The Drone Racing League (DRL) and T-Mobile will debut their first 5G-enabled racing drone at the MLB Field of Dreams game in Iowa on Thursday.
The 5G magenta drone aims to bring fans closer to the action of sports, streaming high-definition and immersive first-person-view footage to fans’ mobile devices across T-Mobile’s 5G network.
The opportunity for the DRL to fly at the Field of Dreams came from T-Mobile, a partner to both the MLB and DRL. All three companies collaborated to plan the debut of the 5G drones at the game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, which will take place in the middle of a corn field in Iowa adjacent to the original movie set.
“We can help other sports get younger and more tech-focused,” said DRL President Rachel Jacobson in an interview. “We look at this, whether it’s at a baseball game or the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals, where it’s not just about the fans that don’t follow the DRL right now but also about the fans that do. It will really become a win-win.”
With 5G connectivity, the drone is designed to improve the competition of professional drone racing in the future. DRL Pilots currently fly with analog radio transmissions for lower latency which the league says sacrifices quality footage in their goggles. As technical development of the drone advances, the speed, capacity and low latency of the 5G network will improve pilot flying abilities. It will also allow fans to experience the clips on their mobile devices.
This new 5G-enabled drone is built to redefine sports entertainment, capturing video footage. The drone has a dual first-person view and HD streaming camera system, 5s lipo battery setup for extended flight time and over 2,400g of thrust. This allows the device to film content through mile-long courses while flying over 60 miles per hour. In its next phase of development, the 5G module will connect the drone’s command-and-control functions to enable flight.
“Drones are one of the most compelling use cases for 5G and we’re working towards a future where all drones will eventually be 5G-connected—that’s why we’ve teamed up with DRL, to fuel this innovation,” said Neville Ray, president of technology at T-Mobile, in a statement. “With the power of T-Mobile’s 5G network, we’re empowering innovators to completely reimagine virtually every industry and customer experience—from sports entertainment to disaster recovery, to parcel delivery and beyond.”
