizeable one (1.5-2.0m in diameter), since I am thinking about installing a small gas powered generator in the middle of the drone if possible. (I don't quite know if this will work yet). I figured with 12 motors powering a big drone the batteries would die out pretty quickly, so the only possible long term power supply I could think of was a small gas powered generator.
I have two main questions.
1. Would a 12 rotor design work? (I am thinking of a regular octocopter design with 4 more motors closer to the center.)
2. Would the gas generator idea work? (Assuming that I will have a drone large enough to support it, such as 1.5-2.0m in diameter.)
Also, if you could suggest electrical motors to power this drone, it would be very nice :)
Opinions would be highly valued.
Many Thanks,
Dominic
Replies
A 12 rotor version would work, but I guess you would need to modify some settings if your setup is not a standard 12 rotor design..
I have also considered the idea from having an onboard generator but due to the efficiencies its not really the best approach (unless you have a super effect lightweight generator. I think a good hybrid approach would be to use a gas engine with a large central prop providing the most lift, and then using the motors around to provide control like in this video - http://pinterest.com/pin/461548661781747948/
Hope that gives you some ideas ;-)