DJI and Ford want to launch drones from moving vehicles
The 2016 DJI Developers Challenge aims to create a truck-and-drone survey system for the UN.
Ford and DJI, best known as Phantom drones' creator, want to help the United Nations with their search-and-rescue missions. In particular, they want to provide UN's first responders with UAVs that can take off from moving vehicles -- and they need your help to make that a reality. The two companies have teamed up for this year's DJI Developers Challenge, wherein participants will have to create an app that gives drones the capability to take off from and return to moving Ford F-150 trucks.
That application also has to enable the UAV to collect data on survivors' locations and then beam videos, maps and other info to the responders' vehicles. The partners believe that the drone-truck surveying system could help the UN survey areas hit by tsunamis or earthquakes more quickly.
Anybody can join, but DJI and Ford will only choose 15 teams from the pool to advance to the second round. Each participant will get a Matrice 100, the UAVmaker's experimental drone with collision avoidance system, so they can test their applications. For the final round, 10 teams will have to go through a mock search-and-rescue operation to win cash prizes up to $100,000. If you'd like to take this challenge on, you can submit an application through the official website from January 10th to March 10th, 2016.
