A great way to increase your understanding of the world around you is to try to simulate some part of it. In the video linked below, programmers got quad copters to do some amazing things. The programming started with an understanding of the forces that acted to the quad copters. It's relatively simple - you just need a fairly complete understanding of inertia, gravitational acceleration, torque, lift, drag, and other "physics stuff".
Check it out: "More with Quads..."
