HoverflySPORT™ User’s Guide
Page 19 of 67
This leaves one more motion to cover called Yaw. Yaw is the spin of the quadcopter around the vertical axis. First, let’s take a look at how
the quadcopter counteracts Yaw. A traditional helicopter has a single rotor spinning in a constant direction. In addition, a helicopter has a tail
boom with a smaller vertical rotor. The pitch or speed of the tail rotor is used to counteract the rotational force of the main rotor. Without the
tail rotor (and many of us have unfortunately experienced this in a failure of the tail rotor) the helicopter will spin in the opposite direction of
the main rotor. The tail rotor maintains the forward direction of the helicopter. Turning the helicopter or inducing Yaw requires a change in
the tail rotor.
A quadcopter lacks the tail rotor of a traditional helicopter. So how is Yaw control achieved? Remember that the helicopter has a single rotor
spinning in a constant direction. In order to control Yaw, a quadcopter has to balance the rotational force of the four motors. This is achieved
very simply by spinning two motors in the clockwise (CW) direction and two motors in the counter-clockwise (CCW) direction. With all four
motors spinning at the same RPM, the rotational forces are balanced so that the quadcopter doesn’t spin. In order to command the
quadcopter to spin in the CW direction this balance is adjusted. The speed of the CW motors is increased while the speed of the CCW
motors is decreased. The overall thrust is maintained by this see-saw increase/decrease so that the quadcopter maintains altitude while
turning in the CW direction. To Yaw the quadcopter in the CCW direction the see-saw balance is reversed.
The transmitter sticks allow the pilot to control the Roll, Pitch, Yaw, and altitude of the quadcopter. All of the complexity of flying a naturally
unstable quadcopter is handled by the HoverflySPORT™. Even environmental disturbances such as wind are monitored to enable
consistent flight.
Flying a quadcopter with a HoverflySPORT™ is a bit different from other aircraft such as planes and helicopters. Take for example the case
where the quadcopter is flying into a gust of wind. The HoverflySPORT™ will compensate for the wind so that the same user inputs achieve
the same flight as in windless conditions. The pilot will then only need to adjust the throttle to maintain level flight similar to an airplane or
Summary of Contents for HoverflySPORT
Page 1: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide ...
Page 4: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 4 of 67 HoverflySPORT ...
Page 44: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 44 of 67 4 10 3 Configurations and X FRONT ...
Page 45: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 45 of 67 4 10 4 Configurations Hex and Y6 FRONT ...
Page 46: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 46 of 67 4 10 5 Configurations Octo and X8 FRONT ...
Page 62: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 62 of 67 Screen shot of Setup Utility ...
Page 64: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 64 of 67 Appendix A Physical Dimensions ...
Page 66: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 66 of 67 Appendix C Quick Start Guide ...
Page 67: ...HoverflySPORT User s Guide Page 67 of 67 Appendix D Connection Reference ...