Build Your Own Quadcopter: Power Up Your Designs with the Parallax Elev-8

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Quadcopters

A Brief History of Multirotor Helicopters

The multirotor helicopter also known as a quadrotor or quadcopter is equipped with four rotors to create lift. It is a true helicopter in that lift force is created by narrow-chord horizontally rotating air foils. The quadcopter design has been in existence since the 1920s when an early manned version named the De Bothezat helicopter was built and successfully flown. First developed and prototyped under a U.S. Army contract, the De Bothezat helicopter is pictured in Figure 1.1.

FIGURE 1.1 De Bothezat helicopter.

It first flew in October 1922 at what is now known ...