A group of multicopter enthusiasts from Argonay, France cordoned off a path through the forest and spent the day racing. The resulting video makes it look like a heck of a good time.
Twenty “drone” pilots all used first-person view (FPV) camera setups for complete immersion, racing at up to 50 kilometers per hour through a 150m course in the woods that was chosen for maximum thrills and spills. The track basically followed a footpath, but the pilots still had to be extremely alert to avoid natural obstacles (we call them “trees”). The narrator adds that the nearly random lighting and camera artifacts added an extra level of difficulty to the event.
After practicing a few times just to get around the track in one piece, they started racing each other in heats. On the final heat, at 3:40 in the video, five copters start off head-to-head and tear out into the woods. Of them, only two cross the finish line.
FPV drone crash scenes still make us wince a little bit. We wonder how many of the participants spent the next few nights in the repair bay.
Thanks to [Bradley Wilkinson] for the tip.
Now you caught my attention!
Now that is cool!!! This has even inspired me to look at making a tiny drone of my own.
Does this mean that one day they would have one that looks like a speeder bike? I mean, they’re already in a forest, might as well go all the way with it. Pew pew.
And that one quad with a red tail light makes it look like a rocket booster, peewwwww…..
You mean something like this?
http://hackaday.com/2012/08/23/sadly-you-cant-buy-this-hoverbike/
http://www.hover-bike.com/MA/
Wait some years and maybe you can wrap yourself around a tree in a speeder race ;)
Cool! But awful that the video makes a reference to the pod race of episode 1 rather than the wood race scene from Return of The Jedi. Who does the speaker think he is fooling? We all here that it is you, behind all that french talk, Jar Jar.
lulz were found.
+1 to you and I’m glad I’m not the only one who saw that.
The one with red lights gives an impression of the Millennium Falcon. In cities, this will be cool to do in abandoned buildings.
Ooooohhhh. Good idea. I can’t wait until drones/quadracopters are mainstream enough to form a local race where I am.
They are already, the only problem is that it gets very time consuming and expensive to maintain one if you don’t have the proper tools. A CNC and a basic electronics workbench is a must.
or a 3d printer, I replace everything I break now with my 3d printer.
Do you make your propellers using the 3D printer as well? Milling them in a CNC is not that easy.
Your comment made me think of the proliferating indoor karting facilities in my area. Those tend to have fairly open space (based on a sample size of one). Maybe that could be another revenue stream for them during “off” hours, presuming they have any.
that red bumper was VERY SEXY. I think all drones in the race should have one in different color.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Might reduce mid air collisions a little too.
Depending on the quad’s design the time to repair may be quick. For example my tricopter is designed so zip ties and plastic spacers will break before anything expensive. In case of a crash most likely I should just have to replace some spacers, zip ties, and props. Though with that many people around and quads in the air I would say prop guards should be required.
The 250mm size quads are becoming popular for this reason. Note, this should be legal in the US as long as you don’t fly above the tree line. The air space in the forest is not FAA regulated I believe. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.
Unless that forest happens to be inside a national park…
According to the FAA if you’re above the ground and not connected to it in any way you’re in their airspace. However, as long as you’re not doing it commercially you’re covered under the model aircraft exemption.
If you fly outside, you must register with the FAA if your ‘copter weighs more than 0.55 pounds, which with the cameras and FPV transmitters, etc., I’m sure these do. No more “exemption” as of 2016.
Does anyone have some in-depth build logs of any of these setups? I want to learn more about the radio interfaces, video displays, and a couple of the ultra custom quads. Still, great idea, nice execution. I would like to organize something like this myself
flitetest.com – they have loads of write ups on everything from beginner RC basics to full build guides for wild tri-copters.
They actually have done a video out at Airgonay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpVY09Ce5C8
THIS IS FRIGGIN AWESOME!!!!!
it would be more impressive with lasers
Add guns or whatever, Wipeout in the flesh!
Well that looks like fun! I’d definitely add a pitch servo to the FPV camera to provide a more consistent forward view. Also tempted to bias the props forward so the body is level at some cruse speed and add some fairings. Anyone make an HDR FPV camera that deals better with flickering shadows?
and here is one from UK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70pusNNunMA
Now your talking.. Way cool! The forest is cool but the speed on this vid is top notch.
Me and my buddies were doing this over a year ago in Australia. Watching it back feels slow, we’re much better now, massive fun and some great crashes though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZWmW4RA19M
Welp, I know what my next expensive hobby is going to be.
This is going to be the killer app for quadcopters. In a few years I predict every hackerspace will be hosting races. If one ever comes to Seattle I’m definitely in.
Hey I know some of the guys at Airgonay, you can ask me stuff if you want
This style racing is getting more popular especially with the popularity of quads this year, especially miniquads (~250mm motor to motor) in the last 12 months. I’ve been to 2 competitions this year with sponsors, prizes etc. plus a bunch more informal events (in north america).
The copters cost between $300-600 depending (it’s hard to make copters both cheap and good but it’s possible). and yes they get smashed up a lot. a LOT.
holy crap their vids are amazing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09fyOtA2VII
Hey Carl – do any of these events have websites?
They are usually event threads on FPV forums. http://www.readymaderc.com held an event last month that was announced on their store web-site, and Team Basement RC held an event in August that was announced on their site http://www.basement-rc.com and on http://www.fpvlab.com
Is this real?
That one guy has a mobius camera on his copter, and the mobius is known to lag for FPV…
The mobius is just for recording, never for live flight, there are many other issues that make it unsuitable to fly with.
What about a league with autonomous UAVs? Complete the track as fast as you can, no matter how you do it :D