Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of tables -- List of figures -- List of abbreviations -- General assumptions -- Design constraints -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Lithium Polymer battery (power supply) -- 2.1 Safety considerations -- 2.2 Lithium Polymer discharge characteristics -- 3 Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) -- 3.1 Timing -- 3.2 Cut-off voltage -- 3.3 Switching frequency -- 4 The Brushless DC (BLDC) motor (outrunner) -- 4.1 BLDC motor construction and theory -- 4.2 Equivalent brushed DC motor equations -- 4.3 Comparing theoretical and empirical data -- 4.3.1 Analysis of motor torque equations -- 4.3.2 Analysis of motor speed equations -- 4.3.3 Test measurements -- 4.3.4 Online design tools -- 5 The propeller (rotor) -- 5.1 Propeller or rotor? -- 5.2 Propeller variables -- 5.3 Propeller geometry -- 5.4 Simple momentum theory -- 5.5 Non-dimensional rotor (propeller) coefficients -- 5.6 Figure of Merit (FM) -- 5.7 Propeller efficiency (?p) -- 5.8 Co-axial and overlapping rotor designs -- 5.8.1 Different upper and lower rotors -- 5.9 Reynolds number, Re -- 5.10 Airfoil geometry -- 5.11 Airfoil theory - Blade Element Theory (BET) -- 5.12 Online airfoil resources -- 6 The system solution -- 6.1 IMechE UAS challenge - a worked multi-rotor example -- 6.2 Measuring the propulsive efficiency -- 6.3 Forward flight -- 6.4 Dihedral and cant angles -- 6.5 Active thrust vectoring -- 7 Conclusion -- 7.1 Economic and societal impact -- 7.2 Future directions, opportunities and threats -- Appendices -- Appendix A1 Li-Po batteries ready reckoner (6S) -- Appendix A2 A range of 6S Li-Po batteries with high specific energy (Wh/kg) (June 2018) -- Appendix B Guidance on the safe use, handling, storage and disposal of Lithium Polymer batteries -- Appendix C T-Motor BLDC motor selection tool.