Hello everyone. We are working on a new battery technology and we have been unable to find good information regarding the most popular multi rotor platforms. If you had to list the five most common models that you see day to day - what would those five models be?
Part two of my request is even more difficult. It doesn't seem as though much data exists in terms of the "numbers" of UAV's in existence. I.e. - How many Parrot AR's are out there?
Any help would be appreciated.
Jason Roggensee
BuildCentric Systems
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Replies
It is certainly a broad question and the answer today may not be correct in 6 months.
What you really want is survey data of what is flying at a large event. At this time, multirotors are hot but competitive events are just happening. The Multirotor Challenge was just introduced in 2013. The event was organized and sponsored partially by Innov8tive designs -- a probable competitor or seller of your battery technology. The IRCHA Championship is a very large heli event so...
You may be better off looking at the trends in 3D RC helicopters. Helicopter Speed is a new event at many gatherings/competitions. The heli crowd is probably growing faster than the multirotor crowd but there is some migration from heli to multi due to the simplicity and ease of operation.
Good Luck!
-=Doug
By most common models do you mean brands, rotor configuration or RTF (Ready-to-fly) models?
Many build their own, 3DR has a few quads, hex's and Octo's, there're also Tricopters and even Bicopters. Quads are probably most popular, with popular weight range from 500g to 3kg.
Batteries commonly used are 3 and 4 cell Lithium Polymer packs from 1500mAh to 5000mAh, even 8000mAh, others use 6 cell packs.