I get the basics of autorotation when it comes to a helicopter in unpowered flight, but it's a bit unclear to me when it comes to quadrotors.
My objective is to cover some directed horizontal distance while in freefall and resume control before crashing. I want to do this to save battery, rather than starting controlled flight from the start. If I get horizontally closer to a target location without using much any battery, this is optimal.
Let's say the quad has stable attitude and is in free fall. Then I brake one motor, causing the prop to stop. A naive freebody diagram says the quad will pitch since there's no longer any lift on that side.
My question is what happens after that. Does it reach some equilibrium position? Does the decreased upward lift yield horizontal acceleration relative to the ground, or will it just spin in a circle? Do the rotation directions of the remaining props (2CW/1CCW or 2CCW/1CW) affect what happens next? What if I cut off 2 motors, either next to each other or across from each other?
Thank you.