| MikroKopter | |
| Type: | Privately held company |
| Location City: | Moormerland, Leer, Lower Saxony |
| Location Country: | Germany |
| Industry: | Aerospace |
| Products: | Miniature UAVs |
MikroKopter is a German company, a subsidiary of HiSystems GmbH, that manufactures battery-powered radio-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles. The company is located in Moormerland, Leer District, in Lower Saxony.
Started in 2006 by Holger Buss and Ingo Busker, MikroKopter used a team of pilots to develop within 6 months a platform with great stability, manoeuvrability and powerful enough to lift a payload of several kilograms. Further developments, which incorporated an onboard GPS, piezo gyroscope, an acceleration sensor and a barometric sensor for altitude control, made autonomous flight possible and improved manoeuvrability.[1]
MikroKopter produce various multi-rotor models such as QuadroKopter (a quadcopter), HexaKopter and OktoKopter. The design lends itself to computer control and robotics researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a program to control swarms of what they term 'Nano Quadrotors'. CCTV cameras provide feedback on position to the controlling computer, permitting complex manoeuvres that include tumbling.[2]
Parent HiSystems GmbH has developed a built-in LEA-6S GPS receiver, u-blox’ highest-performance GPS module for MikroKopter aircraft that allows precision positioning for photography and other applications.[3]
In February 2012 an animal rights group used a MikroKopter to film hunters shooting pigeons in South Carolina. The hunters shot the drone down.[4]