How many Drone types in market ? to read the number [640] Published:2015-12-25 21:24:28
Currently there are two types of civilian Drones, and these are the terms we use to identify them. Each breaks down into many sub designs that I will not burden you with.
The major difference between the two types is that one can stop and hover in place while the other must maintain forward movement to stay in the air. One has wings that spin on a shaft the other has wings that are fixed in place, simple, right?
Fixed-wing – This is a traditional Airplane or flying wing that requires forward movement to stay aloft. These can be older style, gas powered, balsa wood RC airplanes, all the way down to tiny RC micro models with cameras onboard. Drone pilots typically pick designs with pusher propellers to keep them out of the camera’s view. Fixed-wing civilian drones are capable of flying great distances for long periods of time. Some have autonomous flight features and a failsafe function that will fly the aircraft back to the originating position in case control or video signal is lost. The current distance record is farther than 100km and duration dependent upon the pilot’s stamina. A few of these have already been dropped from high altitude weather balloons and flown back to earth remotely.
Rotorcraft (Rotary-wing) – This includes helicopters and multi-rotors, any craft & EDF that flies via rotating wings. Multi-rotors are a new form of helicopter that capitalize on the new technology found in cell phones in order to fly. They have three to eight propellers in a myriad of configurations, typically each on its own motor and speed controller.
They are flown by a small flight controller or computer that changes the speed of those propellers hundreds of times a second. Multi-rotors “grew-up” with drone technology and are commonly mistaken as drones even when they are flown in the tradition manner (by looking at it). Helicopters and multi-rotor drones already have the components onboard for autonomous flight. Most feature GPS position hold and hover capabilities along with failsafe modes that fly the craft back to the originating position and even land it autonomously.