hexrotor

A hexrotor, also known as a hexacopter, is a type of multirotor aircraft featuring six rotors arranged around a central frame, typically at the vertices of a hexagon. Each rotor is driven by a brushless DC motor and powered through an electronic speed controller, with a flight controller coordinating motor speeds to achieve pitch, roll, yaw, and altitude control. In common layouts, three rotors rotate clockwise and the other three counterclockwise to balance torque and provide stable flight.

The hexrotor design offers higher lift capacity and potential redundancy compared with quadrotors. With proper configuration and fault-tolerant control, a hexrotor can maintain controlled flight after the loss of one motor, though maneuverability and payload reduction are expected. Yaw is controlled by differential motor torque while roll and pitch are achieved through coordinated changes in motor speeds across the six corners.

Disadvantages include greater weight, complexity, cost, and power requirements relative to smaller multicopters. The increased number of motors and electronic components also raises maintenance, calibration, and safety considerations, particularly in commercial or industrial deployments.

Typical uses encompass aerial photography and videography, surveying and mapping, industrial inspection, and search-and-rescue missions, where higher payload capacity and smoother flight at larger sizes are advantageous. In practice, the term hexrotor is largely synonymous with hexacopter, though “hexrotor” appears less common in contemporary hobbyist and commercial literature.