MikroKopter

MikroKopter is a German unmanned aerial vehicle brand and company associated with HiSystems GmbH. It develops and manufactures battery-powered, radio-controlled multirotor aircraft, including quadcopter, hexacopter, and octocopter configurations. The company is based in Moormerland in the Leer district of Lower Saxony. MikroKopter was started in 2006 by Holger Buss and Ingo Busker. Its early development work involved a team of pilots and focused on creating a stable and maneuverable multirotor platform with enough lifting capacity to carry payloads weighing several kilograms. According to the available reference material, the initial platform was developed over approximately six months. This emphasis on stability, controllability, and payload capability helped position the system for more than recreational radio control, including aerial photography, experimentation, and research applications. Subsequent technical development added autonomous-flight capabilities and improved flight control. The platform incorporated an onboard GPS receiver, piezoelectric gyroscope, acceleration sensor, and barometric altitude sensor. Together, these systems supported more precise positioning, altitude management, and automated operation than a basic manually piloted model. HiSystems also developed an integrated LEA-6S GPS receiver based on u-blox technology for MikroKopter aircraft, supporting precision positioning for photography and related uses. The brand’s product family has included the QuadroKopter, a four-rotor aircraft; the HexaKopter, with six rotors; and the OktoKopter, with eight rotors. Multirotor architecture gives these aircraft vertical takeoff and landing capability, hovering ability, and a design that can be adapted to computer control and robotic experimentation. The platform has consequently attracted attention from academic and research communities. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania used MikroKopter-type aircraft in work on controlling coordinated groups of small quadrotors, demonstrating the potential of the platform for swarm robotics and complex autonomous maneuvers. MikroKopter has also been used in field situations outside conventional hobby aviation. In February 2012, an animal-rights group used a MikroKopter aircraft to record hunters shooting pigeons in South Carolina. The aircraft was shot down during the incident. This episode illustrates the use of small multirotor aircraft for remote observation and advocacy, while also highlighting the operational risks faced by early civilian drones in contested or sensitive environments. The available public material provides limited information about MikroKopter’s current corporate structure, sales, geographic revenue distribution, leadership, and present product lineup. The brand is nevertheless clearly identified as a HiSystems subsidiary focused on multirotor unmanned aircraft and associated flight-control and positioning technology.

MikroKopter emerged in Germany in 2006, founded by Holger Buss and Ingo Busker. The founders worked with a team of pilots to develop a practical multirotor aircraft platform. Their early objective was to combine stability and maneuverability with enough lifting power to carry payloads of several kilograms. The first platform was reportedly developed within roughly six months, reflecting an engineering effort directed toward making multirotor aircraft useful beyond basic radio-controlled flight. The company’s subsequent development work concentrated on flight stabilization, navigation, and autonomous operation. MikroKopter aircraft incorporated a piezoelectric gyroscope, acceleration sensor, barometric sensor, and onboard GPS. These components improved attitude control, altitude holding, and positional awareness, allowing the aircraft to perform more controlled and potentially autonomous flights. The technology also made the platform more suitable for aerial photography, research, and other applications requiring repeatable positioning. MikroKopter became associated with HiSystems GmbH, which developed and supported related electronics and positioning technology. Among the systems identified in public reference material is an integrated LEA-6S GPS receiver using u-blox technology. This equipment was intended to provide precise positioning for MikroKopter aircraft and supported applications in which stable location control was important. The product family developed around different rotor configurations. The QuadroKopter used four rotors, while the HexaKopter and OktoKopter used six and eight rotors respectively. These configurations offered different combinations of lift, stability, redundancy, and payload potential. The underlying multirotor design also made the aircraft compatible with computer control and robotics research. MikroKopter platforms were used in academic experimentation involving coordinated small aircraft. Robotics researchers at the University of Pennsylvania developed software for controlling groups of small quadrotors, often described as nano-quadrotor swarms. The work demonstrated how camera feedback and computer vision could help control position and coordinate complex maneuvers, including tumbling motions. This use connected MikroKopter hardware with the wider development of autonomous robotics and multi-agent aerial systems. A notable operational incident occurred in February 2012, when an animal-rights group used a MikroKopter to film hunters shooting pigeons in South Carolina. The hunters shot down the aircraft. The incident received attention because it showed how relatively small civilian UAVs could be used for remote documentation and activism, while also exposing the legal, practical, and safety tensions surrounding low-altitude aerial observation. Publicly available material provides only a limited account of MikroKopter’s later corporate development, current management, detailed product generations, and commercial performance. The documented history nevertheless establishes the brand as a German multirotor UAV manufacturer whose identity has been shaped by flight stability, autonomous navigation, payload capability, and experimentation in aerial robotics.

• 2012

  MikroKopter used for field documentation in South Carolina

  [1]MikroKopteren.wikipedia.org

  An animal-rights group uses a MikroKopter to record pigeon hunting; the aircraft is shot down during the operation.

• 2006

  MikroKopter is founded

  [1]MikroKopteren.wikipedia.org

  Holger Buss and Ingo Busker establish MikroKopter in Germany and begin developing a stable, maneuverable multirotor platform with useful payload capacity.

A German engineering-oriented multirotor UAV brand focused on stable, maneuverable, payload-capable aircraft and computer-assisted or autonomous flight.

• Quadcopter UAV

  QuadroKopter

  The QuadroKopter is MikroKopter’s four-rotor aircraft configuration. It represents the compact end of the brand’s multirotor family and is designed around electronically controlled vertical flight, hovering, and maneuverability. The platform can incorporate stabilization and navigation systems for applications such as aerial imaging, experimentation, and robotic control.

• Hexacopter UAV

  HexaKopter

  The HexaKopter is a six-rotor MikroKopter platform. Compared with a four-rotor configuration, the additional motors support a larger multirotor layout and can provide increased lift or stability for payload-oriented applications. Public reference material identifies it as one of the brand’s principal multirotor models, although detailed specifications and current availability are not established here.

• Octocopter UAV

  OktoKopter

  The OktoKopter is an eight-rotor MikroKopter aircraft. Its larger rotor count is suited to applications requiring additional lift, stability, or operational resilience compared with smaller configurations. It belongs to the brand’s documented family of multirotor aircraft and may be adapted for camera, research, or other payloads, although detailed current specifications are not available in the supplied sources.

• UAV avionics and flight-control system

  MikroKopter GPS and autonomous-flight systems

  MikroKopter aircraft incorporated GPS, a piezoelectric gyroscope, an acceleration sensor, and a barometric sensor. These systems supported stabilization, altitude control, precise positioning, and autonomous flight. HiSystems also developed an integrated LEA-6S GPS receiver based on u-blox technology for applications such as aerial photography and other work requiring controlled positioning.

• 2012

  Animal-rights group uses a MikroKopter to film pigeon hunting[1]MikroKopteren.wikipedia.org

  Other

  In February 2012, an animal-rights group deployed a MikroKopter in South Carolina to record hunters shooting pigeons. The aircraft was subsequently shot down by the hunters.

1. 1MikroKopteren.wikipedia.org