Althought it seems to me it's the first question that comes in mind when building a multirotor, there's not really much interest in determining which is the best design (deppending on the use) on the net.
I only could find some tri/quad comparation, but nothing comparing the CPU-balanced ones.
Could you please tell me the main (relative) differences between them (including their possible layouts like raddial/coaxial). Just smack here what you now :P
Quadcopter
Skylens Aerial Photography
Hexacopter Radial
Holger Buss' MK Hexacopter
Octocopter (Radial)
Mikrokoopter
Octocoper (Coaxial)
www.robfrench.co.uk
Octocopter (linear?)
AscTec Falcon 8
Photo credicts go to their mentioned owners
Thanks in advance :)
Andy
Replies
If you do more than hover around then Y's have a distinct disadvantage because of dis-symmetry of lift.
Ralph Zoontjens said:
I am working on a wind-resistant copter with 15" props and 2/3 kgs payload.
I am leaning towards an Y-6 configuration with coaxial motors. It minimizes the surface area for susceptibility to gusts of wind and interference with the visual field of the 360cam. I hear that if the motors are not too close together on the Z-axis, coaxial motors can be quite efficient. @JSmith do you have any data showing how much less efficient this is?
I am also considering ducted fans although I am wondering how much that will affect the susceptibility to winds.
Let me gove a try at this...
Y or Tri copters are NOT unstable at all, in fact they are far superior in some flight modes, especially when it comes to turning, or what some people more specifically call "Swooshing", which can be advantageous when making video.
There are yet more advanced versions using tilt rotors in order to 'Pan' directly sideways, rather than the craft turning and tilting.
More motors/rotors are generally liked for power, but there is a trade off that actually takes away from that claimed power - more motors means more weight of the craft itself, means more weight from extra batteries to power the craft for the same flight time, which paradoixically is slightly self-defeating if you get what I am saying here.
The main factors: Craft weight, battery wieght, potential payload weight, and flight time.
If you just add motors, say 6 instead of 4, then your potential payload and flight time suffer, so you have to add more battery to maintain the same flight time, etc.
Unless you are going for building a heavy lifter, or are building something with lots of bells and whistles, thus more on-board equipment and craft weight, more motors may not give you a whole lot of advantage.
Aside from that, one of the main benefits of more motors means that you can potentially lose one or more props or motors without the craft going down, so if there were a collision, you may still be able to either bring the craft back or keep using it if there is some important reason to.
Octo's fly great, but again, unless you NEED serious lift, they are not necessary, but no reason to not build one if you have the parts spare, or want to burn money.
For racers, small quads (250 class) are almost universally prefered.
Videographers use almost every other kind of multirotor depending on thier needs.
Personally, I don't think much about 'spider' or raddial/coaxial types - the Octo's definitely have the power potential for heavy lifters, and people going for records tend to prefer them, but they are not a design that is best for lifting object unless they are hung from underneath, by a strat or hoist or similar, they also waste craft frame weight, because every motor has its own arm, when you don't need 8 arms, other frames are better for that, such as the "H" style, like the last picture, "
AscTec Falcon 8".
I personally prefer Y Copters with 3 or 6 motors - but not with the motors doubled-up, in pairs, with one motor facign up and the oither under it facing down, as it has been shown to be inefficient. I otherwise also prefer various designs using 6 motors. They seem to have the best balance of motors, weight, etc.
The A2 DJI system has two rotor configurations, a single motor at front or a pair in a V as the front of the multi-octo.
Has anyone tried them both and noticed any difference in flight characterisitcs?
> Because i try to do an octocpoter, but i couldnt decide which design will be best for me.
> What are the advantages each of them?
Just as a reply to this question:
I've built a V8 Octocopter (like the Falcon 8, but a little bigger), just because i liked the design and the advatedge to have a clear view to the front.
BUT... this design has one big disadvatedge: It is sensitive to side wind and it is sensitive to wind from the front if it's not exactly from the front.
Best flight performance is backwards or with the back toward the direction where wind comes from.
Nice Job!
I would like to propose a couple of additional items.
1. Naming of drone types.
2. A thread should be started to catalogue the components people use to help other understand what components are available and allow the community to comment on component level features from items they fly.
Did you guys see the Small Girl Flies form Octocopter video ? Crazy http://youtu.be/6c1lzXBMcxM
Well, this is kind of an old thread, but since none of the questions were never really answered, I don't think the admins will mind.
To answer your questions, I'd say that having more surface will affect positively the stability, so I guess radials are more stable. But dont really listen to me.
In the end, this toys are really unstable by nature, so what you really need is a good software to handle external fluctuations
Any difference in ability to remain stable in strong, uneven wind ?
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