The I4Copter (quadrocopter) project started as an evaluation and educational platform for application domains for which it is intended to be a creditable demonstrator for safety-critical mission scenarios.

Beyond computer science, a quadrocopter is a physically highly complex system and the building process also includes challenges in the areas of electrical engineering, manufacturing, and control engineering. The physical parameters of the system have a serious impact on the applicability and system developers have to face them. This talk evaluates the development process of the flight-control software, the most essential component for a quadrocopter. We start with some interesting facts on the quadrocopter prototype development itself and then focus on the application analysis and the physical modelling. We then continue with the derivation of the necessary physical parameters and the implications for the application development, and finally present some of the design issues of the concrete system implementation. A discussion of the drawable conclusions and the lessons learned summarises the talk.