One of the fascinating innovations of current century has been the development of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) which are commonly referred to as drones. In addition to the toys we commonly see, these flying machines come in many flavors which cater to RC hobbyist’s, extreme racers, photographers and researchers.
de Bothezat helicopter (1922) Wikipedia.
Even though multirotors have been around since the 1920’s today’s machines are a far cry from the original conception. All this is possible due to advancements in battery and motor technologies. Most notably the development of lithium-based batteries has provided engineers with the power density and energy density needed to fly on electricity. Additionally, motor technology has also been rapidly developed which can utilize these power sources, outputting massive amounts of power while weighing less than their predecessors. For this project, we will take a look at the physics of these motors, and since there are so many aspects which could be covered, we will limit our focus to the electromagnetic aspects.
