The German hexacopter
 

The multi-rotor technology may have some really interesting applications once the control systems mature:

Awesome
 

Those things are awesome. They sound like an angry bee hive too. Imagine what the military could do with that?

Skyhigh

Well I do not think it is too far out to predict that nanorobotic technology will eventually replace the functioning hardware on these things. The movie "Day the Earth Stood Still" explored this idea with nanobot clouds. It is not all that far out, although it may be beyond our lifetime. Clouds of nano helos could do all kinds of military work from battlefield warfare to invading foreign lands. Pretty scary stuff when you think about it.

The science behind this helicopter is actually not very advanced although it seems like it is because so few exist. It's just the bringing together of a bunch of elements that have been around for decades in one small package. As an aerospace student they have you design control systems that can do most of what this helo can do using Matlab Simulink, an off-the-shelf commercial software. Anyone can do it with a little training. Once you have your constants determined using the software, you can go over to the lab and try it out on a single-rotor test bed in most schools.

The problem with helos like this one is ultimately found in the high the cost per unit to make them. Helos trade flexibility of mission profile against cost. Because most non-military mission profiles are thoroughly known ahead of time, there is little need for that much flexibility. The exciting thing about nanobots is how they could possibly drive down the cost per unit so low that having your cake and eating it too might become a real possibility.

That things amazing. What those Germans can crank out...

Have you guys seen this:

AR.Drone.com USA - Parrot Wi-Fi quadricopter. Augmented Reality games on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

Just saw it on the Apple store than looked at the website. A drone controllable from the iPhone. This could be very bad! :D

Again, the aeronautical science underpinning this helicopter has been around for many decades. The computer hardware has finally evolved to the point that miniaturization and low-cost parts allow for a fairly heavy computational stabilization package to exist in a lightweight unit. A fairly casual development effort can produce a working design at this point.