When we first met drone designer Andy Shen, he was standing in a freezing park in the Bronx, zipping his mini quadcopter around at speeds of up to 100 miles an hour in a first person view drone race. But there was more buzzing around the park that day than just his quadcopter. The pilots there were stoked about a secret project Shen had been working on for months: The world’s first-ever Nerf-disc shooting drone.
Late last month, Shen finally got the production model of his Blast quadcopter, and he agreed to let us test it out in an empty warehouse in Brooklyn (it’s been too windy and miserable in New York to fly outdoors).
The Blast has the potential to be a game changer. When Shen and rival racer and drone designer Ryan Gury spoke to us last time, they hinted that racing was just the first part of what would become a new sport. Once drones were (safely) armed, Mario Kart-style races, with projectiles and obstacles would be possible, they said.
Shen’s drone is a step toward that future. Shen and Gury went head-to-head in the world’s first ever drone dogfight, and, while there wasn’t really a winner owing to the warehouse’s difficult flying conditions, it certainly seems like we could be watching the beginning stages of a new sport.
MORE DRONES FROM MOTHERBOARD:
This Is How You Race a Drone in the Snow:
The Iranian Drone That Saves Lives:
Dive-Bombing Drone Confronts Goose Poop:
Subscribe to MOTHERBOARD:
Follow MOTHERBOARD
Facebook:
Twitter:
Tumblr:
Instagram:
More videos from the VICE network:
![Training Day [1] Split S Freestyle Flow iFlight Nazgul 5 V2 FPV 4K](https://quadcoptersource.tesb1.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Training-Day-iFlight-Nazgul-5-v2-FPV-Freestyle-200x137.jpg "Training Day [1] Split S Freestyle Flow iFlight Nazgul 5 V2 FPV 4K")
This reminds me of fight club.
the conditions they’re in and how they’re readying their body for the
coming continuum.
its there any info on the construction of these drones?
Quadrotor Quidditch!!!
Badass … I like the lazer tag idea
What setups are you guys flying ?
christ they are called MULTIROTORS!! not drones, there is a difference, and
really linear antenna’s? thats a one way ticket to horrible video breakup
especially on the 5.8 band and in a concrete car park……..
Ciao rosa,come stai, e' tanto che non ci sentiamo ci vediamo, spero che stai bene.
dont give the government anymore ideas!
I strongly dislike it when fellow hobbyists use the word drone…..
Pew Pew Pew
That’s some seriously cool stuff you guys are doing with your Quads! And
Repping “NYC”, that’s what’s uP!
wow cool
Would you make it for sale ?
This is pretty awesome, if even a quarter of the people who play FPS video
games or racing games get interested in this it could grow fast. I think
lasers and sensors that keep track of the hits would inspire a lot of
people to purchase these. Have like a small kill shot sensor to where 1
shot would win and if it gets hit multiple times in random spots you can
win.
The potential for quads and drones are limitless. Rescue missions,
fighting fires, news coverage, etc. I want one.
to put is simply, if there is human almost continuous input it is a UAV, if
the craft is flying its self without any human input it is a drone, a craft
can change from a drone to UAV and back to a drone throughout a flight
however generally if it is capable of being a drone, it is generally just
called a drone.
Wrong not the first drone dog fight. game of drones
shit thats cool
Damn, this guy’s a genius.
How is this worthy of a vid? :/
They should at augmented reality to the room
That is cool, now when are we gonna stick BB guns into the drones instead
of nerf discs.
Next gen robot wars?
Cool idea, lame execution. Should have used lasers like laser tag and if
you get hit by a beam you get a -1 score
Just ordered my first drone. Can’t wait to get right into it and start
accessorizing and customizing it.
The goggles are a must.
+JB Murdock
Yeah they look really cool. I agree, there really is no limit to what these
things are capable of right now. I ordered mine from a store in my city.
There is a bunch of guys who own/operate and hangout there who are really
into them and helped me with a good starter machine for my budget. It’s
cool too because they have a lot of parts/pieces new for sale plus old
parts that they have from all their older machines that are compatible with
the one I’m getting. Usually I make the mistake of jumping on the first one
I think looks cool when I get into something new but this time I waited and
got really lucky hooking up with these guys. Plus I have a group of people
to fly with and learn off.
+NORTH ENDER This guy sounds like a loser to me, Grow up and get a lady,
smh.
+Yam Yamato
Are you talking to me or asking me Yampedo?
It’s hard to understand mouth breathers..
+NORTH ENDER You’re to dumb to understand, Go and jack off with Forrest.
+NORTH ENDER Make it to where it shoots paintballs.
I happen to be paralyzed from the shoulders down and would like to be able
to fly a quad copter with 1st person viewing. How do I get one of these
without having to assemble it?
how about infrared guns / light guns or however they are called? You could
even make different weapons and make the drone react to it?
How about mario kart racing (with sensefull weapons, perhaps not simulated
guided missiles, but a shockwave, that makes the oponents drone slower for
some time, or some sort of simulated maschine gun fire).?
#DRONE #DOGFIGHTNEWS
why not use plastic air soft pellets?
kind of goofy shooting little disks at each other. i think mounting a laser
would be better and wouldnt require reloading, but you would need to
implement a receiver on the drones to keep track of how many lasers made
contact
PLEASE! SOMEONE TELL ME THE NAME OF THAT SONG AT THE END!
What a sport!
A lot of people are missing the point of the videos. The point, well one
of them, is to just plane have fun. Don’t ruin it for other, if you want
to do nothing but get on here just for the sake of fighting. Now that we
got past that I just want to say Awesome Video guys and keep up the good
work.
I need one of those, I’m having this epic nerf battle in August and
unfortunately, the parrot bebop cannot shoot nerf darts.
strap on .22! Surround the area with bulletproof glass
Asian Americans are so intelligent and live so affluently.