#DRONE RACING LEAGUE PRO#
#DRONE RACING LEAGUE SERIES#

This makes for very sensitive controls and requires a pilot with quick reaction times and a steady hand. Because of their light weight and electric motors with large amounts of torque, drones can accelerate and maneuver with great speed and agility. 3-blade or 4-blade (instead of 2-blade) propellers have a shorter diameter allowing for a smaller frame with increased acceleration and maneuverability capabilities. Another specific characteristic of drone racing is the number of propeller's blades. A racing model will typically have its four motors configured in an H-pattern configured to thrust the drone forward, not up. A photography quadcopter design will typically have four motors configured in an X-pattern, all equally spaced apart. Racing drones are designed for speed and agility, as opposed to a photography/video drones which are focused more on hovering and stable filming.

#DRONE RACING LEAGUE PRO#

Recently they added the Pro Class racing drone, which is currently the largest competitive drone racing format in the world.

#DRONE RACING LEAGUE SERIES#

The Drone Racing League (DRL) makes all of the drones used in its events in house pilots are supplied with drones, backup drones, and parts by the league itself, not independently.ĭR1 Racing, utilizes an open spec class format that relies on each team in the series to supply their own drones, goggles and gear. MultiGP, a community of pilots, defines community produced specifications for aircraft classes.

Any drone could be used to race, however competitive FPV racing leagues require drones to meet certain standards.įor competitions, aircraft are typically separated into classes, separating winged craft from rotorcraft and also categorizing by size and power. While the pilot always requires goggles, some drone racing organizations insist they should also be used among spectators alike by simply switching the frequency to the channel of the racer one wants to watch, although this can only be done with drones with analog video transmission, as digital transmission is usually a one-to-one pairing to the pilot. Digital video systems offer much better image quality and are now becoming much more commonplace. Some of these features include receiver diversity, digital HD video, head tracking, multiple frequency settings, band settings and DVR (digital video recorder) recording functionality. FPV goggles on the market range from $40 to $800, with the more expensive goggles offering more and better features. The remote control, drone, and goggles are all connected via radio and must transmit with sufficient speed and reliability to allow effective control. The image is transmitted as analog video (typically 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz frequency, 1.3 GHz for distant transmission) to goggles or monitor worn by the pilot. This is accomplished by live streaming footage from a camera mounted on the nose of the drone. Technology įPV (first-person view) flying means that pilots only see what the drone sees. Drone racing began in Germany in 2011 with a number of amateur pilots getting together for semi-organized races in Karlsruhe. Similar to full-size air racing, the goal is to complete a course as quickly as possible.

A first person-view racing drone showing the drone's video perspective as it navigates obstaclesįirst Person View, or FPV, drone racing is a sport where participants control ' drones' (typically small radio-controlled aircraft or quadcopters), equipped with cameras while wearing head-mounted displays showing the live stream camera feed.

Drone racing league