{"id":16675,"date":"2019-07-10T18:51:33","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T18:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=16675&post_type=story"},"modified":"2023-11-20T20:25:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T20:25:38","slug":"the-bold-new-world-of-drone-racing","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/the-bold-new-world-of-drone-racing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bold New World of Drone Racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2019 | By Nicole Dudenhoefer\u00a0\u201917<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

[lead]Blowing up a rocket isn\u2019t usually a strong indicator\u00a0for success, but when Derek Saltzman\u2019s first-year\u00a0UCF engineering project exploded on launch\u00a0in 2016, he knew he was onto something. Yes,\u00a0the project exploded, but all 13 feet of the carbon fiber\u00a0frame Saltzman manufactured remained perfectly intact,\u00a0creating a highly durable solution to a problem he hadn\u2019t\u00a0yet discovered.[\/lead]<\/p>\n

Enter drone racing, an up-and-coming sport. Replicating\u00a0the same carbon fiber manufacturing method used in his\u00a0failed project, Saltzman and his roommate,\u00a0Mason Mincey, launched Soar Aerospace,\u00a0which creates custom, durable drone\u00a0frames that can withstand the\u00a0collisions and falls that happen\u00a0during races.<\/p>\n

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[photo id=”17524″ title=”Soar-Saltzman” alt=”Derek Saltzman, UCF aerospace engineering student<\/a>, holding a drone” position=”left” width=”680px”][\/photo]<\/div>\n
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[blockquote source=”Derek Saltzman, UCF aerospace<\/a> engineering student” cite=”” color=”” css_class=””]\u201cImagine NASCAR, but all the cars are the same color, and they\u2019re too small to really see. That\u2019s what drone racing is like right now.\u201d[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/callout]<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine NASCAR, but all the cars are the same color,\u00a0and they\u2019re too small to really see. That\u2019s what drone\u00a0racing is like right now,\u201d Saltzman says.<\/p>\n

True to the spirit of engineering, the team of juniors\u00a0is trying to solve this problem by creating a brighter\u00a0solution: colorful 3-foot X Class drone frames in addition\u00a0to the standard 5-to-10-inch mini quadcopters used\u00a0for races all over the world. The aerospace engineering\u00a0majors<\/a> hope to advance the league into a sport that will\u00a0draw more spectators and sponsors to support its growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think this industry has the same potential as\u00a0esports, NASCAR and Formula [racing,] so we decided\u00a0to take a risk to see if we can be one of the primary\u00a0companies pioneering drone racing,\u201d Mincey says.<\/p>\n

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[blockquote source=”Mason Mincey, UCF aerospace engineering student” cite=”” color=”” css_class=””]\u201cWe decided to take a risk to see if we can be one of the primary companies pioneering drone racing.\u201d [\/blockquote]<\/div>\n
[photo id=”17537″ title=”Soar-Mincey-375px” alt=”” position=”left” width=”175px”][\/photo]<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/callout]<\/p>\n

Over the past year they\u2019ve partnered\u00a0with drone racing equipment suppliers\u00a0to expand the company\u2019s reach.\u00a0At UCF, drone racing is also\u00a0growing through the student\u00a0organization First Person View\u00a0Knights, which earned second\u00a0place at the Collegiate Drone\u00a0Racing Association National\u00a0Championship in North Dakota.\u00a0In May, Soar brought intercollegiate\u00a0drone racing to central Florida by\u00a0hosting its own competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing student and amateur drone racing pilots\u00a0competing at our event was inspiring,\u201d Saltzman says.\u00a0\u201cDrone racing is more than a hobby. There are future\u00a0engineers, pilots, technicians and radio operators helping\u00a0to lay the foundation of this new era of aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year the team also moved out of its garage\u00a0and into Factur, a makerspace in downtown Orlando.\u00a0Operating out of the coworking space allows them to\u00a0teach others about carbon fiber manufacturing, which\u00a0Mincey says is in high demand in Orlando.<\/p>\n

As the industry continues to shift, Saltzman and Mincey\u00a0will continue watching the market to stay ahead of\u00a0the curve and build the sport\u2019s following, which just\u00a0might get a boost when ESPN broadcasts the AlphaPilot\u00a0drone racing challenge to be held at UCF in October.<\/p>\n

[callout background=”#4173A0″ content_align=”left” affix=”false” css_class=””]<\/p>\n

\n
\n

WHO<\/span><\/h2>\n

Aerospace engineering students Derek Saltzman and Mason Mincey<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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THE PITCH<\/span><\/h2>\n

High-quality, durable, custom drone frames featuring colorful designs in small and X Class sizes<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

THE INSPIRATION<\/span><\/h2>\n

Months after Saltzman\u2019s rocket explosion, he and Mincey noticed a friend was using a lower quality frame to race drones. \u201cThe quality wasn\u2019t up to par, and it was just black so it looked like every other frame and didn\u2019t stand out,\u201d Mincey says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

BACKERS<\/span><\/h2>\n

UCF\u2019s 2018 Joust New Venture Competition (second place, $7,000). UCF\u2019s UpStarts Student Venture Accelerator, which offers free office space, advanced mentoring, and exclusive access to services, resources and colleagues
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT<\/span><\/h2>\n

SoarAerospace.com<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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