Abstract
“First Person View” Unmanned Arial Vehicle racing, in which a pilot views the track through a forward-facing camera, is the 21st Century’s answer to model aircraft flying. However, the MAAXX air races seek to take things up a level: a drone air race but all piloting must be fully automatic. This is not about human piloting skills; it is about building machines and systems that can operate without human intervention. MAAXX I and II were held at the University of the West of England in 2017 and 2018, and MAAXX III is now being planned for Bristol’s Millennium Square in September 2019.
In this talk Dr Steve Wright reports on the thrills and spills of MAAXX I & II, discusses the challenges and pleasures of building robot drones, and describes the technologies available that make it possible for any engineer on a tight budget to enter MAAXX III.
