Last year we shared an interview by Dronenr with Nurk, the 2018 Allianz Drone Racing League Championship winner. Today we get to interview Nurk again with some follow-up questions, gain insight into the Drone Racing League, and see where drone racing is heading.
If you have seen drone racing on tv it was likely the DRL. The Drone Racing League (DRL) is the premier racing league for FPV pilots and now they are looking to release the same drone that the pros fly to the public. The drone these professional pilots fly can hit 90 mph in a split second. This beast of a drone could be yours if the Kickstarter campaign they started is funded by October 5th.
Drone racing has been a growing sport over the last few years and you can find thrilling championship races televised on ESPN. Did you know that it also is a high school varsity sport? The GoDroneX Chicagoland Championships just crowned a handful of New Trier students champions in its third season. There are races for both varsity and junior varsity students so they can compete at different levels of complexity.
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The winning team will take home a cool $1 million in prize money for flying an A.I. drone around a track fastest in a Drone Racing League’s AlphaPilot competition, sponsored by Lockheed Martin. The NY Times just published an article not only explaining the competition, but also the specific challenges that A.I. faces. For now, human drone pilots such as Paul Nurkkala (Nurk) or Ken Loo are much faster than A.I. guide drones. The question is, how much longer will that be the case. With $1 million on the line, you can bet that there are quite a few very smart people trying to figure out how to beat human drone pilots.
If you already read my first post on getting into FPV flight then you know that purchasing a remote transmitter is step one. If you haven’t read that already you’ll want to check that out. Now on to step two, the fun part. The drone, or better yet, the quad. Choosing the correct drone for the beginner FPV pilot is important. You don’t want to get a full-blown 5″ pro-style quad off the bat. That would be similar to handing a 16-year old the keys to a Lamborghini. Sure some lucky kid might be able to handle it, but is that the best car to learn how to drive? These are my top recommendations for beginners.
Flying FPV or first-person view can take your drone experience to the next level. ESPN is now televising the Drone Racing League and you can see why it is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing sports. If this is something you want to try there are a couple of ways to get started. Some people start with an all-in-one kit like the FatShark101, but that isn’t what we’d recommend. The first thing you need to choose is your remote. Whether you refer to it as a remote, a radio or a transmitter it is the place to start. The drone comes later. You can read about that in Step 2.
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UVify is one of the top manufacturers and developers when it comes to FPV racing drones. They recently have announced that they are partnering with DR1 Racing to offer a new class of drone racing for the series that will feature UVify’s Draco-4X4 quads.
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Today, we are glad to announce that Gabriel Kocher better known as Gab707 will be joining DroneDJ as a contributor with exclusive content related to drone racing as well as with his unique perspective of the latest news and developments in the FPV world. As a means of introducing Gab707, we thought that a short interview that we conducted last week would be the right place to start. Welcome on board Gabriel!
It seems that all of a sudden car manufacturers are becoming interested in drones. Mercedes-Benz is testing with drone deliveries in Zurich. Porsche has a drone in their latest EV commercial. Ford participates at the FAA UAS Symposium and would like to sell you a drone with your next F150 pickup truck. And now BMW is involved in developing the fastest racing drone in a partnership with Drone Racing League (DRL). It makes you wonder who will be next?
