There’s an open call out for drone enthusiasts across the country as the Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corporation (FCEDC) prepares to host a first-of-its-kind drone competition taking place on Oct. 8-9.  This two day event will take place at The Range Complex in Cumberland County, and will highlight the region’s defense innovation ecosystem, anchored by Fort Bragg. 

“We can’t find any event like this that currently exists, so we’re really excited. And this really started out as, ‘Let’s do this as a test on a small scale.’ And it has gained so much interest and attention that it has really taken off, no pun intended,” shared FCEDC Executive Vice President Rob Patton. “We have a member of the Oregon National Guard that’s coming out for it, folks from Fort Hood, Texas are coming, the Army Aviation Center of Excellence’s drone team is coming from Alabama. We’ve got some guys coming from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The USGS (United States Geological Survey) is sending somebody down for it. Now we’re coast to coast on this, which is exciting.” 

The event is being held in partnership with NC Innovation, America Makes and The Range Complex, and is the first of its kind to connect military, academia, industry and private citizens.

Day one of the event will be for individual teams and competitors will compete amongst their category in first-person view (FPV) races across four different lanes.

“We’re keeping it a little bit of a secret, so that nobody gets unfair advantage, but there’ll be everything from targets to flying through obstacles. There’ll be some identification of things that we have out that they’re going to have to see on different lanes. We really want to challenge the pilots and see what they are capable of,” shared Patton. 

On day two, the teams will come together for a series of tactical exercises that will require collaboration and test their adaptability. Challenges will also include launching drones off of a boat on site and a working marsupial drone. 

“We’re going to take the winners from the four respective lanes [from day one], make them team captains and then put teams together. The next day, they’re going to have to collaborate and as a team, solve challenges that are not the typical drone racing that you see. So that’s going to really challenge the groups to work together, then also solve the problems that are going to be presented to them,” shared Patton. “What’s neat too is, we will have 3D printers on site, so that if somebody has to do some maintenance on their drone, or if somebody comes up with a good idea on the spot, maybe we can do a proof of concept on the spot and give it a go.” 

Despite the already stacked list of competitors expected to participate, Patton also wanted to highlight that the competition is open to anyone who engages in piloting from the civilian, military or student level. 

“There’s a lot of career paths, whether you’re a pilot, whether you’re a developer, whether you’re into research. This has become a burgeoning industry, and we really wanted to garner more interest and highlight what we’ve got going on here, not just in Cumberland County, but in the region, and bring everybody together to solve problems,” shared Patton. “This has not just been a military planned event. There has been collaboration across the board with the military and us and industry on what can we do? And I will mention, if you have a Part 107 license, you don’t have to have one for this, because you’re not flying for money. So if you are truly an amateur that hasn’t gotten your 107 you’re more than welcome to come out.”

Participants will be competing for trophies, medals, specially designed coins and bragging rights. The first place winners will take home drones provided by a sponsor of the event.

“What’s neat about the trophies and the medals is that they’ll be 3D printed, so they won’t be anything standard, we’re really doing some really cool stuff,” said Patton. 

Private industry, military, academic and public spectators are welcome to attend and tickets can be purchased online. 

“We'll have a couple tents up if people want to talk business or just relax. Fayetteville Technical Community College has been gracious in donating their tents for us. We do have some classroom space, so if somebody needs to do a demonstration inside, or if there needs to be some interviews or collaboration [they can]. We will have food trucks out on site too. So come, let’s make a day of it,” added Patton. 

A total of 50 drone operator participants will be allowed to compete. Registration and ticket information can be found online at www.fcedc.com/drone-challenge/.