Airbus Broughton young innovators all set for international drone racing this week

Innovators from Airbus in Broughton have their eyes on the skies as they prepare to take part in an international drone racing contest in Toulouse on 12th May.

The event is part of the FabLab festival, a four-day technology exhibition for innovators, makers and tech enthusiasts.

Employees from Airbus sites across the globe will be participating in the event but the two Broughton teams, comprised of interns and apprentices, are hoping to rise above the competition as they go head-to-head in the ‘Airbus Cup’, a tournament specifically for teams from within Airbus.

Ian Antonio Lee (left) and Imran Zubir (right) work on their drone at Airbus in Broughton.

The young innovators have been working on their entries since April, using cutting-edge design software and 3D printing technology to build their very own quadcopter drones.

All the teams taking part in the competition were given the same basic toolkit to help get them started, but the rest was left to their creative flair and technical know-how.

Jack Skilling, an undergraduate apprentice said:

I’ve always had a keen interest in model aircraft and as an apprentice I’ve been able to apply the skills I’ve learnt at Airbus to make test models, using 3D printers and computer-aided design (CAD) facilities here at Broughton.

I am very much looking forward to the competition and feel we have a real chance of flying competitively. Now it’s a case of practicing as much as possible to prepare for the race!

The competition involves racing a drone around three laps of an obstacle challenge course in the fastest time possible. Team pilots will have their heads in the clouds as they experience the race via first-person view (FPV) tracking goggles, getting a glimpse into the future of flightStep.

Change Enablement intern Fahad Rehman said:

It’s been great fun preparing for the drone challenge and a steep learning curve but by working together as a team we’ve been able to build something we’re very proud of.

The FabLab Festival 2017 is taking place between 11th and 14th May at the FabLab Artilect in Toulouse. Airbus is a corporate partner of the festival which is home to a range of exhibits, workshops and guest speaker events. It opens to the public over the weekend and last year attracted 7500 people.