In terms of practicality ~ when it comes to human-sized drones ~ I can't say better than this. Besides assembling as easily as display furniture it supports my own weight at full scale in the lightest grade of alloy. It is also relatively compact, with a diagonal distance of 36" between axes and 50" square, based on the 32" propellers seen here.
Equally important if you're going to fly this thing is the fact undercarriage is readily supported by connectors at each corner, and there is a natural routing for the wiring. Using four-way tube connectors instead of three-way, corners can also be extended upwards in support of further infrastructure... not least another drone to realise the dream of a flying phone-box?
But even as a platform pitched underfoot, extra motors can be mounted on the same airframe and wired as an X-8. I've always liked the idea of larger propellers running at a constant RPM to conserve energy whilst a smaller set addresses the fluctuations required for flight control, and it meets these purposes.
Did I really have any choice when it came to registering the design, with apologies to Hamburg's University of Technology?
Look on my works, ye flighty, and despair!
