Flying drones has rocketed in popularity over the past few years, with many companies, such as Parrot and DJI, struggling to keep up with the demand. Flying drones around as a hobby soon evolved into a competitive sport with drone races being held, some being actual competitions and others being a few friends getting together in a park to see who had the better twitch reactions. However it is entering the mainstream; a few months ago a competition with a million dollar prize pool was announced: the World Drone Prix.
The tournament, which saw 15 of the best teams from around the world travel to Dubai, came to a climax a few days ago with a team led by a 15-year old taking first place. Luke Bannister of Somerset led Tornado X-Blades Banni UK to win a $250,000 US purse, part of $1 million in prizes handed out in the inaugural edition of this race as a Cabinet-level minister announced the start of the World Future Sports Games in December 2017.
More than 2000 people came to view the event and watched as Luke Bannister piloted his drone with a level of finesse and skill that allowed his team to soar past homegrown crew Dubai Dronetek, edging them into second place
Racers had to take at least one pit stop in the race, with crews leaning down to change out batteries. Pilots also had to decide whether to take shortcuts, sometimes seeing their drones crash into the ground or into each other to the shouts of spectators.
While government agencies have been eager to adopt drones for a number of purposes, the proliferation of the devices have caused issues such as the closing of the Dubai International Airport after drones entered its airspace. As a result the government has imposed a number of rules and regulations around the use of drones, foremost of them being the need to register your drone. Drones with cameras will also be impounded.
The aforementioned World Future Sports Games being held in December 2017 will include robotic swimming, running, wrestling and car racing, as well as drone flying.
