In an attempt to drive interest and research into autonomous vehicles, the Drone Racing League and Lockheed Martin have partnered up to create the AlphaPilot competition. How it works: 430 teams, each armed with an autonomous drone, are currently participating in qualifying rounds. Nine make the Artificial Intelligence Robotic Racing Circuit finals, where the winners will go home with $1 million. If a team's A.I. drone can also beat a human pilot head-to-head, they get an extra $250,000. Why it matters: Autonomous drones are part of our future. And for them to be useful in places like disaster areas, they need to be able to fly fast, far and without human oversight.
Lockheed Martin has partnered with AlphaPilot to create the the Drone Racing League competition. The tournament is designed to encourage research into autonomous vehicles, which will have important future applications, such as in disaster response. The series pits 430 autonomous drones against each other to reach the Artificial Intelligence Robotic Racing Circuit finals, with a prize of $1m for the winner. An additional $250,000 will be awarded if the team can beat a human pilot. The competition has been developed to improve the devices' ability to respond to their environment, which is critical to their real-world application.