Weaving through the air, performing flips or filming above the clouds, nothing quite compares with the joy of flying a quadcopter with camera and GPS. Quadcopters are quickly becoming the ultimate craze in RC aviation and aerial filming. Getting started can seem daunting at first with all the different components and terms, but with a little bit of learning, you’ll be building and flying in no time.
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What’s so special about Quadcopter with camera and GPS?
Manoeuvrability: With 4 blades, quadcopters can fly in any direction, spin on the spot, bank and roll, go straight up and down, hover, and even do acrobatic flips. Click here to see some fancy flying.
Stable Camera Platform: Heavy lifting capacity combined with precise control make a compelling filming platform. Advanced flight controllers can automatically hold a position against wind or follow a flight path for consistent video sweeps.
Self Flying Capability: Lose the RC remote and let the quadcopter fly on its own with the right flight controller. Get basic abilities such as returning home in case of radio signal loss, to the more advanced such as travelling to a destination while avoiding collisions. The possibilities are endless. But make sure you have a quadcopter with camera and gps else you can easily lose sight of your quadcopter and might find it in a sewer or in someone’s else yard.
Parts of a Quadcopter
Frame: Used to hold all the components together, it needs to be strong for withstanding crashes, but also lightweight to prevent battery drain. They come in different sizes and shapes to suit any taste.
Motors: Consider these the “engines” on a quadcopter, providing power and torque to the propellers. Motors come in many different speeds and sizes.
Propellers: With every rotation, propellers push air downward to generate lift and speed. For best performance and reliability, propellers need to be matched with right motor.
Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC): As the name implies, the ESC controls the motor speed by varying the power going to the motor.
Flight Controller: The “brain” of the quadcopter, the flight controller keeps the quadcopter stable in flight and tells it where to go. More advanced models have GPS and additional sensors for increased performance and features.
Transmitter (Tx): To pilot a quadcopter a remote control is required. A transmitter or Tx for short sends radio signals which are picked up by the receiver on-board the quadcopter.
Receiver (Rx): Almost always bundled with the transmitter, the receiver reads the radio signals and passes the information to the flight controller.
Battery Pack: Often called Lipo (Lithium Polymer) for short, battery packs is the energy source for everything on the quadcopter. They come in all sorts of storage capacities and are rechargeable.
Battery Charger: A good charger has features like balance charging, storage mode, and adjustable current. Features that keep batteries, operating in peak condition for years.
Power Harness/Distribution Board: A power harness connects all the components to the battery. Similarly, the distribution board does the same, but without wires, saving weight and giving off a tidy look.
Optional: Video Camera/FPV Equipment/GPS system: From basic cameras that attach directly to the frame to motorized gimbals that stabilize and allow mounting of a DSLR camera, there are many methods to shoot amazing aerial footage. Basically a quadcopter without a camera and gps is a mere RC plane, Camera and GPS can be called as the basic components of a quadcopter.
Other Multirotor Craft
A quadcopter is a multirotor craft with 4 propellers and is by far the most popular. However, some applications favor other multirotor craft.
Tricopter: As the name suggests, it’s got 3 motors and propellers. This design is slightly more efficient than a quadcopter but with less lifting capacity and reduced stability.
Hexacopter: With 6 motors and propellers, hexcopters are generally more powerful and suited for lifting heavy items such as professional cameras. Of course, the additional parts make it more expensive to build.
Octocopter: Generally you won’t find something larger than this. With 8 motors and propellers, it is the ultimate in lifting capacity. In order to give more power and stability they have a structure in which each arm has two motors, running in opposite direction where 1 is facing up and other down.
Conclusion
Recently Quadcopters have gained huge influence and several companies started building them at affordable pricing. They have become a toy which is used by the users to shoot them while doing weird thing. Thus Quadcopter with camera and GPS have gained immense response among the audience.
