FS500 video launch at the FAI International Drone Conference

The FS500 made its long awaited video debut at the 2018 FAI International Drone Conference as part of Grantley Reed’s presentation highlighting our ‘Fan First’ strategy.

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The second FAI International Drones Conference and Expo kicked off in Lausanne on Friday – with a session on the new world of Drones and Sport.

Speakers from across the world of drones converged on the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland to hear about the latest cutting-edge developments in the drone ecosystem.

“The magic of drone sports is firing imaginations around the world,” said FAI President Frits Brink as he welcomed delegates to the first day of the three-day conference.

“As more drones take to the sky, they bring new people into air sports. Drones push the boundaries of technology, as innovators create new technology and devices. The FAI is committed to developing the eco system around drones.”

Drone racing as a sport is developing at a fantastic pace, explained the FAI’s Antonis Papadopoulos. “It’s growing fast, appealing for youngsters and media friendly,” he explained.

Drone racing “may look kind of virtual” he said, “but in drone racing we are flying a real machine,in accordance with some rules. We believe we are the organisation that can connect the two worlds – eSports and air sports.”

Bruno Delor, who will be meet director at the 1st FAI World Drone Racing Championships in China in November, echoed his colleague. “Drone racing as a new class was introduced in the FAI on 1 January 2016. Since then we have seen phenomenal growth. In 2016 we had nine contests in seven countries, this year we have 23 in 18.”

The conference heard from pilots, engineers and blue-sky thinkers, who are all working to develop the drone sports in some way.

Grantley Reed (above), from Freespace Drone Racing in Australia explained how his company was launching a new drone racing circuit in Australia using much bigger drones – up to 25kg with speeds of 220km/h.

“The most influential demographic in sports right now is Millenials, and that will be followed by Generation Z. Ages 11-37. It’s about creating emotions, we want to create the feeling that no one else does it like this.”

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Read the full article: FAI / https://fai.org/news/fai-international-drones-conference-and-expo-2018-magic-drone-sports

Watch the FS500 introduction video below:

Grantley’s full presentation can be watched here: https://www.facebook.com/airsports.fai/videos/1885682628408015/

Stay tuned for more information about the FS500 and our plans with the FAI for 2019 and beyond.

Marco Matthai Wins The 2018 Barcelona Drone Racing F3U World Cup

After a hard-fought contest that culminated with a fast and furious day of eliminations, Marco Matthai – Vilano FPV – was crowned winner of the Barcelona Drone Racing F3U World Cup 2018 in Les Comes, Spain yesterday.

He beat off competition from some 70 pilots from all over Europe, some of whom travelled from as far afield as Russia and Macedonia. But despite his impressive performance, the 25-year-old German pilot has only been flying for a year.

Like all those taking part, he loved the track, which he suggests may have contributed to his success. “I’m not used to this style of track,” Matthai said. “It has a lot of space and is very fast; I liked it. I was getting better and better. My final run was my best: perfect timing!”

He is now hoping to continue in the same style – perhaps all the way to the 1st FAI World Drone Racing Championships in China later this year. “If I can repeat it maybe I can qualify for the World Championships in Shenzen,” he said.

However, Matthai, who urges all drone racing fans to “get a drone and fly, you need as much stick time as possible”, was not the only pilot to show some serious skills at this event.

Saturdays qualifications had seen the young winner of the 2018 WDR Paris World Cup, Killian Rousseau, post the fastest lap, putting him in pole position as he went into the last 32.

But Rousseau crashed out on the first lap of the final, dashing his hopes of another World Cup win in Spain. He therefore finished fourth in the closely fought race, behind Polish pilot Jan Wielgosz in second place, and Rui Antunes from Portugal in third position.

The competition was held at the outdoor centre of Les Comes north of Barcelona, which is blessed with a natural bowl perfect for racing.

The track made use of the terrain with sections negotiating obstacles such as trees as well as man-made tunnels and gates, and was located in a natural hollow that afforded spectators a fantastic view of the action.

Freespace Drone Racing, which has recently signed a deal with the FAI, also wowed the fans with giant drone demonstration races showing just how visually exciting these larger drones are for the crowds. Measuring half a metre long, they are easy to follow and sound equally impressive.

Many congratulations to all the competitors and the winners – and thanks to everyone who worked on and attended this fantastic event!

RESULTS
1. Marco Matthai from Germany
2. Jan Wielgosz from Poland
3. Rui Antunes from Portugal
4. Killian Rousseau from France
5. Bastian Hackl from Austria

Introducing the FS500 Exhibition Event at the FAI Drone Racing World Cup

While all eyes will be on Les Comes in July for the Barcelona F3U World Cup, a much anticipated part of the programme is the Freespace FS500 Exhibition Event.

The FS500 V2.0 design has been significantly improved from the V1.0 to achieve similar performance to the current racing spec 250 quads, while providing the spectators with a larger drone to follow.

Although comparable in performance, the FS500 is a little less agile than a 250 racer. However this is actually a positive characteristic in that its flight is more flowing and natural looking in the air, making the FS500 much easier to follow with the naked eye. One of the specific aims of the FS500 is to create a much more visually appealing experience for the live fans. This will also flow through to the broadcast audience with the aim of widening drone racings mainstream appeal and attracting further sponsorship into the sport.

The FS500 is a highly refined aircraft weighing 2kg with up to 5kW of motor power at it’s disposal. The power train consists of a 6s 3000mAh graphene battery driving custom 900 kV motors through a 50A ESC. Fitted with 10″ x 5.5″ props the FS500 has a maximum aircraft thrust just over 12kg.

It sports a robust and aerodynamic polycarbonate fairing, with plenty of room for sponsor logos, on a carbon fibre chassis rounded out with a Dual camera system running a broadcast HD alongside a pilot feed.

The FAI Les Comes FS500 Exhibition Event will consist of 4 teams, each running the same spec FS500 in is a series of practice sessions throughout the weekend, culminating in a final event on the Sunday which is 20 minutes in length.

The Teams and Pilots will be announced shortly.

Stay tuned for more information.

Freespace Drone Racing Announces Helion As FS500 Team Sponsor

Freespace Drone Racing is excited to welcome Helion as a team sponsor for the FAI 2018 Barcelona Drone Racing World Cup

The Freespace team are proud to announce our partnership with Domenec Molins and the Helion Group.

Just as we are pushing the boundaries with our Giant Drone Racing platform, Helion are the market leaders in the development of powder metallurgy, solid carbide and innovative coating technologies for high-quality cutting tools.

Helion is a global company servicing the machining industry across multiple sectors, their precision tooling is widely used in the Aerospace sector which is a perfect fit for Freespace and our high spec. Giant Racing Drones.

Helion is embedding their brand in the future of racing and becoming an integral part of something their customers will love.

Helion will be an FS500 team sponsor at our upcoming FAI 2018 Barcelona Drone Racing World Cup as well as the Feeespace Drone Racing official tool supplier for 2019. This will include the official launch of the FS1 at the Avalon International Airshow in February as well as the FAI FS500 Global World Series.

We are excited about this new partnership and the collective benefits it will bring both our organisations

Freespace Racing announces the Barcelona Drone World Cup 2018

WORLD CLASS DRONE RACING AND MUCH MORE!

Visit Les Comes, Barcelona on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of July to experience three days of electrifying drone racing along with activities for everyone.

Held at the magnificent Les Comes circuit, the Barcelona Drone Wold Cup 2018 is a scoring event for the F3U Drone World Championship 2018.

Enjoy a long weekend with the best pilots of the world competing at more than 130 km/h.

With exhibitors, virtual simulators, support races, Dj’s and the exclusive worldwide presentation of the new categories of giant drones FS500 and FS1 of 1.3 meters!

Don’t miss this groundbreaking event! Get your ticket for just 5 euros!

Hola! Freespace visits Barcelona for World Mobile Congress

Hola! Freespace Drone Racing is excited to be in Barcelona this week, exhibiting at the World Mobile Congress, A cutting-edge product and technology exhibition featuring 2,300 exhibitors where during the four-day event, more than 108,000 mobile professionals will network, showcase and exchange ideas.

Come and visit us at Hall 8.0 Stand 8.0G25 and have a chat to the team to find out how we are leading the Giant Drone Racing revolution. Check out the FS500 Racing Drone which will be on display and find out more about the upcoming FS1 1300mm Giant Racing Drone.

For those who may be interested, ask about some of the great event partnership opportunities that we have coming up, In particular the FAI F3U Barcelona Drone Racing World Cup, to be held at Les Comes in July.

Our team is looking forward to saying G’day and introducing you to the future of racing and the evolution of sports.