Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
With a burst of concentration, University of Alabama computer science major Jacob Boykin sent his small quadcopter drone speeding ahead of an identical drone operated by UA computer-science PhD student Roya Salehzadeh. It was a drone race along a 16-foot track, and after weeks of heats initially involving 20 competitors, Boykin was crowned the Brain-Drone Race 2023 champion.
Drone racing has existed for years and can trace its beginnings back to 2011 when a group of amateur drone hobbyists in Germany held the first official race. Today, there are leagues all over the world organizing competitions with prizes of $50,000 or more. Russian and Ukrainian troops have even turned speedy racing drones into crude cruise missiles by strapping explosives to them and sending them flying towards each other.
What was special about the April 1 race in Alabama, though, was that the contestants weren’t steering their drones the usual way with handheld controllers. Instead, they operated the drones with their thoughts. They weren’t racing for a cash prize or even bragging rights either. Well, not completely.
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