A one-on-one battle in a closed arena between two athletes is always a treat for sports fans – be it boxing, judo, MMA, taekwondo, fencing or wrestling. But what if we told you that there is a sport that sees drones pitted against each other in a survival of the fittest battle? Yes, there is one and it is becoming extremely popular all around the world.
The wildly-popular drone combat games were initiated by Aerial Sports League (ASL) in 2012 and were named ‘Game of Drones’. The ASL combat arena can be unforgiving and is a testament to technological advancements and some grueling aerial battles. The concept is simple – it is a battle to-the-death between two drones. The ring is a 30 x 30 x 30 feet zone that has been cordoned off using basic netting to shield the audience members from incurring any potential harm.
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Once the action is underway, what transpires in the arena is sheer chaos, mayhem and a lot of metal destruction. The weaponised vehicles go at each other from the word go and the last drone flying is the winner. Such drone-related events like racing and drone battles have been organised by the Aerial Sports League since 2013 in California, United States and also see participation from people from a variety of nations.
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The main event is the one-on-one battle between two drones, which gives both sides three points each. If a drone hits the floor, a point is deducted and the first to hit the zero mark is the loser of the fight. Another situation, known as a push, may arise that sees both drones collide and collapse to the floor, in which case, neither side loses a point.
“When I’m fighting, my aim is to get above the other drone, turtle it or push it into the net,” says Reiner von Weber, the founder of the ASL and a professional drone fighter.
Fans flock to the arena to see different types of drones – all customized and optimized for battle, square off against each other. However, along with the fighting part, the technology and engineering side of the event draws an equal number of viewers, if not more. If a drone stops working during a fight, teams have 90 seconds to fix it, which adds another layer of drama to the whole event.
Marque Cornblatt, the co-founder of ASL, said in an interview with YouTube channel Tested, “We make it really exciting. We often have as much engineering and repairing happening in the middle of the game as we have flying. And the audience seems to like to see the engineering as much as they like to see the combat.”
All participants look to use innovative methods to optimize their drones for the fights, for which there are strict rules laid down. “We don’t allow things like chemicals, fire, or electrical discharges. We don’t allow projectiles that can work their way through the net either. But you can use something like a net launcher, which is quite popular. You can have ropes dangling below the drone, or objects sticking out to probe at the other drone, like a long stick,” explained Cornblatt.
The violence between the drones is quite fun to watch but it is also a great way to attract young children into the world of science and technology. One of the best fighters on the circuit is a 15-year-old! Cornblatt said, “What we found is that drone violence is actually a way to trick kids into their interest in the science and tech.”
“When you set drones down in front of those kids and say, ‘If you learn your lesson, you’ll be flying drones here today,’ they’re super enthusiastic, extremely well behaved. When you smash these toys together, you’re forced to learn about all kinds of things: electronics, hardware, little bit of software, teamwork. Kids embrace the challenges and the disciplines at the heart of making a drone fly and keeping it up in the air,” said Cornblatt.
The founders of the ASL are in discussions with a TV network as well, which could take this new sport to the rest of the world. Drone fighting is here to stay and the rate at which it is growing in popularity, who knows – we might have one starting in India too.
Robot fights from the movie Real Steel may still be a few years away, but this is one awesome start to it, don’t you think!?
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