Careful - this explanation isn't just a simplification - it's outright wrong. Applying differential power to the front and rear rotors is how you initiate a pitch moment. You must reverse the pitch moment when the drone is at the desired attitude. This attitude may cause the drone to accelerate in a given direction. When the drone has reached the desired speed the attitude change must also be undone (but not completely, due to drag) to kill the acceleration. So to bring a drone from a hover to a steady forward velocity requires four applications of differential power - two one way, and two the other way. It's not even true that the rear ones expend more total power over the course of the maneuver - it's symmetrical.
It's a neat example of Newton's First law, and also a good opportunity to explore a little about 0-order, 1-order, 2-order motion (you might explore what kicking your foot does when 1) walking 2) riding a skateboard, 3) driving a car). But if you think it's too complicated, better to avoid it entirely than give the wrong idea.
(A related question you can ask - when an airplane is in a steady climb, which is greater - the lift on the wings, or the weight of the plane? Answer: they are the same! Otherwise the aircraft would be accelerating up or down.)
So I usually start with "what if the back rotors go a little faster?": it tips it forward, beginning a series of operations leading forward motion (like turning the wheel of a car away from center -- what happens if you keep it turned?)
I've also found that words matter: "attitude", "differential", "pitch", "velocity", "acceleration", etc. -- may be hard to access, and simpler terms like "faster", "slower", "speed", "tipped" are usually more broadly understood.
A recent such explanation episode got me thinking more about this - I'd recently got a pair of noise cancelling headphones and wanted to demo it to my kids. In an inspired (or dumb) moment, I introduced it to them like this - "you know headphones play music right, this one plays silence." I'd like to think I caught a whif of both understanding and "what the .." in their expressions :D
All my explanations would be the "realistic" but kinda sarcastic answers.
Computer Engineer - Copy's pastes code until it works.
Rocket Scientists - Spend 50% of the time designing rockets, and 50% of their time hoping the rocket doesn't explode.
Locomotive Engineer - Whoops this isn't a real engineer! /s /s
(by flexible hours I mean he has no sleep schedule and may have to work 12+ hour shifts at any time of the day, with the possibility of a 8 hour break and another 12 hour shift)
If so sign me up! :D
"Mechanical engineering is the discipline that applies engineering, physics, engineering mathematics, and materials science principles to design, analyze, manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering disciplines. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_engineering
My father was one, but designed gas compressors for oil & gas industry.
Locomotive Engineer's basically are the one in charge of operating the locomotive. What most people think of as a "Conductor" is actually a lower level job and is mostly paper work from what I hear.
Source: Close friend is a Locomotive Engineer in Canada.
> Tell bad jokes
...
> I've done an interactive "do you know how many types of engineers there are?"
Two. Civil Engineers and Mechanical Engineers.
Mechanical Engineers build weapons. Civil Engineers build targets.
aeronatical: props and flight control
mechanical: chassis
chemical: batteries
civil: constructing buildings that don't fall over when a drone crashes into them?
nuclear: nope, refer to civil engineering
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/multimedia/podcasts/monitori...
"Can anyone name a type of engineer?" and for each shoutout, talk a little about what each does. The guessing keeps everyone's attention.
Types: software/computer, electrical, mechanical, chemical, environmental, civil, nuclear, aeronautical, etc.
Bonus: bring 2-3 props (your drones would be GREAT) that you can hold up for the relevant flavor.
For drones, I like to ask: "how do you think the drone moves forward?" [over power the rear two, underpower the front] Same Q for other directions.
"how do you think it rotates?"
"why don't all props spin in the same direction?"
Bring one of these to fly in the room: https://www.amazon.com/Cheerson-CX-10-Diameter-2-4GHz-Quadco...
Talk about how there's actually a computer on board.
If you have access to a TV, bring a short ~2min drone POV video to show.
Tell bad jokes ("Civil engineers are very nice to each other", etc.) Google online for some.
It's all about energy and making it interactive.