From Hover bikes to Quiet Motors: Technology to Inspire and Improve Your Drone
Like all other technological platforms, drones are just going to keep
getting better. For drones, “better” means: stronger, lighter, faster,
more efficient, more accessible, and more powerful. Additionally, their
real-world applications are going to broaden out as more drones get
involved in the delivery of packages, disaster relief, and more.
Right now, those applications have been largely limited to the use of commercial and hobbyist drones. However, an entrepreneur and inventor from New Zealand named Chris Malloy has taken drone technology the next level with his aerial vehicle, the Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike.
The Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike is basically a scaled-up quadcopter, but a few steps beyond the RC propellers you may be used to. It is lifted by two sets of two offset or staggered turbofan propellers. Essentially, similar tech that gives propulsion to a helicopter or hobbyist quadcopter. One main difference, however, is that the Hoverbike is made to be ridden.
The Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike’s design is, if not revolutionary, certainly unique and praiseworthy. Most of the Hoverbike is a combination of carbon sheet and aircraft-grade aluminum. The turbofan rotors are fitted into a protective blade-housing of UV-stabilized polycarbonate. Once spinning, the rotors cut through the material, creating a revolution channel that reduces the clearance between the top of the propeller and the duct wall as much as it can be reduced.
Other clever details include adjustable weights in the central, saddle section of the Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike’s chassis, achieving the appropriate balance regardless of the pilot’s size or weight. The earlier-mentioned offset props also ensure that the Hoverbike is powerful enough to stay in the air and slim enough to optimize maneuverability. The Hoverbike’s props, as one could imagine, are like souped-up drone propellers. They’re big enough to carry a platform that’s large enough to support a human being. And it got its start through a Kickstarter campaign.
While flying or building a hover bike in your backyard might be a little bit outside your budget, there are a number of ways you can enhance your drone to increase its performance, power, and efficiency. The best place to start is an upgrade of the motor and props.
Upgrade Your Drone Motor
Most drones come equipped with a stock motor that provides a perfectly acceptable performance. However, as an ever-increasing number of drone hobbyists, enthusiasts, and pilots are discovering, tinkering with their drone’s components to take its performance from acceptable to exceptional makes the pastime that much more satisfying.
The drone motor upgrade you choose will depend on your drone’s specs and what you use it for. If you own a small GoPro-carrying quadcopter, for instance, buying an industrial, heavy-lifting motor capable of hauling up to 70 kilograms of hexacopter and its cinema-quality digital camera doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. However, investing in a lightweight brushless motor designed to increase the height, handling, and flight time of a small-to-medium drone, while decreasing noise, is a terrific way to give your drone and the images it captures a new life and better performance.
Update Your Drone Propellers
Drone propeller technology has, like motor technology, improved by leaps and bounds since the mainstream introduction of drone-flying as a pastime (or livelihood). While some neophyte drone pilots might think props are props—if they consider them much at all—the difference that a new set of strong, lightweight precision carbon fiber propellers can make is extraordinary. Adding advanced, well-crafted drone propellers can also increase the agility of your drone and provide more accurate performance in the air. Seek out drone propellers that offer low air friction and a reduced noise level to improve the quality of your flight.
Should you decide to upgrade your drone, to optimize its performance be sure to source the parts from a manufacturer like XOAR that engineers their motors and propellers to function together as mutually-enhancing precision pairs. The difference will amaze you.
About XOAR
XOAR has been giving flight to UAV hobbyists for over 40 years with their array of products. Their dedication to innovative, cutting-edge technology complements their insistence on the highest quality designing, manufacturing, and material. This commitment to excellence has given XOAR a reputation second to none in the drone community. They specialize in aerial propellers for Industrial UAVs, Mid-Large Size UAV, Ultralight Aircraft, Civil Aviation, LSA, commercial applications, and the RC Airplane market.
Find the equipment you need to soar to greater heights at Xoarintl.com
Right now, those applications have been largely limited to the use of commercial and hobbyist drones. However, an entrepreneur and inventor from New Zealand named Chris Malloy has taken drone technology the next level with his aerial vehicle, the Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike.
The Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike is basically a scaled-up quadcopter, but a few steps beyond the RC propellers you may be used to. It is lifted by two sets of two offset or staggered turbofan propellers. Essentially, similar tech that gives propulsion to a helicopter or hobbyist quadcopter. One main difference, however, is that the Hoverbike is made to be ridden.
The Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike’s design is, if not revolutionary, certainly unique and praiseworthy. Most of the Hoverbike is a combination of carbon sheet and aircraft-grade aluminum. The turbofan rotors are fitted into a protective blade-housing of UV-stabilized polycarbonate. Once spinning, the rotors cut through the material, creating a revolution channel that reduces the clearance between the top of the propeller and the duct wall as much as it can be reduced.
Other clever details include adjustable weights in the central, saddle section of the Malloy Aeronautics Hoverbike’s chassis, achieving the appropriate balance regardless of the pilot’s size or weight. The earlier-mentioned offset props also ensure that the Hoverbike is powerful enough to stay in the air and slim enough to optimize maneuverability. The Hoverbike’s props, as one could imagine, are like souped-up drone propellers. They’re big enough to carry a platform that’s large enough to support a human being. And it got its start through a Kickstarter campaign.
While flying or building a hover bike in your backyard might be a little bit outside your budget, there are a number of ways you can enhance your drone to increase its performance, power, and efficiency. The best place to start is an upgrade of the motor and props.
Upgrade Your Drone Motor
Most drones come equipped with a stock motor that provides a perfectly acceptable performance. However, as an ever-increasing number of drone hobbyists, enthusiasts, and pilots are discovering, tinkering with their drone’s components to take its performance from acceptable to exceptional makes the pastime that much more satisfying.
The drone motor upgrade you choose will depend on your drone’s specs and what you use it for. If you own a small GoPro-carrying quadcopter, for instance, buying an industrial, heavy-lifting motor capable of hauling up to 70 kilograms of hexacopter and its cinema-quality digital camera doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. However, investing in a lightweight brushless motor designed to increase the height, handling, and flight time of a small-to-medium drone, while decreasing noise, is a terrific way to give your drone and the images it captures a new life and better performance.
Update Your Drone Propellers
Drone propeller technology has, like motor technology, improved by leaps and bounds since the mainstream introduction of drone-flying as a pastime (or livelihood). While some neophyte drone pilots might think props are props—if they consider them much at all—the difference that a new set of strong, lightweight precision carbon fiber propellers can make is extraordinary. Adding advanced, well-crafted drone propellers can also increase the agility of your drone and provide more accurate performance in the air. Seek out drone propellers that offer low air friction and a reduced noise level to improve the quality of your flight.
Should you decide to upgrade your drone, to optimize its performance be sure to source the parts from a manufacturer like XOAR that engineers their motors and propellers to function together as mutually-enhancing precision pairs. The difference will amaze you.
About XOAR
XOAR has been giving flight to UAV hobbyists for over 40 years with their array of products. Their dedication to innovative, cutting-edge technology complements their insistence on the highest quality designing, manufacturing, and material. This commitment to excellence has given XOAR a reputation second to none in the drone community. They specialize in aerial propellers for Industrial UAVs, Mid-Large Size UAV, Ultralight Aircraft, Civil Aviation, LSA, commercial applications, and the RC Airplane market.
Find the equipment you need to soar to greater heights at Xoarintl.com
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