A first of its kind ‘Night Drone Racing’ contest was conducted at the Bengaluru Tech Summit on Friday night. Over 26 drone pilots aged from 12 to 28 years, from across the country, competed in the race.
Ritvik Suneel Nesargi from Pune emerged the winner in the racing competition and was awarded a cash prize of ₹1 lakh.
Aaradhya Kulshrestha and Pravesh T.M., both from Bengaluru, won second and third spots in the contest. Aaradhya was awarded a cash prize of ₹50,000 and Pravesh ₹25,000.
The contest took place in the specially-built arena at the Bengaluru Palace grounds. The event was organised by the State government in association with Indian Drone Racing League.
Each unmanned aerial vehicle weighed about 300 gram and required a special licence from the aviation regulator — Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) — to fly. Each drone had its own unique identification number.
Officials at the summit said that drone technology is getting popular among racing and tech enthusiasts, and it is finding many uses in the mainstream as well as for recording events or making movies.
