We've already seen a few inventive approaches to taking down drones, and come December this year, we might be in for a few more. DroneClash is a drone dogfighting event organized by Delft University that pits pilots against one another not to be the first across a finish line, but to take down as many drones as possible in the name of safety.
"Drones can fly into our lives, but we need to be able to take them out again if necessary," says Bart Remes from Delft's MAVLab. "Drone development has grown hugely in recent years, and you can see the anti-drone industry growing too. Ideally, these developments keep each other in check and result in a safe and responsible incorporation of drones in our daily lives. We are organizing DroneClash to generate new ideas in order to encourage this process."
Some recent examples of anti-drone measures include communication-jamming guns, shoulder-mounted net cannons and eagles trained to snatch them out of the air. We're unlikely to see any birds of prey in action at DroneClash, but the organizers are hoping the event will inspire some clever ideas all the same.
Teams of four will do battle at Valkenburg airfield in the Netherlands on December 4. Each team will have a Queen drone that they must defend, along with a number of fighter drones that they use to attack each other's aircraft.
After a first battle stage, the drones left standing progress to a second "Hallway of Doom Death and Destruction" stage, where they will be made to contend with an assortment of anti-drone instruments. And then finally, those that survive will move onto the "4 Queen Palace" stage, where the focus is on taking out each other's queens.
You can check out the promo video below and if you're interested in taking part, you can register online.
Source: Delft University