Quadrocopters are still fairly new compared to other remotely controlled flying vehicles but they are perfect for beginners as they are also the easiest to learn to fly on.  That is not just because of extra control you get from four rotors but also because they are a little more robust than many alternatives and should survive the occasional crash.  For the price, the AR.Drone 2.0 Parrot is a great choice, at around $300 depending on where you buy it it is nowhere near as expensive as more intricate models but it does offer a lot more than the basic $100 models as you can control it from many mobile devices and it is hackable.  Hack a Day has assembled a number of already existing hacks for this ARM Cortex A8 powered machine, as well as ones not yet developed which go beyond cameras and move into lasers and flamethrowers.

"Ever since we played with the original AR drone back at CES a few years ago, we’ve been keeping an eye on them. While we all agree there are better quadcopters out there, the price point for a ready-to-fly quadcopter of this size is really great with these.

When the fake video from FPS Russia of the weaponized drone made the rounds earlier this year, we were surprised at how people reacted. Anyone who has messed with quadcopters recognized it as fake right off the bat (not to mention the overly cliche fake russian character)."

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