Drone Racing League 2018 final in Jeddah a big hit
JEDDAH: The seventh and final event of the Drone Racing League,
organized by the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and
Drones (SAFCSP), was a hit with the audience at King Abdullah Economic
City in Jeddah on Friday.
Participants wore head-mounted devices that show live footage from the
camera attached to their drones, which they fly across a course of
obstacles as fast as possible.
The final participants come from a range of countries including Canada,
the Netherlands, Germany and France. They are among the best drone
racers in the field.
Many talented Saudis participated and put up a tough fight. Adulhadi
Azooz, a 36-year-old participant, told Arab News: “I started flying
drones in 2013. Before that, I was into flying RC (remote controlled)
helicopters. I was a fan of people creating things on YouTube. So that’s
how I discovered drones. DRL is one of a kind, so I can say that it is
my first time participating in such a championship but I have done some
local races before.”
Another young participant, Motaz Al-Jafri, a 22-year-old drone pilot,
told Arab News: “I have always wanted to be a pilot, so drones were the
closest that I could get to flying without getting in the cockpit.
Drones give you the feeling of actually flying a plane, because of that I
got interested and went to study in the field of aeronautical
engineering.”
“We would like to thank the federation for giving us this opportunity
because of all the people who are interested in the RC devices.”
He also said that he was interested in RC drifting before he got into
drones. “Drones are way faster than the RC cars and a bit more dangerous
because the propellors of the drones are spinning really fast so they
might hurt someone who is not doing it well.”
Before the announcement of the winner, cultural performances entertained the packed crowd. (SAFCSP)
Drone Racing League CEO Nicholas Horbaczewski said that the sport of
drone racing started in 2010. “It was actually first competed in
Australia, and it spread around the world. The Drone Racing League is
the first professional league for the sport; we started in 2015, and
this is our third season.”
He explained the differences between drone racing and car racing. “One
of the biggest differences for drone racing is that it’s fully
three-dimensional. So tonight the drones will be racing up the sides of
buildings, they will be turning in the air, so unlike car racing which
is in two dimensions, this is in full three-dimensions. The other
difference is the drones have almost instantaneous acceleration, they go
from zero to a 130 an hour in less than a second. So it’s a sport of
high-speed acceleration.”
Horbaczewski applauded the federation for their efforts in spreading
awareness of the sport. “It has been amazing, we are here partially
because our series is broadcasted on OSN and we have fans here who
reached out, saying: “Come to Saudi Arabia, bring a live race.”
And then we met the Cyber Federation, which is spreading awareness and
education about drones, so it’s the perfect partnership; our fans are
excited, the country is excited, we’re excited. It’s a great setup.”
“We could not have done this without our partnership with the Cyber
Federation. They have been an incredible partner to us, they are truly
passionate and committed to spreading education and awareness about
drones. We not only have this incredible event here tonight, we did an
educational session with students. We taught them how to build drones,
boys and girls built their own drones, they learned about science,
technology, so they’re spreading drone sport, drone education, drone
awareness. I’m very impressed with the cyber federation’s dedication to
drones in Saudi Arabia.”
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