ESIGELECTRONIX, ESIGELEC's student association, organised the first national drones race between the Grandes Écoles, under the name UMR France (University Multi-Rotors Race). It took place on the Rouen Vallée de Seine aerodrome (Boos) on Saturday 28 May 2016 from 1.30 to 6.30 and was won by a team from ESTACA.

The race included flying drones (quadricopter or tricopters) in FVP (First Person View), whereby the pilots take on the view of their drone to control it. The objective was to complete as many circuits as possible in five minutes, passing through air gates (gates designed for drone races). The competition was arranged in pools with qualifications to determine the winner.

Engineering schools such as IPSA Paris (with two teams), ESTACA Levallois, ESIGELEC (with three teams) and Centrale Marseille took each other on to try and win first prize, which was a helicopter flight for the whole team, offered by Normandie AeroEspace.

The race, open to the general public, was broadcast live on television screens thanks to embedded cameras installed on the drones.

Partners Normandie AeroEspace, FPV Passion, Studio Sport and RS presented their products on their stands and gave drone demonstrations between races.

ESIGELECTRONIX has already planned to hold the competition again in April 2017.

Contacts : Thibault CLAMENS, Loïc ROUSSEAU, Augustin MULLER, Mickaël DELAMARE, umr.france@gmail.com