Generally speaking, when you're designing an aircraft, there are inherent tradeoffs to be made: if you want it to be more maneuverable, it's going to be less stable; if you want it to carry a heavier payload, it's flight time will be reduced; and so on...
So, when you encounter an innovation that promises to improve performance across attributes that typically work against each other – like speed and stability – you have something really special. That seems to be what the guys at SICDrone have come up with: by tilting two of the motors on what otherwise appears to be a conventional hexacopter, they are able to impart directional thrust to the aircraft.
To be sure, that easily translates into more speed, but it could also be used to achieve increased stability: rather than having to pitch and roll the aircraft to maintain a fixed position in the sky when acted upon by outside forces, like wind, it can just change the vector of individual motors.
The systems they had on display at InterDrone are definitely workable and would do everything they claim, I have no doubt, but if you look ahead to the full implementation of this idea – when every pair of motors or every single motor can pivot independently of the airframe – you suddenly see a whole new range of applications open up for drones.
The best part – for us, anyway – is that SICDrones is located right here in our home town of Portland. Not a big surprise, given Oregon's growing leadership in drone technology, but still very exciting. I imagine you'll be seeing more from us soon on this intriguing new technology.
-Lucidity
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