Drone racing is booming – and with the first FAI Drone Racing World Championships on the horizon, we got the lowdown on just what a top-level drone-racing pilot needs.
Pilot: Obviously the first thing is the pilot. A junior is under 18. You will see they all wear first person view (FPV) goggles, and use a radio control to fly their drone. Some like to stand, some like to sit: at a big drone race you’ll see both.
The FAI travelled to Shenzhen in China earlier this month to take part in a press conference to promote the first-ever FAI World Drone Racing Championships – due to take place in Shenzhen later this year.
Attended by FAI officials including Secretary General Susanne Schödel and Executive Director Bengt Lindgren, the press conference also involved a number of important representatives of both the organising committee and local government.
Homegrown pilots dominated the 2018 FAI Daegu Drone Race World Cup in Daegu, Korea last weekend, with teenage drone ace JeHyeong Jeon delighting the crowds with a compelling winning performance.
Jeon received his prize at the Closing Ceremony held on September 9, at which he was joined by fellow Korean pilots YoungRok Son, MinChan Kim, and ChangHyeon Kang in second, third and fourth places.
Listen up drone sports fans - the epic FAI Drone Racing World Cup is coming to Korea later this week!
Drone racing is very popular in Asia, and up to 100 pilots are expected to take part in the 2018 FAI Daegu Drone Race World Cup, which is being held in the South Korean city's World Cup Stadium from September 7 to 9.
From racing drones to helping to map the world, the real-time world of drones was on display all weekend at the EPFL Drone Days in Lausanne.
As part of a dedicated ‘drone weekend’ at EPFL, a leading technology university in Switzerland, the cutting-edge EPFL Robotics Showcase provided a platform for some of the hottest new ideas and applications in drones, while the EPFL Drone Racing Cup showed off drone racing at its finest.
Innovation was the theme of the FAI International Drones Conference on Saturday afternoon – and there was no shortage of it on display.
From drone wind-turbines that promise a never-ending supply of clean energy, to drone ‘guard dogs’ patrolling the perimeter of mansions in Beverly Hills, conference speakers showed there is no limit to how drones are set to affect our lives.
Safety was on the agenda at the FAI International Drones Conference and Expo in Lausanne today. Conference heard from eight speakers in a busy morning session which focused on the issues around organising airspace to ensure safe operation of drones wherever they fly.
Meeting at the Drone Days (at which the FAI will be presenting the second International Drones Conference and Expo), 64 top drone pilots will compete against each other in the EPFL Drone Racing Cup.
The audience around the specially-designed track will witness spectacularly fast races as drones navigate at speeds of up to 150kmph.
