For most of us, daily races to the finishing line involve getting to office on time by evading traffic. For some others, though, that involves a race between a Formula E car and a drone. Bruno Senna, nephew of the racing legend Ayrton Senna and Formula E racer with Mahindra Racing, pit his drone against Scott Speed, fellow Formula E racer with Andretti Autosport, snug inside his Formula E racing car.
While the race borderlined on the expected, it was an eventful affair in a, well, empty stadium. The slips, sudden direction changes, and the bursts of speed by Speed were the dramatic elements, in which Speed won in admittedly limited fanfare. The Lumenier QAV210 quadcopter became the first drone to take on a racing car, Speed’s Spark-Renault SRT_01E. Senna stated after the race, “The Chase was so much fun. It was very cool to have such a spectacular circuit to ourselves with a drone and a racing car to play with. It was a great challenge which is what racing is all about. This was a wonderful opportunity to do something really different and 100% fun. I have just finished building an even faster drone with longer range and I am ready to challenge Formula E to a race again soon.”
This recent race comes in line with Formula E planning 360-degree recreation of its races to offer a more engaging racing content for viewers and enthusiasts. The racing series is partnering with Virtually Live for this project, using physical motion trackers and imaging sensors to provide real-time VR simulation of races in a computer-rendered version of the racing tracks. Real-time streaming is expected to begin as early as the April 23 fixture in Paris, France.
Us race-loving folks are quite excited at the prospect of seeing our latest fantasy, Virtual Reality, be presented in real-time simulation of the actual races. Coupled with this, the groundwork is being laid to hypercharge drones and push them into overdrive. Game on, fellas?
[Source:- Digit]
