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This week: Superfast, super furious at Dubai's world drone pre-. | :00:08. | :00:15. | |
Hydrogen keeping them up, and Eagles taking them down. -- world drone of | :00:16. | :00:22. | |
prix. Drones, drones, drones, a thing of | :00:23. | :00:49. | |
constant fascination and innovation. So much so, that last year, the | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
government of the United Arab Emirates held a contest called | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
jointly good with a massive $1 million prize up for grabs -- drones | :00:59. | :01:04. | |
for good. Teams run the world were invited to compete to demonstrate | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
how their unmanned aerial vehicles could improve people's lives. We saw | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
everything from frog dissipation to window cleaning. -- fog. Not content | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
with feisty's event, to buy is aiming to once again be the centre | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
of drone innovation. We have been back to the UAE to meet the pilots | :01:25. | :01:29. | |
said to turn drone racing professional and establish | :01:30. | :01:30. | |
themselves as world champions. Pilots, starch or rotors. 32 of the | :01:31. | :01:44. | |
best drone pilots from across the globe have gathered here in Dubai | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
for the very first World Drone Prix. At stake, a huge prize pot of $1 | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
million. With the first prize a $250,000 for the fastest team. For | :01:57. | :02:04. | |
pilots will fly at the same time, and it will be a knockout type of | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
tournament style. They will be racing custom quad copters around | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
this specially constructed circuit. The pallets must complete 12 laps of | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
the track, nicking at least one pitstop per race to swap batteries | :02:21. | :02:27. | |
-- making. We are in the crew area, backstage if you like, at the World | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
Drone Prix. We will meet some of the teams. This is the Dutch team. Hi, | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
guys. Last year we were just flying in a field and now we are here with | :02:37. | :02:43. | |
the 20 32 in the world. The competition has come in to help | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
these guys set up their rig. This is a drone racing team at work, | :02:51. | :02:53. | |
relaxing just before the races. Is this the pit crew technician doing | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
all of the hardware? Soldering, rewiring things. Those soldering | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
irons will be kept busy because the drones themselves are fitted with a | :03:06. | :03:08. | |
host of electronics including GPS tracking and forward facing cameras. | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
This is where the pilots sit. They will be wearing first person view | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
goggles showing them exactly what the drone itself can see. The palate | :03:18. | :03:25. | |
is assisted by a navigator, who tell them about anything on the track the | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
pilot will not be able to see. -- pilot. This is the team manager. I'm | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
on the team doing a very important thing. You plug it in and replace | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
the battery, and put it back in. If I screw up with this simple task, | :03:41. | :03:47. | |
this is the only job you have, you out of the race, disqualified. The | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
drones will be racing along the circuit. It is the first of its kind | :03:53. | :03:58. | |
constructed anywhere in the world. It is almost 600 metres long, it has | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
the capability to change shape. Some of the track's spines can | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
mechanically move. They won't do that you're in racing as that would | :04:11. | :04:13. | |
make a difficult track most impossible to complete. -- during | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
racing. You have advised the guys on what the track should be like, the | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
circuit itself. What sort of things did you tell them would be a good | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
idea to introduce to the track was like in the previous races we have | :04:28. | :04:30. | |
done, we have only done to the tracks. Now we wanted to introduce | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
elevation, jetted off the ground so it truly be an aerial sport. That | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
tower over there, they will have to go up and over, and it becomes more | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
like a rollercoaster. The lights on the drones make it much easier to | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
follow. The whole thing reminds me of the Tron movies Elizabeth. Before | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
the pilots are let loose, they have to compete in two days of qualifying | :04:59. | :05:07. | |
heats taking place indoors. -- Tron movies a little bit. One little | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
thing goes wrong, and incident, you are out. Success in those heats, | :05:13. | :05:17. | |
they graduate to the big show, the outdoor circuit, where their | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
practice results dictate their starting position. What you think is | :05:22. | :05:30. | |
showing through? I think it is the young kids. With car racing there is | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
a barrier to racing in terms of age, but that doesn't really exist | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
with this kind of racing? You can be ten or seven years old as long as | :05:41. | :05:43. | |
you have the skills and the control. You can also be in a | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
wheelchair and still compete. It doesn't matter. Qualifying is over | :05:49. | :05:55. | |
and the British favourite sales through. He is joined by the team to | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
watch out for, the Dutch, as well as the cool as ice Russians -- sales | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
through. As fast as these things are, keeping | :06:04. | :06:12. | |
them up in the air for any length of time is a problem. Pilots can get | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
through 40 batteries in a day. You generally only get 15 or 20 minutes | :06:19. | :06:22. | |
life out of each one. But a UK company is now working on a way of | :06:23. | :06:25. | |
increasing flight time from minutes to hours, and we have had an | :06:26. | :06:28. | |
exclusive look at the first fleet. I have been flying drones for a few | :06:29. | :06:39. | |
years now on ago Matt, and even managed to crash one. Behind the | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
scenes, we are always aware of how little time we have to get the | :06:44. | :06:48. | |
perfect shot before we run out of batteries -- years now on | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
programmer. Now they could be a solution to increase my time. | :06:55. | :07:00. | |
Intelligent energy in Loughborough have been experimenting with | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
hydrogen fuel technology. We have been giving exclusive access to | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
their flight tests. This is the first time we have been flying them | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
with a hydrogen fuel cell. It is a joint they have modified. The fuel | :07:16. | :07:22. | |
cell and fuel weighs about 1.6 g. It can flight for up to two hours on | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
one fuel cell, about six times longer than the average with a | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
normal battery. Refuelling with compressed hydrogen is faster too, | :07:31. | :07:34. | |
taking just a few minutes, compared with three charging a battery. | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
Intelligent energy have been testing hydrogen fuel cell technology here | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
since 2001, but are focused on drone flights for the last 18 months. Tell | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
us how this works. This is the fuel tank. This is where the hydrogen is. | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
These two on top at the fuel cells, and we have a fan that takes a small | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
amount of heat, but also holds the airflow. You combine hydrogen with | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
oxygen from the air blowing through this fence, and it produces | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
electricity. While hydrogen is the most abundant element in the | :08:09. | :08:11. | |
universe, on Earth, it is mostly used in heavy industry, which is | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
where this company sees the drones being most useful. Straightaway in | :08:16. | :08:19. | |
the industrial industry, we're looking at agriculture, well and | :08:20. | :08:23. | |
gas, mapping forestry, and any other industry that needs drones for | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
inspection or otherwise -- wheel and gas. We will get into the consumer | :08:29. | :08:32. | |
space, but initially our target market is the commercial market. It | :08:33. | :08:42. | |
reduces costs considerably. The company expects to have the fuel | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
cells ready for commercial use in the next year but will have to wait | :08:46. | :08:47. | |
longer for a consumer version. It was bad news this week for the UK | :08:48. | :08:55. | |
gaming industry as Sony announced the closure of Revolution studio is. | :08:56. | :09:01. | |
It was perhaps best known for its work on the PlayStation title drive | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
club. It was also the week that Apple and the FBI was supposed to | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
meet in court for a hearing over the battle to unlock the phone of San | :09:11. | :09:17. | |
Bernardino gunmen. However the case took an unexpected turn when the FBI | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
announced it may have found a way to unlock the phone without the help of | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
Apple. It was not all legal battles for the tech giant, as they launched | :09:27. | :09:31. | |
a new phone, iPad and a series of watch straps. But the most | :09:32. | :09:36. | |
interesting thing about their press conference was a recycling robot | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
named Liam. There was also the week that Twitter turned ten, John | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
Hopkins showed off a drone they can live underwater for months, and an | :09:47. | :09:49. | |
artificially intelligent dear wondering around the world of grand | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
theft auto became an art installation, and then an Internet | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
sensation. But perhaps the most intriguing bit of tech this week | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
came from Stanford University, where the team have built software that | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
allows you to create real-time facial re-enactments, meaning you | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
can effectively map your worlds and expressions on to somebody else's | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
face. Getting them to say anything you want. -- your words. | :10:18. | :10:26. | |
Today, I've gone back to school. I'm learning to programme the new chip | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
on the block. The data is going from the computer into the Microbit. This | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
week, the BBC has finally unleashed the Microbit. Announced last July, | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
the tiny programmable computer is being given free to a million | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
schoolkids in the UK in the hope it will inspire a new generation of | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
programmers. As wild as your imagination. In just a few minutes, | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
it is possible to learn to create short programmes that anything into | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
a name badge, Robo racer, or a spacecraft! We're learning how to | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
turn the Microbit into a dice so when you shake it you get a random | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
number between one and six. Problem is, it is currently giving a number | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
between zero and six. But everyone is trying to solve that problem. Get | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
rid of that pesky zero. Type dice in there. The Microbit is not a fully | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
fledged computer, like a raspberry pipe. It is more like an | :11:27. | :11:33. | |
introduction to the idea of programming, a much more simple | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
affair -- pi. It has a Bluetooth connection and electronic connectors | :11:40. | :11:42. | |
that Atlantic control other devices. But even if it is not directly | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
competing with other budget computers, the Microbit has arrived | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
later than promised, which may make it difficult to incorporate into | :11:52. | :11:53. | |
lesson plans for the remainder of the school year. It is using | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
everything I've learnt at school except it is opening me to more | :12:00. | :12:05. | |
opportunities such as allowing me to use LED on the Microbit. Because it | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
is small, you can take it anywhere with you as well. Excellent. Thank | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
you for coming. Did you enjoy it? Yes! Well done, everyone. Toby does | :12:15. | :12:24. | |
prove as inspirational as the BBC Micro, and a whole microcomputer | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
revolution of the 1980s. That is why I got into this in the first place | :12:29. | :12:30. | |
-- let's hope it does. With reports of near misses with | :12:31. | :12:43. | |
aircraft, invasions of privacy and security breaches, drones aren't | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
always welcome flyers. This month alone, they have been two incidents | :12:50. | :12:54. | |
at major airports, one in one in LA. To avoid any danger to these, the | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
authorities need to find safe ways of bringing the drones out of the | :13:01. | :13:06. | |
sky. Short of shooting them down, where they could fall | :13:07. | :13:09. | |
unpredictably, innovative ideas are needed, and we start with this one. | :13:10. | :13:15. | |
Nature's low-tech solution that the Netherlands police force invited me | :13:16. | :13:17. | |
to see in action. Before seen that with my own eyes I | :13:18. | :13:39. | |
was concerned that the eagle was going to be delicate for the drone, | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
but actually it really took control of that thing. The eagle has learnt | :13:44. | :13:50. | |
to pick up the drone and, much like it would with any prey, bring it | :13:51. | :13:58. | |
down to the ground. And the company behind this project say it shouldn't | :13:59. | :14:04. | |
harm the eagles. While these birds aren't going to become a fast | :14:05. | :14:07. | |
response solution to any situation, the idea is that they will be | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
trained and based around high risk areas like airports or big events. | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
This man on a mission to bring down the unwonted drones has plenty of | :14:17. | :14:23. | |
other ideas as well. The company has come up with deposit billet -- | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
possibility to block the signal that controls the drawing and another | :14:30. | :14:32. | |
company has come up with the idea to block or disturb the GPS code of the | :14:33. | :14:41. | |
drone that flies. And that's a concept that one firm in Ohio have | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
been focusing on. The drone defender uses radio frequency disruption, | :14:47. | :14:52. | |
which, if it works, should provide a portable long-range solution to | :14:53. | :14:56. | |
guide the drone out of the sky. But it is not that simple. Although 50 | :14:57. | :15:01. | |
have been sold in the US, laws against interfering with radio | :15:02. | :15:04. | |
frequency mean that they can only be used by federal authorities. The | :15:05. | :15:11. | |
Netherlands' police force have also been looking at a device called the | :15:12. | :15:17. | |
Drone Catcher. Another drone which uses its on-board camera to help it | :15:18. | :15:23. | |
trigger a tiny net to safely parachuted its target down to the | :15:24. | :15:30. | |
ground. After an incident in Tokyo last year where a drone carrying | :15:31. | :15:33. | |
radioactive material was flown on to the Prime Minister by the roof, the | :15:34. | :15:39. | |
police have taken action. A drone squad will be on call to use a | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
rescue drone and net to set up to prevent such incidents. And, back in | :15:44. | :15:52. | |
the UK, this, the shoulder mounted skywalk, has been developed. It is a | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
launcher which fires a programmable cell containing a net and | :15:59. | :16:03. | |
parachute. Using lasers and gyroscopes to track the drone it | :16:04. | :16:06. | |
then predicts the flight path to deploy the net at the right time. | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
So, whether these solutions take off or not, the problem doesn't seem to | :16:12. | :16:21. | |
be going away. Bullseye! That was Lara. With me is Jonathan Nicholson | :16:22. | :16:27. | |
from the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK. Hi. Surely it can't be that | :16:28. | :16:33. | |
safe to fire a net at a drone and bring it down? Can it? There are a | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
number of solutions you could use to make short drones are used safely in | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
the UK. That could be one of them, it needs a lot of research to figure | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
out what we can or can't use. What if there's somebody underneath the | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
drone when it's coming down? Less safe than it up their. One thing we | :16:51. | :16:58. | |
look at is geo- fencing. Aircraft or drone reaches a certain point in the | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
sky where it shouldn't be, the drone stops. Another technical solution | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
you could have is a way of tracking drones in real time, so you are | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
aware of where they are, you could potentially track them back to it | :17:13. | :17:15. | |
user and certainly that could be an alerting system for if a drone was | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
coming to close to an airport or a piece of airspace they aren't | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
allowed into. Explain at the moment what happens if a drone is spotted | :17:24. | :17:29. | |
near an airport. We've seen airports actually shut, as in close their | :17:30. | :17:33. | |
operation centre, if they think there are drones around. In other | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
cases the pilot could report the drones to air traffic control and | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
they could alert police. It sounds like a bit of a fax to track down | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
this drone pilots, contact authorities and by the time the | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
drone has disappeared. -- faff. The police have a lot of things at their | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
disposal. There are always police patrolling the airfield and there | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
are helicopters in the UK that can be sent to look at issues. So it | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
could be a quick reaction and certainly we don't want drone users | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
to think that they can get away with using them illegally, got they | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
can't. People have been prosecuted and ultimately, if they are caught | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
using them close to an airfield and within a mile to a -- an airport, | :18:18. | :18:24. | |
you could be imprisoned. Thanks. Back to Dubai where things are | :18:25. | :18:30. | |
hotting up in the question of victory at the World Drone Prix. | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
Sundown. The World Drone Prix semifinals are about to begin. | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
Last-minute tweaks have been made and fighting talk rings out across | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
the circuit. Speed is my game, so I think we will do pretty well. We've | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
got it covered. I didn't come here for second. We've got this! Pilots, | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
navigators and pit crews take their positions. This is it. Is going | :18:58. | :19:04. | |
down. The World Drone Prix kicks off in earnest. And bear off! -- they're | :19:05. | :19:11. | |
off. Time for me to get in on the action | :19:12. | :19:18. | |
as well. When I pop these goggles I will see what the pilots can see now | :19:19. | :19:22. | |
as they race in the finals of the World Drone Prix. Pop the goggles on | :19:23. | :19:28. | |
and I get a pilot's I zoom off the track. This is standard definition, | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
not HD. In HD there would be too much latency and the pilots have to | :19:34. | :19:36. | |
see exactly what's happening at the moment it is happening. We've just | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
had a crash! That is what they call game over. | :19:42. | :19:49. | |
Not just the pastime of amateur hobbyists, it's a serious game with | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
a serious amount of dedication and preparation. Everything from the | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
materials, the processes used and is considered. The technology in the | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
drones is actually very leading edge. The materials they use for | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
example are the best magnets money can buy. You just pump throttle and | :20:07. | :20:11. | |
the thing goes from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in about one | :20:12. | :20:20. | |
second. Each motor is controlled by a small microprocessor, which is an | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
art form in itself come to get that algorithm right. For the customising | :20:26. | :20:28. | |
the drones allows them to pull some serious moves. We put it like this, | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
it stays like this. You can reverse, do everything you want. Flips, | :20:35. | :20:38. | |
flight, almost you don't have limits. And in this tournament there | :20:39. | :20:49. | |
are a lot more serious rules. You need to get air gates. Normally you | :20:50. | :20:56. | |
fly to and you get a penalty but now if you don't get through the air | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
gates you will be disqualified. If you hit somebody you are | :21:00. | :21:03. | |
disqualified. Very tough. Traditionally, the close-knit | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
community sport. We find things like this, the Thompson family, from | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
Australia. They are made up of a grandfather, dad and son. I am Sam, | :21:13. | :21:19. | |
this is my son and my father. I bent this prop, which made the whole | :21:20. | :21:25. | |
thing shake like crazy. That's fine. This is way better than I was | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
expecting and it has been really long and draining and to be honest | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
I'm quite glad it is over for us. While it has certainly been | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
physically demanding, it's also been surprisingly very emotional. The co- | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
organiser says the rapid rise of the sport has been overwhelming. About | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
two years ago when we started the World Drone Prix we were dreaming | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
our wildest dreams. You imagine this track. The first time my friend was | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
flying and gave me the goggles I cried. This is it. The final. The | :21:58. | :22:06. | |
tension in the air is palpable. Confidence has diminished. Game | :22:07. | :22:11. | |
faces are on. Time for maximum focus. How do you feel going into | :22:12. | :22:18. | |
this race? Absolutely terrified. Pressure? It is fine. And bear off! | :22:19. | :22:28. | |
-- they're off! Come on! I was watching him and the | :22:29. | :22:45. | |
video was perfectly clean. When you lose you will blame something other | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
than yourself. Well, there's a lot on the line, that's for sure. So, | :22:50. | :22:56. | |
the final race has been run but there is a little bit of confusion | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
as to who has actually won. Ladies and gentlemen, the track race award | :23:01. | :23:13. | |
is going to... Tornado, from the UK! And it is a sweet victory for this | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
15-year-old British pilots, as he scoops the whopping $250,000 first | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
prize which he will share with the rest of his team. How does it feel | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
to be the winner? Amazing and I couldn't have done it without my | :23:28. | :23:33. | |
team, who are amazing. The dream come true! So honoured! | :23:34. | :23:40. | |
And during the World Drone Prix and other first was announced in Dubai, | :23:41. | :23:49. | |
the world federation of future sports, which aims to take | :23:50. | :23:51. | |
sportsmanship to a new digital level. Robot Wars, driverless car | :23:52. | :23:59. | |
races and ping-pong bot battles are amongst the contest areas | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
considered. It seems this World Drone Prix is just the beginning of | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
many sci-fi sports destined for desert you all is. Anyway, that is | :24:06. | :24:11. | |
all we've got time for. -- desert duals. Follow us on Twitter | :24:12. | :24:14. | |
throughout the week. Thanks for watching and see you soon. | :24:15. | :24:17. |