Drone enthusiasts recently flew their UAVs through the UK’s first-purpose built first person view quadcopter racecourse in an attempt to demonstrate their piloting prowess. The race, which took place at a park outside of Manchester, forced the competitors to wear video-feed equipped goggles so that they could bob and weave past opposing drones and trees, while at the same time speeding at heights around four to six feet from the ground. Race winner Phil Miller was the only pilot to complete the course without crashing.
In other drone-related news, the nonprofit Ocean Alliance has created a waterproof drone designed to monitor the health of whales. Named “Snotbot,” the drone would be used to collect the mucus released from a whale’s blowhole, which provides great detail relating to a whale’s health. Also, drones are being used to locate endangered chimpanzees in Africa.
Formula One for DRONES: Aircraft dodge obstacles and crash into each other while tackling a fiendishly difficult racecourse
Whale snot drones endorsed by Patrick Stewart need your help
Drones locate endangered chimpanzees
At the first ever drone race, the FAA requested that the drones stay below 70 mph. http://t.co/VPrIYoMU4I
— Science Friday (@scifri)
2015-07-27T18:40:03Z
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense