By now, we’re all pretty familiar with drone racing leagues that put pilots up against each other, by testing their skills in navigating drones through a series of obstacles in the shortest time possible. A new series takes that concept and takes it to 11, with the Airspeeder EXA Series being the first remotely-piloted racing series with a full flying vehicle involved.
An Airspeeder is capable of a 160km/hr top speed with a very impressive 0-100km/hr acceleration time of just 2.3 seconds. These Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicles race between 10 and 60 metres above the ground and will travel the globe as part of 3 racing events that start in 2021.
The all-electric battery-powered multi-copter is technically capable of 200km/h and the 8 motors help fly the 400kg MK4 Airspeeder for between 5 and 20 minutes.
Up to four teams with two remote pilots per team will compete in three individual events across the globe through 2021. They will race ‘blade-to-blade over locations inaccessible to traditional motorsport.
Also known as EVTOL, the electric vertical take-off and landing technology have the power to revolutionise passenger, logistics and even medical transportation. The racing series helps to accelerate the development of these vehicles to bring them to commercial availability faster.
Today Telstra announced a partnership with Airspeeder, under their technology services business, Telstra Purple.
Connecting terabytes of data for the vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communications, Telstra Purple will deliver the near real-time virtual race-control system required for the high-speed, close format, multi-vehicle circuit racing in the Airspeeder EXA series.
The state-of-the-art system feeds essential technical information to ground crews during test flights and races, reflecting the same approach leading aviation companies use to augment and monitor the systems essential for aircraft safety. Whether pilots are on-board or flying remotely, they’ll be able to safely race in close proximity with near real-time data and connectivity powering proximity sensors that deliver haptic vibration alerts.
Telstra is also uniquely placed to deliver a fully immersive 5G powered spectator experience through augmented and virtual reality devices, signalling the advent of an entirely new way to experience the next generation of sporting experiences.
The Airspeeder racing series has been created by the world’s only performance electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) manufacturer, Alauda Aeronautics and the historic first flights took place near Adelaide in June.
Head of Telstra Purple, Christopher Smith said it played a vital role in supporting Airspeeder’s demanding requirements in this new-age sporting and entertainment experience.
“Cutting-edge racing requires cutting-edge capability which we’ve delivered through Telstra Purple’s extensive expertise, technical capabilities and our strategic collaboration agreement with AWS, combined with Australia’s most advanced 5G.
“Key components of Airspeeder’s race control system include private network communications, data visualisation, edge compute power and bespoke app development. Our communications expertise is critical for a sport that is driven by data from the ground up; the high speeds, low latency and high-capacity connectivity of Telstra 5G will change the way car racing is experienced.
“Just as Formula One has driven innovation for the cars we use today, Airspeeder’s vision for the world’s first electric flying car racing series has the potential to transform the way we move around cities.”
Head of Telstra Purple, Christopher Smith
Matt Pearson, Founder, Airspeeder and Alauda Aeronautics said the new technical partnership would bring key benefits to racing and the future development of an advanced air-mobility future.
“In delivering on our vision to create the world’s first racing series for electric flying cars we have been drawn to South Australia for some of the very best technical minds from motorsport, aviation and performance automotive.
“We are deli “Together, we will hasten the arrival of a new mobility technology that has been promised for some of the world’s most remote and beautiful locations,”
Matt Pearson, Founder, Airspeeder and A
Telstra’s 5G connectivity will support Airspeeder in its vision to accelerate the electric flying car mobility revolution. Racing provides an important testbed to rapidly develop key safety, powertrain and engineering elements that will help drive an advanced air mobility future.
