Can Robot Racing Win Human Hearts?

Quadcopter drones race through an indoor obstacle course. Credit: Drone Racing League Not much on live TV compares with the tension of watching human race car drivers risk possible injury or death at speeds of hundreds of miles per hour. A split second of bad timing can quickly transform a tight, controlled race into chaos as machines spin out of control, careen off walls or smash directly into one another. By comparison, the rise of robot racing with flying drones or self-driving cars aims to attract both old and new racing fans without putting human lives at risk. The big question is whether human fans will tune in to watch speedy robots race without the added adrenaline rush of danger. Drone racing has already existed for some time as an underground sport that pits nimble quadcopters against one another as they fly through aerial racetracks made of brightly-lit rings, illuminated ...