Pilot the iPhone Controlled AR-Drone Quadrocopter

Parrot is taking toy helicopters to the next level of flying fun with augmented reality dog fights. A brilliant business strategy if I do say so myself. It would required buying two Ar Drone Parrots and owning a device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android) capable of piloting the ship. Two on board cameras, one underneath and one on front help in navigating terrain. Fan clubs have risen with full Spread Sheet Diagrams with complete specs of this drone.

Ar Drone draws inspiration from a much earlier 1922 model quadrocopter called the de Bothezat nicknamed the flying octopus. It was built by the US Air Force and said to be the first helicopter capable of flight. Although its massive six-bladed rotors allowed the craft to fly successfully, it suffered from complexity, control difficulties, and high pilot workload, and was reportedly only capable of forwards flight in a favorable wind.

ROS (Robotic Operating System) has a download for autonomously navigating a quadrocopter. This quadrotor  is the most sophisticated in predicting and executing flight patterns as seen in the second video.