Any progress with power efficiency?
Haven't flown in a year or so and I know there have been lots of advancement in video, but curious if power efficiency is any better, or yall still swapping out batteries every 15 min or so of freestyling?
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Efficiency is not the problem, except perhaps at the props. Otherwise things are somewhat efficient.
do you remember brushed motors? quads can always be more efficient at more than just the props. batteries are super heavy and motors and electronics drain the batteries quickly.
The path from battery to rotation of the motor is something like 90 % efficient. There is not much to gain. But having just 20 % higher energy density in the battery makes a big difference, since you need less mass for the same energy, so less power to fly, etc.
Any updates in battery tech then? What needs to happen to get longer aggressive flight time besides lighter battery or frame?
Higher energy density of batteries. It goes up, I think, roughly 5 % per year. Does not sound like much but makes a big difference after 10 years. But there are no quick gains to be made in the short term, sadly.
For sure. I’ll be excited to see what the tech is like in 10 years. Gonna be crazy. Control it with your body or voice.