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A tricopter is a remote controlled aircraft. Three rotors, which generate buoyancy, are used for the movement and control. Three generally equal booms are attached on the trunk of the tricopter. The distance is 120 degrees to each other.
A multicopter or multirotor is probably what the majority of people today regard as a drone. A commonly known helicopter has one engine, while multicopters are equipped with multiple engines, one for each of the rotor arms.
The main difference between tricopters and quadcopters is that they have a different number of rotors.
Where quadcopters rely on counter-rotating propellers to handle torque and balance the aircraft, tricopters use identical outriggers but have special back-to-yaw servos that twist the guiding motors to balance torque. Quadcopter flight is more robotic, with a controller on board that calculates the precise rotation of all four engines to produce a proper torque balance and a yawning aircraft.
A quadcopter can control yawning by changing the speed of the blades, and its V-tail configuration has hammered a similar YAW configuration, making it feel more agile. However, it is a little more complicated with tricopters that have mechanical components: tricopters require servos that tilt obliquely to the rear motors and control them via the movable motors. A simple three-rotor design will therefore rotate by itself in flight and counteract rotation more easily than a four-rotor design. While 4 rotors in a quadcopter differ slightly from each other, a quadcopter is inherently stable because it can operate 4 rotors simultaneously, which allows a stable flight as long as enough lift is generated by the hovering helicopters to produce it.
Tricopters are not as popular as quadcopters, as many people overlook them because quadcopters are visually more appealing and DJI made a huge breakthrough with their quads that made such design almost monopolistic in the industry.
This is also probably due to the fact that tricopters have three motors and blades. With just three propellers, they offer less thrust, manoeuvrability and power. This is obvious, as there is a difference in thrust and manoeuvrability between the two types of rotor.
If you want a more robust platform than a tricopter, then a quadcopter or hexacopter is probably a good idea.
