If you weren’t aware that people were actually racing drones competitively, you’re in for a treat. Following CES, the XDC_2 Xtreme Drone Circuit Races were recently held in Las Vegas, and watching the first-person footage of the quadcopters navigating the glowing neon course is better than an acid trip.
To make it easier to fly the drones through the complex series of loops and even rings of fire, the pilots actually wear VR goggles that are streaming a live feed from a forward-facing camera mounted to each quadcopter. In other words, it’s about as close as you can get to being in the cockpit of a drone, without the risk of serious injury when it inevitably crashes.
Advertisement
[YouTube via The Awesomer]
DISCUSSION
Things I’d watch on an all-robot sports channel:
1) Drone dogfights
2) Drone Quidditch
3) Robot Wars
4) This
5) Drone football
6) Drone football (Australian)
7) Drone football (American)