STEAM and drone coding education provider, Inspire Africa Group, has launched a drone racing league for its elementary and high school students, which is aimed at harnessing their grasp of drone and robotics engineering.

Working in conjunction with international partner, the South Africa-based Inspire Africa team has been offering STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education to thousands of school pupils all over Africa, and their new path of education through virtual racing – called the Inspire Drone League (IDL) – will be conducted monthly.

Each participating school will choose its champions who will represent the school during the online event, which can be accessed through the Drone Racing League sim on an Xbox One and a computer.

Competitors will need internet connection and a copy of the game is to join. But that should not be a worry, because all the information is available on Inspire Africa’s website.

Each school will appoint a “Drone Champion” – an adult in charge of their school’s competing pilots who will register on the students’ behalf and will be the point person for communication with the competition organisers.

The IDL is comprised of four categories, which — in the words of Inspire Africa — are as follows:

• Virtual drone Racing League – Primary and Secondary school students are able to compete against one another anywhere in Africa using the Drone Racing League drone racing simulator, DRL SIM.
• DJI Tello Racing – Test your Tello flying skills by racing through a series of obstacles as you try to set the best time and claim your spot as the DJI Tello racing champion.
• DJI Tello Coding Challenges – Combining logical problem-solving skills and quick thinking we have our Tello Coding Challenges where students will need to complete the challenge of coding their Tello drones to fly a set out flight path as quickly as possible.
• Indoor FPV Micro Drone Racing – Going full throttle with these tiny flying machines! The real test of your flying skills as you race against other drone racers to compete for the crown of IDL Drone Champion.

FPV (first person view) drone racing is a sport type where participants control drones (typically small radio-controlled aircraft or quadcopters), equipped with cameras while wearing head-mounted displays showing the live stream camera feed from the drones. Similar to full size air racing, the goal is to complete a set course as quickly as possible.

Drone racing began in Germany in 2011 with a number of amateur pilots getting together for semi-organised races in Karlsruhe.

The Inspire Africa Group has vast experience in the area, with its founder, Simon Robinson having launched the sport in South Africa in 2016 through Drone Racing Africa.

“The massive growth potential for this sport in Africa impacts numerous industries, including education, technology, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and communications,” Robinson said at the time. “For individuals, there are undeniable career prospects so it’s an incredibly appealing sport.”