Saw this strange quad-rotor type setup being worked on at the club here.
So the idea is not a self stabilizing quad-rotor setup which many college students are trying to build, instead this is just a simple setup of 4 separate helis tethered together, and controlled from a single transmitter. Big solar panels will be attached to the frame, and the idea is to achieve flying times of many hours (I guess a lipo powered TX can handle the duration on that side).
They were mentioning that it is underpowered (4 LAMAs and all that aluminium!), so some changes are due (either changing the frame or upgrading the helis to something more powerful). They do need the frame to be this size, to place the solar panels they have already sourced.
Anyways, it was interesting to see the different types of activities youngsters are doing here.