MEPhI’s team "SKYRIS" is one of the strongest teams in the drone racing in Russia - they successfully participate and win in competitions both within the country and at the international level. At the moment, athletes and at the same time authors of the course "MEPhI Drone School" conduct an active recruitment of students for the development of engineering training in the field of UAV and preparation for participation in events on WorldSkills standards.

The silver medalist of the Cup of Russia on drone racing, engineer of unmanned aerial vehicles, co-author of homonymous courses Artem Ignatov told about the training process, races and program plans for 2018.

- How did the idea of creating courses appear?

- The idea appeared long ago. Vladimir Voronin and I started to fly as a team about a year ago. And at that time we thought about the possibility to share the experience. Then there was the question of the implementation of the idea in an educational form. We had seriously started to preparation a program and in the spring of 2017 tested it with first-year students of MEPhI, when they were preparing for the WorldSkills championship. In a short time guys, engaged in this program, managed to successfully master the skills of building a drone from scratch, and show good results in opersting it in competitions.

- How do you admit to the course?

- We choose people following the test results, including questions on mathematics, physics and electronics. We receive a large number of applications, about 100 in a week. We identify the top 8 of them and form the first group, then 8 more, and so on. At the moment we are expanding our staff, so anyone who have successfully passed the course can join us.

- Tell us about the learning process on the course.

- Training consists of two blocks: theoretical and practical with elements of theory. The first block includes familiarization with the unmanned aerial vehicle, its scope of application and space of use. In the second block guys acquire the necessary skills for assembling the device and piloting, they should begin to form motor and reaction skills. The first training takes place on the simulator. Then students get drones, not of their own construction but devices with a simpler configuration and capabilities. Having mastered the basic control skills with such drones, students begin to control the drones of their own assembly and use them in training. After mastering the theory and training, including in the simulator, the pilot begins to control the drone in the "first person view" (FPV). The last stage of training is the practice of this method of piloting. This course includes more than 50 hours of training.

Completing this course, the student can continue training within the MEPhI Drone School, which is focused on progressive sports piloting. In this block we prepare students with basic skills for participation in competitive races.

- Who is part of your team and how do you prepare for the competition?

- Nowdays our team "SKYRIS" consists of three pilots: Vladimir Voronin, Ivan Konovalov and I; technician Venera Melentovic, who is engaged in maintenance of equipment and manager.

We begin directly with the preparation of aircrafts. Each pilot has three multicopters. This is due to the risk of drone failure during the race. As for the training process, we conduct training every day for two hours. This rate is a compulsory sports component and allows us to progress.

- What competitions have you participated in this year and what are you planning?

- In February we participated in the Russian Open Winter Championship on racing drones of the RDR League in Perm. We passed a qualification session, took second and third places, what secured qualification for the finals. In the final  we also took prizes – the second and third places. Then competed in the Race of the All-Russian League RDR Series in Kazan, where we took first and second place. During the competition, our team was selected for the League Final, which will be hold at the end of the season in Crimea.

Today, this sport is gaining serious turn. Since the end of November 2017, drone racing has become an official sports discipline and is included by the Ministry of sports of Russia in the All-Russian register of sports. Competitions are held almost every week, not only in Russia but also internationally. In the future, there are about 50 events around the world. Therefore, our plan for 2018 is quite broad and diverse.

- What are your impressions of the competition in general?

- Emotions are amazing! Speed, adrenaline, nerves. Each competition takes place in different ways. Sometimes everything goes well without problems with controlling, but also there are unplanned situations, starting with delays on the plane and ending with equipment breakdowns. But even such moments cannot spoil impressions of exciting participation!

We wish the SKYRIS Team great victories in sports races and success in preparation for future Championships!