Kickstarter Entry Looks to Jump-start Drone Racing

In a world where Fast and Furious 7 has already grossed more than $1 billion in less than three weeks, the potential of a racing drone should be as solid as The Rock’s abs — or so a British UAV firm hopes.

On Monday, Lorian Aerial Technology Systems revved its crowdfunding engine up with its latest Kickstarter project, the Lorian Burner.

Billed as “the first compact racing drone that has all the adjustment of a professional multirotor UAV,” the Burner’s secret weapon as a “need-for-speed” UAV lies in its adjustable propeller tilt. Launching the drone with a horizontal propeller configuration, a user can adjust the tilt to develop a unique racing style with rotor mounts that can accept 5” or 6” props. Adding to its flexibility is the Burner’s convertible configuration as a quadcopter with the capability of converting to a hexacopter with the addition of a third rotor arm.

“How I came up with the idea for a small adaptable drone racer to compete against others was purely by the need to adjust things to obtain the best performance,” said Lorian developer Greg Spencer. “This is when I decided that a design that could be adjusted just like a racing car would be perfect — it had to be tough, it had to be fast and it had to be adjustable.”

“Not only is the Burner small and fast, with it being adaptable it provides a competitive edge when racing against others. The design originated from the need to adjust settings to obtain the best racing performance,” Spencer added.

Constructed of composite FR4 and carbon fiber materials, the Burner boasts a one-piece, arm-to-arm tubular construction, integrated power distribution layer and is capable of carrying FPV cameras as well as HD sports cams.

Pledges of $579 will receive an early-bird, ready-to-fly Burner with a six-channel radio controller, Lipo battery pack/charger, a 5.8ghz VTX, 600TVL Camera and DSM2 compatible receiver.

Other features include:

• Integrated power distribution layer with directional LED indication;
• Designed for 28mm board cam PZ0420M type or equivalent for First Person Flying experience;
• Anti-vibration mounts for Mobius and GoPro cams;
• Motor mounts propulsion designed for 2204 / 2206 / 2208 size motors.