Last week, London’s Wembley Stadium experienced drone racing for the first time. Tiny drones raced out of tunnels and zipped around the stadium through an obstacle course in which the aerial robots had to complete three laps. According to commentators, the races were competitive and fun to watch.
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The event at Wembley was an introduction for many main stream journalists who attended this event to see the potential in drone racing for the first time. One such main stream media giant, ESPN, clearly believes there is potential in drone racing becoming a whole new interesting sport for fans to watch since they plan to air major drone racing championships in 2016.
However, there are some problems that need to be fixed before the launch of this sport into the mass market. With the drones going so fast, it’s hard to even recognize where they are and who is winning. The mobile network EE was one of the organizers for this event. EE has an established bond with Wembley Stadium’s owners to use the event as a test-bed for 4G technology. Qualcomm, was another company involved, which will help stream additional footage for people who are watching through a mobile device.
“Qualcomm Technologies is applying its integration and SoC [System on Chip] expertise acquired in the mobile space to the internet of things (IoT) space, and one of the exciting growth areas is drones,” said Qualcomm EMEA senior vice-president Enrico Salvatori.
So how does it work? The players have a camera on the drone, and then they put on the FPV (First Person View) headset. This allows the racers to see the drone through that camera. Another perspective is from tablets that shows a view from an EE action camera placed on the front of each drone, which is streamed live over the 4G networks. The tablets have the best viewpoint because the FPV screen blurs and breaks up which is not beneficial for the user.
Many racers build their own drones for a few hundred pounds. With the launch of ESPN broadcasting this sport, the public will become more intrigued, thus increasing the amount of racers wanting to start. Thus, making this sport one to watch as it continues to grow and gain a following and serious backing of the largest sports media company in the world.