:00:00. > :00:27.But now on BBC News, it's time for Click.
:00:28. > :00:30.From a drone that can deliver blood, to a drone that can balance a stick
:00:31. > :00:34.and throw you a ball, there does seem to be no end
:00:35. > :00:41.But for as long as we've covered drones, there's always been one
:00:42. > :00:48.But all that could be about to change if researchers
:00:49. > :00:52.at Imperial College, in London, have their way.
:00:53. > :00:56.This drone isn't flying very high and it really isn't going to go very
:00:57. > :00:59.far, but it is still very impressive because it has
:01:00. > :01:08.It's getting its power wirelessly from the power
:01:09. > :01:15.So there's no battery and so I can stick that underneath just to prove
:01:16. > :01:27.That is wireless charging, or wireless power transfer.
:01:28. > :01:31.The breakthrough the team here have made is being able to transfer
:01:32. > :01:34.the power wirelessly over much larger distances than that used in
:01:35. > :01:43.One of the things that we targeted straightaway was the fact
:01:44. > :01:45.that we wanted to get large distance.
:01:46. > :01:48.So we weren't just trying to do toothbrush charging or phone
:01:49. > :01:51.charging, where you are in contact with the charging pad.
:01:52. > :01:54.And fundamentally, to do that, you need to operate the system
:01:55. > :01:59.But to get this system to be efficient, you have to go up
:02:00. > :02:03.in frequency by a factor of ten or 100, which is a challenge.
:02:04. > :02:07.While you wouldn't really want a drone that doesn't have a battery,
:02:08. > :02:10.being able to recharge one wirelessly on remote charging
:02:11. > :02:18.stations could mean a lot more flying time.
:02:19. > :02:21.But in the near future, Paul can see these drones being used
:02:22. > :02:24.by the military for surveillance, recharging from base stations
:02:25. > :02:28.or even in the air, by other larger drones.
:02:29. > :02:34.That is, as long as they can actually stay airborne.
:02:35. > :02:37.And actually it turns out that there is already a use
:02:38. > :02:40.for autonomous drones that can fly steady distances.
:02:41. > :02:45.To explain more, we have to go to Australia.
:02:46. > :02:50.A couple of years ago we met Outback Joe.
:02:51. > :02:53.He desperately needed a drink of water to save his life and drones
:02:54. > :03:01.Just outside Dalby, in Queensland, the world's toughest drone
:03:02. > :03:11.Ten teams are competing for the $50,000 grand prize and this
:03:12. > :03:15.year the challenge is much more complicated.
:03:16. > :03:19.The drones must take off, locate Joe, land, collect a blood
:03:20. > :03:25.sample for his doctor to analyse, and return safely to base.
:03:26. > :03:29.All autonomously, all in under an hour.
:03:30. > :03:33.Our reporter on the ground is Nick Kwek.
:03:34. > :03:37.Here he is, Joe, the man himself, standing tall and he's supposed
:03:38. > :03:40.to be standing because he's meant to be someone capable of placing
:03:41. > :03:46.a blood sample into a drone and arming it for take-off.
:03:47. > :03:49.Because he's standing, he's that much more difficult to see
:03:50. > :04:00.And that's just one of the many complex aspects
:04:01. > :04:05.The big difference between this challenge and other drone challenges
:04:06. > :04:07.around the world is the great distances involved.
:04:08. > :04:12.So the teams are flying about 23 kilometres to get to this site.
:04:13. > :04:17.It's then very challenging because it's a very cluttered environment.
:04:18. > :04:20.Joe is deliberately in a rough area, there are big trees around,
:04:21. > :04:27.So that makes it extremely difficult, and then they've got
:04:28. > :04:29.to fly another 23 kilometres to get back.
:04:30. > :04:33.To be in with a fighting chance, teams have come up with all shapes
:04:34. > :04:41.So, as the race begins, let's cross to Nick.
:04:42. > :04:44.NICK: First up is Canadian couple Forward Robotics,
:04:45. > :04:52.who hoped to fly to victory with their custom drone duo.
:04:53. > :04:54.It seems to be drifting on the wind...
:04:55. > :04:57.But there hope is short-lived, as one of their drones
:04:58. > :05:03.So from this point on it's about returning to base.
:05:04. > :05:07.So it's in the truck and off to track down the wayward plane
:05:08. > :05:13.We are going to recover our aircraft.
:05:14. > :05:15.This year, teams are allowed to enter not only one
:05:16. > :05:20.but a secondary communications relay aircraft too.
:05:21. > :05:23.Great for maintaining a data signal back to base,
:05:24. > :05:26.but the rules stipulate that if one goes down the other must
:05:27. > :05:30.With the circulating plane safely landed,
:05:31. > :05:33.the judges call in auxiliary aerial support to locate
:05:34. > :05:41.We're just going to have a bit of a look, see if we can
:05:42. > :05:46.It's in a nice, big, green field, so to have an eye in the sky should
:05:47. > :05:52.It's hard to tell what would be significant and what wouldn't.
:05:53. > :05:57.But even from the sky the drone was impossible to spot.
:05:58. > :06:05.Back at base, Thai team ISAAC Lab prepped their custom chopper
:06:06. > :06:08.for take-off, and it soon blasts off for Joe.
:06:09. > :06:10.Using a video games controller, the team scans the screen
:06:11. > :06:20.They've found Joe, but then disaster strikes.
:06:21. > :06:37.We found Joe, but we tried to get the precise location of him,
:06:38. > :06:39.but smoke was coming out first and it crashed.
:06:40. > :06:42.One of the differences between this challenge and other drone challenges
:06:43. > :06:48.We've chosen a place where it really does flood,
:06:49. > :06:51.we've chosen a realistic farm, we've chosen a totally realistic
:06:52. > :06:53.terrain and there are tall trees, there's uneven ground
:06:54. > :06:56.and the distances are about the same sorts of distances that
:06:57. > :07:05.you would get between a cut-off area in a flood and the town.
:07:06. > :07:07.And being cut off from healthcare is a real-world problem.
:07:08. > :07:11.The drone tech developed here could one day be life-saving.
:07:12. > :07:14.As part of the challenge, teams have also had to invent novel
:07:15. > :07:16.blood-carrying compartments, with detailed instructions on how
:07:17. > :07:27.Again, slide it in and there's a click mechanism inside.
:07:28. > :07:31.Now, they say necessity is the mother of invention.
:07:32. > :07:34.Well, for these guys, that meant creating this beauty -
:07:35. > :07:41.This can take off and land vertically, but upon reaching
:07:42. > :07:44.altitude this bad boy transforms and can propel itself forward
:07:45. > :07:50.Its especially designed rotor can continuously control pitch
:07:51. > :07:58.The team also built custom auto pilot software and took things
:07:59. > :08:01.to a whole new level using an elevated platform to get
:08:02. > :08:11.Its special downward facing 200-degree cameras mean that
:08:12. > :08:14.when flying horizontally it can still see the ground and having two
:08:15. > :08:22.Like an invincible phoenix, their fixed wing flew and then...
:08:23. > :08:27.OK, the judges say to terminate, you're in a tree.
:08:28. > :08:39.They set the parameter for 20 metres high, but the tree
:08:40. > :08:46.Bad luck, then, for MAVLab and the losing streak only worsened.
:08:47. > :08:50.It's back to Nick for more on the ground and in
:08:51. > :09:05.With so many crashes, a storm is brewing.
:09:06. > :09:09.It really is such a difficult task, with so many criteria to be met,
:09:10. > :09:12.that even a little wind can make all the difference between success
:09:13. > :09:26.So, what of reigning champions, CanberraUAV?
:09:27. > :09:29.They won the last challenge and have returned with a souped up version
:09:30. > :09:34.They've added virtual take-off and landing,
:09:35. > :09:37.with eight independent props ensuring it stays airborne if one
:09:38. > :09:44.And a chopper to beam signal back to base.
:09:45. > :09:47.Team captain Andrew Tridgell developed the autopilot software
:09:48. > :09:50.that most of the teams are using, mentoring the many keen
:09:51. > :09:56.The search pattern is actually a complex butterfly type pattern,
:09:57. > :10:04.And that's why we approach Joe from every angle,
:10:05. > :10:07.to remove the systematic errors in the position estimation.
:10:08. > :10:10.On board, Tridge has developed a special Joe detection system,
:10:11. > :10:14.which analyses photos for any unusual objects.
:10:15. > :10:17.These are then highlighted and Tridge does a visual
:10:18. > :10:34.Vial on board, it's now a race against time to get back.
:10:35. > :10:45.In the end, Canberra's chopper didn't return home,
:10:46. > :10:59.Everyone that got the aircraft flying was a winner.
:11:00. > :11:02.It was a tough challenge and we didn't finish the mission,
:11:03. > :11:07.but as a team I think we did very well and I think all the teams that
:11:08. > :11:11.This event has been absolutely amazing, so thank you so much.
:11:12. > :11:14.It's a great achievement, but there's still clearly a lot
:11:15. > :11:16.of work to do before drones can autonomously perform
:11:17. > :11:35.So, what will the next drone challenge hold?
:11:36. > :11:42.Follow us on Twitter to read the week for all of the backstage fun
:11:43. > :11:44.and photos. Thank you for watching. We will see you soon.