Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

THE FAI Drone Racing Championships will be held at Universiade Center in Longgang District between Nov. 1 and 4, the organizer said Wednesday at a news conference.

The championships will be divided into individual, teen and women groups, offering a total of 1.5 million yuan (US$218,978) in prizes. The championships will proceed in four stages, namely qualifying, elimination, ranking and final.

After the qualifying contest, 64 constestants, four in each group, will enter the official competition, and four of them will move on to the final. Those who are eliminated will be listed according to their rankings.

The track being installed at the stadium of the Longgang sports center has three levels, with a height of 6 meters and a total length of 650 meters.

It will be the world’s first 3-D multi-level sports track and realize the conceptual idea of aerial F1. It is also the world’s first track to use flight tracking technologies and be equipped with a real-time map-display simulation function, which will provide a direct and thrilling experience for the audience. It will also introduce double-image transmission technologies to livecast the championships, according to the organizer.

Drone racing started in 2014 and has developed rapidly around the world. It is regarded as the aerial F1. Racing speeds can reach up to 140 kilometers per hour with acceleration from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour within 1.6 seconds.

“As a new and rising sport, drone racing is the perfect combination of speed and skill. It is one of the fastest growing aerial sports in the world,” said Susanne Schoede, secretary general of the Federation of Aeronautics International, at the news conference.

Shenzhen was chosen because of its strength in technology and being the birthplace of the world’s most advanced drones.

“The championships is also a platform for drone makers to show off their technologies,” Schoede added.

Also at the news conference, the organizer started soliciting designs for the mascot of the championships. Any individual, team or organization is welcome to submit their designs to the organizer by Sept. 30.

Statistics from the Shenzhen drone industry association showed that the output of the drone industry reached 30 billion yuan in 2017, accounting for 70 percent of the world’s civilian drone market. More than 600 enterprises in Shenzhen are engaged in the industry.

Statistics from customs show that drone exports from Shenzhen in the first half of the year reached 19.8 billion yuan, an increase of 38.9 percent year on year. The drones were mainly exported to European countries, United States and Australia.