There’s much ado about drones floating around SLO lately. That’s not least because the SLO Police Department is still working on a policy that would govern their use of one in a law enforcement capacity.
However, for the general public the next big event will be 8th Annual Student Robotics Expo, this year being held for the first time at the Madonna Expo Center on Sept. 26 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
In anticipation of their seminal event, this year featuring a new, “caged drone obstacle course,” the local nonprofit group promoting technology and personal – as opposed to digital – networking, held a “Tech Brew” event at the Grill House in Downtown SLO.
Softec’s Stewart Morse gave a talk Aug. 8 with some backup YouTube presentations on the future of virtual piloting goggles and the state of drone racing as a spectator sport and profession for young racers the world over.
While he noted that, yes, the possibilities are limitless, from “micro-size” hand thrown drones for fun but not much profit, to gas-powered drones that barely fit in a pickup, the main focus was, the emergent practical uses game skills that the organization will exhibit at the expo. As a sport currently the majority of the competitions focus on the tiny airborne analogue to stock car racing, with designated parts and specs.
Whether or not drones can automatically deliver groceries from automated services or zip off an overnight order from Amazon.com is yet to be determined. That sort of answer won’t be found at the expo, but Morse said, payloads are the future. And the Expo does have a history of interesting industry participants.
What Morse was excited about was the fact that the Central Coast features a number of Drone Racing Leagues (DRL).
“That works for business because the model of sport transfers,” he said, “The skills, organization, design and entertainment…in my day that was pro-skateboarding, in the end no one laughed at their six figure salaries.”
