[Quadcopter] tiny quadcopter research

[Eric Boyd]

I found many tiny quadcopter builds, some with really good 
documentation.  Some fun links:

http://diydrones.ning.com/profiles/blogs/indoor-fun-with-a-tiny
http://forum.mikrokopter.de/topic-13092-1.html
http://www.smartflyer.de/smarty.html

That top link is interesting, he basically used the ArduCopter stuff, 
but builds a much smaller airframe for it.  Upside: you'll be using all 
the same boards and code as for a much larger open source quadcopter 
capable of hefting cameras, etc, so your path upwards is easy (you could 
cannibalize, even).  Downside: those boards are expensive, $220 for the 
controller & IMU shield alone, plus you still need the ESC boards...

For small quadcopter, I'm thinking maybe we use something much less 
capable, e.g. the hobbyking controllers:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__21977__HobbyKing_Multi_Rotor_Control_Board_V3_0_Atmega328_PA_.html

People talk about total builds in the $150 range, plus of course you'd 
need the transmitter, which is about $150 itself.

If I could spec and design a tiny quadcopter design (perhaps slightly 
larger than palm size?), and the total cost was $300, with *everything* 
you need, how many people would be interested?

Eric