FPV Racing....Spec Course for Spec Class

[Bartman]

Hi folks, it's that time.....we need to come together to design a race course that can be set up anywhere in the world. If we can't talk trash to the racers in Thailand, what's the point of racing in New Jersey?

What is the most common outside facility in the world? What is the most common grass surface found everywhere people are known to live? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's the common soccer field (I know, I know, it's fútball!!).

So let's design a course that will be mildly challenging and that will take about three minutes to fly so that we can start comparing times with our compatriots in all corners of the world.

To begin, where should the start/finish lines be? Along the sideline or behind the goal line on one end?

Obstacles should be built from metal or plastic 1/2" conduit. Lengths are usually ten feet and are very inexpensive so a full course might be set up for under $50 worth of materials. With a 10 ft length standing upright in the ground, police tape or strips of rags could be flown like streamers at the top of each marker to make them more visible.

Let's hear your ideas and we'll get a design worked out in no time

@matwelli; @SleepyC; @Motopreserve; @littledevile420; @Rentakill; @Final Glide; @kloner; @TahoeTim; @janoots2; @Diviner Gregg; @IrisAerial; @soggybottoms; @Ronan; @MadMonkey

At the end of formal racing I encourage everyone to do a figure 8, last man standing wins, Phantom 1 race with an obstacle where the paths cross that will put everyone into a level plane with each other to encourage spectacular mid-air collisions worthy or millions of youtube hits.....lol

 

[Ernie]

If you want to get fancy on the PVC just add some LED strips powered by a lipo for better visibility.

Ernie

 

[Bartman]

That's a great idea Ernie.

Does the goal of a three minute race time sound reasonable?

i edited this after realizing i said a three minute lap time! that would be a long lap! we'd have to see what the timing is for a three or four lap race, whatever number of laps makes for a three minute overall race (heat) time.

 

[matwelli]

we ran 4 lap heats and a 5 lap final
average lap time about 34 seconds, 5 time 34 = 2 minutes 50 for the final

I dont think you would want to race any longer, you end up with too many droping out and it becoming a 2 horse race , so your 3 minute target is on the money

you need large arrows on the ground, we made them out of coreflute, white stands out really well on the fpv headsets

 

[Bartman]

what is coreflute?

keeping with the theme of being able to find the needed materials anywhere in the world we could also devise a scheme to cut and fold a common tarp size into an arrow. you mentioned the tarp to me earlier and i think that that's a good idea also. something in the area of 4m x 5m with a few cuts and folds could be a nice big arrow on the ground while still being affordable and able to fold up for the next race.

edit: i see your arrows now, much smaller than i thought you were talking about. i'd go for something larger but it's a good point to include them

but what is coreflute?

 

[matwelli]

its the plastic sheet they make for-sale signs out of, you can buy it in 8 by 4 ft sheets for not much http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrugated_plastic

those arrows I made, could be a bit bigger, I only had 12 and more would be better.

Was thinking the tarps to make the verticle flags , as the poles on their own (even wraped in pool noodles, police tape, etc are hard to see on an fpv camera) so big flags, 8-10 ft high seem to work.

i think you can buy really cheap tarps 6-8 foot by 4 foot that could be used, maybe cut in half and used to make two flags.
a bit of duct tape, and you could fold one edge over so it slips down the pole

a tarp on the ground for the starting area also worked really well, and it was a good visual target to aim for.
maybe we could put a tarp at each corner ?

 

[matwelli]

what is coreflute?

keeping with the theme of being able to find the needed materials anywhere in the world we could also devise a scheme to cut and fold a common tarp size into an arrow. you mentioned the tarp to me earlier and i think that that's a good idea also. something in the area of 4m x 5m with a few cuts and folds could be a nice big arrow on the ground while still being affordable and able to fold up for the next race.

I like the idea of big tarp arrows on the ground !

 

[Diviner Gregg]

What we have done is provide guidelines on obstacle / turning requirements rather than a layout. We defined 4 events 2 line of sight and two FPV.

Course layout guidelines for FPV competitions:

3.1.3. FPV - ROTORCROSS
Rotorcross that has many obstacles (duck unders, fly overs, thread the needles) and turn types (hairpins, slaloms, sweepers).
Indoor
___Turn Degrees : 600+
___# Obstacles : 1+
___# Slaloms : 0
Outdoor
___Turn Degrees : 1000+
___# Obstacles : 4
___# Slaloms : 1+

3.1.4 FPV - GRAND PRIX
Simliar to Rotorcross, but the course is less technical with minimal # of obstacles and less turning. The courses are simpler and allow for easier passing, but still have their fair share of obstacles.

Indoor
___Turn Degrees : 400+
___# Obstacles : 0
Outdoor
___Turn Degrees : 800+
___# Obstacles : 2

The location dictates the course markings; pylon (feather banners) for open spaces and trees + corplast arrows for nature terrain. Note the above are for competent flyers. To ease people in, especially for Rotorcross sets, we have a Beginners class where you go around the difficult sections. For outdoor events, we try to get both styles of racing done in 4 hours. If we design the Rotorcross correctly, the Grand Prix course is a simplier version of the Rotorcross by usually removing / enlarging obstacles and straightening the turns.That way we need less practice time for the Grand Prix.

 

[Diviner Gregg]

As for materials, as Matwelli mentioned, you can make your own arrows. Feather banners go for $30-$125, so you would have to rule them out. I have tried 10' tall PVC with leds at our last indoor event (along with feather banners). Like pool noodles anything less than 12" wide is hard to see. LEDs do help, especially inside. Anything tall gets blown over in the wind if it isn't anchored.

For timing, we shoot for 2:30 - 3:00 actual heat not counting a formation lap. That gives time for a formation lap to test vtx. The last heat we add a lap. 1300mah can handle that, plus a possible restart without changing batteries.

 

[Diviner Gregg]

With 6 poles, we came up with different flying configurations that are suitable for all styles of racing (rotorcross / grand prix). This could easily fit inside a soccer field.Some are for blade-to-blade and some are for timed events.

 

[Diviner Gregg]

Here is a vid of the most difficult set from above, the 5 eights.

 

[matwelli]

Heres a life lesson

one thing I have learnt...more than 3 people can not decide where to go for lunch.

We set out the motor rules over at rotorcrossnz yesterday - 35 members in the group - I had 50 odd arguments, people coming up with all sorts of alternitives, complex calculations, to determine if a machine met spec............................

We are following FPV Tree Racers SPEC class rules (thanks Diviner Gregg)

 

[Rentakill]

As for materials, as Matwelli mentioned, you can make your own arrows. Feather banners go for $30-$125, so you would have to rule them out. I have tried 10' tall PVC with leds at our last indoor event (along with feather banners). Like pool noodles anything less than 12" wide is hard to see. LEDs do help, especially inside. Anything tall gets blown over in the wind if it isn't anchored.

Have you tried High Visibility Fluoro Spray Paint to mark the course...

Cheap and easy to use.

 

[Bartman]

Have you tried High Visibility Fluoro Spray Paint to mark the course...

Cheap and easy to use.

better yet! a High-Visibility-Fluoro-Spray-Paint-Drone to fly and mark the course simultaneously using a downloadable flight profile making every course exactly the same!!!

these drones are handy things, i'll bet they really start to catch on this year...

 

[Bartman]

With 6 poles, we came up with different flying configurations that are suitable for all styles of racing (rotorcross / grand prix). This could easily fit inside a soccer field.Some are for blade-to-blade and some are for timed events.

Thanks for posting that Gregg, having a set position for the markers with multiple paths for a variety of complexities makes sense.

 

[MadMonkey]

Friend and I were discussing race courses this evening. We have a smaller field, so we'd probably do multiple laps on a shorter course rather than a single long lap.

Tossing around ideas for obstacles as well. The best we've come up with so far are pool noodles, which we could use for both fly-through (loops and hoops) and as pylons (with a weighted base).

Even thought about using sensors to light up and beep whenever an aircraft flies through the obstacle to make it clear that it wasn't a cut.

Lots to think about...

 

[Diviner Gregg]

An expensive solution for duck under is 2 grey pvc pipes (they flex more than white pvc) and just purchase the flag part ($15 each) of the feather banners.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Swooper-15-...efaultDomain_0&hash=item41612b351c&rmvSB=true

 

[matwelli]

We found a very cheap supply of duck-unders . Cheap Gazebos ($28 on special) have enough materials to make 2 duck-unders or one duck-under/fly over
You can see them in action here , we had a figure 8 course with a fly under/duck over

 

[Bartman]

what course layout have you settled on Mat? I've been swamped so this little project has been on the back burner but if the snow ever melts we'll be racing soon thereafter. Will have to watch your video for some inspiration!

 

[Diviner Gregg]

Matt, did you get a chance to use the Cloud Freq Mgmt? You are one of the better acceptance testers.