Parrot's $US300 quadrotor AR.Drone has got good enough to make me
seriously want one. Whether I get one is another matter (not before a
D800 :-) ).
Dual inbuilt cameras - VGA 15 fps fwd looking and 60 fps QCIF lookdown.

=A0http://electronicdesign.com/article/embedded/Smart-phone-Controls-Low-Co=
st-Quadrotor-.aspx?cid=3Ded_embeddednewsletter&NL=3D1&YM_RID=3Dapptechnz@gm=
ail.com

I wonder how hard it would be to enhance the propulsion system while
using the standard controller.

Parrot

        http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/

12 minutes duration
Even has (at least 1) a PIC in it.

They say:


Parrot=92s AR.Drone electric quadrotor is considered a miniature
unmanned air vehicle (UAV). At only $299, it has half a dozen
microcontrollers. It is also much less expensive than UAVs like the
Draganflyer X6, though the larger six-motor/propeller Draganflyer X6
supports a significantly heavier payload (see =93UAVs Conquer The Skies=94
at electronicdesign.com).

The 1000-mA lithium-polymer battery provides the 380-g aircraft with
12 minutes of flying time (Fig. 1). It is driven by four 15-W,
28000-rpm brushless dc motors. Each motor has its own 8-bit
microcontroller.

An impressive single-board computer controls the AR.Drone. It runs
Linux and includes a 468-MHz ARM9 microcontroller with 127 Mbytes of
double data rate (DDR) memory. Also, it has 802.11b/g wireless
support, a USB socket, and a host of peripherals.

There are two on-board cameras: a forward-looking 15-frame/s VGA
camera with a wide-angle lens and a 60-frame/s QCIF down-looking
camera. An ultrasound sensor acts as an altimeter with a range of 6 m.
The internal guidance system includes a three-axis accelerometer, a
two-axis gyroscope, and a one-axis precision gyroscope tracking yaw
rate.

The AR.Drone has interchangeable foam hulls. The ducted fan is useful
for indoor operation. The aircraft is built using carbon fiber and
PA66 high-resistance plastic.

Pilots can fly the the AR.Drone by Wi-Fi using a device like an Apple
iPhone or an Android smart phone (Fig. 2). A 16-bit Microchip PIC24
processor runs the autopilot, providing a stable platform using the
sensors including the altimeter. It can automatically handle takeoff
and landing.

The AR.Pilot control application provides camera views and can
incorporate augmented reality. The AR.Race application combines
piloting with multiuser competition support. Parrot has also developed
standalone games based on the AR.Drone.

Parrot provides an application programming interface (API) for
controlling the AR.Drone. It consists of an AT-style command set sent
via Wi-Fi using standard network ports. The control application, like
the iPhone and Android applications, runs in a basestation. The
AR.Drone is already being used for research projects at a number of
universities. Some are using the Microsoft Kinect to recognize body
movement to control the AR.Drone.

___________

Picture of sorts

    http://electronicdesign.com/Content/UserStorage/17928/63518-fig1.jpg

Real persons UAV

     http://webfulfillment.com/cedargraphics/CF/RC/LP/153/images/UAS_eBook_=
2011_digital.pdf

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