Get ready to Build the Unimaginable because registration for the 2016 DJI Developer Challenge is now open. Flex your developer muscles in the world’ most prestigious aerial robotics competition and receive exclusive DJI Developer equipment and the opportunity to win US$100,000 in prize money.

The 2016 DJI Developer Challenge, now in its third year, is a highly anticipated event for the startup and developer community. We are collaborating with Ford Motor Co. and the United Nations Development Program (UNPD) on this year’s developer challenge. Disaster relief has benefited from recent developments in aerial technology and there is an increasing use of drones by emergency response units, NGOs and the government sector around the world. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford has been at the forefront of turning its vehicles into smart, connected platforms.

This year, the challenge is centered around a theoretical search-and-rescue mission. Participants will be tasked with building an application that enables a drone to autonomously take off from a moving vehicle, collect data on the whereabouts of survivors and transmit the information from the disaster site back to the vehicle, then land autonomously on the same moving vehicle.

The winner of last year's challenge was UT-Dronefly from the University of Texas at Dallas and Penn State University. Their app was designed to conduct powerline inspection in a safer and more-efficient way. In 2014, the first year of the DJI Developer Challenge, Team BetterW from the South China University of Technology developed a forensics app specifically designed for highway accident investigations.

Fifteen teams will be shortlisted into the challenge’s second round. They will be provided with DJI’s flagship SDK aerial platform, the Matrice 100, as well as a Zenmuse X3 camera to mount on the Matrice. The teams must then provide progress reports leading up to the final competition. Ten teams will advance into the final round, where they will use their app to perform the mock search-and-rescue mission, taking off and landing on a moving Ford F-150 pickup truck and transmitting the data collected.

To apply or get more info about the 2016 DJI Developer Challenge, visithttp://developer.dji.com/challenge2016. To sign up to become a DJI Developer or more information about the DJI SDK, visit http://developer.dji.com.

I like your challenges!

Watched a short video on our Discovery Chanel,  about this smart car, yesterday...
Eh, how often do you get to buy a car, and get a free Inspire 1 with it?
Not to mention a launch pad right on the trunk. Haha


The Σtos is a self-driving sports car with a folding steering wheel and its own drone
http://www.cnet.com/news/rinspee ... -wheel-own-drone/#!
Rinspeed Σtos
Why yes, that is a personal drone landing pad on the trunk.Rinspeed
The next CES doesn't kick off in Las Vegas until January 2016, but the hype train is already leaving the station -- with or without a driver. The first CES-bound concept to appear is the Rinspeed Σtos, a sports car that features both autonomous and piloted driving modes. And it has its own personal drone, too.

While many manufacturers are rolling out concepts that kill off any notion of a human pilot, Rinspeed believes that the move towards autonomy will be a gradual one. As well it should be -- ask any enthusiast his or her feelings on self-driving cars, and you're bound to hear plenty of grumbling. Therefore, the Σtos (your guess is as good as ours regarding pronunciation) will still let meatbags take the wheel.

Rinspeed Σtos
The Σtos features a steering wheel that retracts into the dash when the car takes control.Rinspeed
When it's time to let the electronics take control, Rinspeed's designed a system where the wheel folds into the dashboard and two curved screens move forward, allowing the occupants to better work with the Σtos's Harman-engineered connected-car technology that promises "perfect entertainment, connectivity, and maximum safety," albeit without any additional specifics. It is a concept, after all, so we'll forgive the idealism.

None of that is really new, though. Automakers have been touting autonomous cars for years now, whether they're small, potentially shared vehicles (like Google's self-driving car) or big rigs that will expedite long-haul shipping (like the Freightliner concept approved for on-road testing in Nevada).

What is new is the drone included with the Σtos. With a landing pad built into the car's rear end, the quadcopter is designed to accomplish tasks that will both save the owner from additional hassles and enhance the overall driving experience. Rinspeed mentions the drone fetching flowers for the driver to avoid an extra trip and acting as a live action cam for showing off your back-road driving skills.

Concepts are always an exercise in what could be, and Rinspeed's Σtos perfectly exemplifies humanity's current need for technology to both improve upon what's already out there (cars) and create new avenues for productivity (autonomy, drone-based or otherwise). Whether or not any of this will actually come to fruition is a whole 'nother


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