A quadcopter, also called a quadroid, is a kind of small, wingless helicopter with four spinning rotors. It can be propelled either by the pusher drive, where the rotor blades spin in one direction by being pushed by an electric motor, or by an engine which pushes the rotor blades in another direction. There are four types of quads: manual, remote control only, accelerated training and auto pilot quads.
The remote control only quadcopter is the simplest of these machines. In this case, it has one rotor which rotates in a forward and back motion. The battery and controller are placed right next to the machine, and this simple design allows the user to control the quadcopter without any previous experience with quadrocopters. The advanced models have at least four rotors, with each having its own drive unit.
The other two different types of quadcopters are accelerated training and auto pilot quads. The first is the simplest of the two to use. In this case, the quadcopter itself does not carry the controller, but instead the motor that drives it. The controller is placed inside the machine itself, allowing it to receive commands from a transmitter placed on the ground or somewhere in the air. This has some advantages, such as providing a much higher rate of maneuvering because the user is not limited to just one transmitter.
The second type, the remote control only, is a little more complicated than the quadcopter. In this case, the quadcopter itself will carry an autopilot system, which allows it to move around and hover over different places while receiving instructions from a remote control unit which is carried on another piece of hardware. These drones are typically used by hobbyists for recreational flying, although some professional companies are creating commercial aerial drones that will eventually take to aerial photography and other forms of military warfare.
The third option is remote controlled propellers. These props allow users to move their quadcopter propellers from a standing position to a horizontal one without any additional assistance. Some RC pilots like to use these props to gain more agility and improve the performance of their machines. The advantage of these types of props is that they can be flown with little or no engine assistance, and they are extremely forgiving if the pilot makes a mistake. This also means that they can be flown indoors, which is helpful for hobbyists who might find it difficult to get their machines airborne in a controlled environment.
The fourth choice is to change the propellers from counter-clockwise to clockwise. This makes the motor work in reverse, as it would when a helicopter moves in the opposite direction. The advantage of this is that it makes the rotors less likely to be damaged if they come into contact with something. Since the motor moves in a circular pattern, the chances of the propellers coming into contact with something (such as another RC airplane) while the machine is moving in counter-clockwise are low.
The last type is a motorized rotation device. This resembles a set of gears on a wheel, and it rotates counterclockwise by itself, while the propeller is fixed in place. As the gear spins, it pulls the rotor ahead of the propeller, causing it to rotate faster. While the mechanism is similar to that of counter-clockwise motor rotors, it is beneficial because it requires very little maintenance. While the propellers do have to be replaced after a certain amount of time, the process is not too complicated.
Since quadcopter motors need to rotate in an upright manner, there are two main methods of spinning them: parallel to the axis of rotation and rotational thrust. In a model that uses thrust, the rotors are spun around an axis, similar to how an airplane pushes off the runway. In parallel to the axis of rotation, the propellers spin in a clockwise and anti-clockwise fashion. There are four types of propulsion systems used in quadcopter aircraft; the forward/backwards/side thrust, vertical lift and momentum transfer, and the generation of anti-wing drag.