Will a heavier drone frame help in avoiding toppling. (Not using receiver yet)

Question

I have these coreless motors and propellers. I created two kinds of home made drone frames. I am not currently using any receiver. I arranged the motors so that diagonally opposite ones turn in same direction. Adjacent ones turn in opposite directions. I arranged the propellers so that wind blows downwards. When the frame was heavy the drone barely lifted. It would slowly slide on the ground. When the frame is lightweight it rises and topples very fast.

Am I right in thinking that uncontrolled speed is full speed and so it topples when frame is lightweight.

To make it rise gently without a receiver is it only a matter of making the drone frame suitably heavy?

R

Answer 1

The weight by itself is probably not the issue. As long as the frame is strong enough to hold the motors steady it should be fine.

Center of Gravity

The center of gravity is the 'balance point' in the unit. For a quadcopter this is generally the middle of the unit. You want to make sure most of the weight (battery, flight controller, etc) is centered.

Flight Control

The motors won't necessarily all spin at the exact same speed. The unit will never be perfectly balanced. To overcome this the flight controller will change the speed of the individual motors to keep the unit balanced. It has accelerometers (gyros) that measure the 'tilt' of the unit and try to compensate. It also takes the input from the receiver and makes the vehicle move according to your inputs.

Without the flight controller the unit will never be able to hover or move correctly.