Today's drones are typically limited to carrying a payload that is only equal to or less than their own weight. To break this barrier, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is offering $6.5 million in prizes to university students, inventors, and companies who can design and fly a drone weighing 55 pounds (or less) with a goal of carrying four times its own weight (220 pounds) or more over a 5-nautical-mile course.
A breakthrough in this payload-to-weight ratio would unlock a new era of possibilities for military and civilian applications, from disaster response and supply delivery to infrastructure inspection.
Over 100 teams will compete in the DARPA Lift Challenge at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Aug. 2-9 to see whose drone can lift the most.
The competition is open to the public. Registration is available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/darpa-lift-challenge-tickets-1989830631985