I’m trying to design a larger Quadrotor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrotor) craft that runs off of a single gas engine. Does anyone know anything about how quadrotors stabilize and how I would be able to achieve the same effects using a single gas engine for all 4 rotors? I assume it would have to be done through collective pitch adjustments? Is this even possible?

 

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

Brad

stabilising ought to be straight forward, simply place the centre of mass substantially below the centre of the rotor assembly.

the more the craft tilts off vertical the more correcting torque is applied by the mass.

 

are you thinking about tilting the four rotors, modifying angle of attack on the blades, or varying the speed of the rotors?

 

either would give you directional control. tilting each rotor set would give you simpler rotational control and gearing but you'd lose the omnidirectional ability.

 

edit: you only need one thread