Midwest Drone Battle

11/18/2021

So I know you haven't heard from me in quite some time... but you may want to save the dates Aug 15/16 OR Aug 18/19 2022... I just had a meeting that may make dreams come true.

Keep an eye on this space for more details, and let me know if you'd be interested in coming to Iowa for the most epic MDB ever!

11/04/2021

Anyone know where I can get 200-300ft of water slide tube?

04/04/2020

So I was in the middle of trying to secure sponsors for the MDB2020 when Covid 19 hit... my original plan was to host the event in June, and try to get local breweries and distilleries to sponsor...

Stupid virus.

I’m not saying 2020 isn’t happening, but it will be late in the year...

I DO have some WICKED automation ideas for the course... and a format that will have fewer pilots flying more heats...

07/02/2019

Back home after another AMAZING MultiGP IO, and I had about a 9 hour drive to ponder the memories...

I can’t count how many people talked about MDB with such passion and support in their voice. How many times I was told how awesome the event was and how much they look forward to 2020...

Well it can’t be done alone, and thank god I don’t have to! Volunteers are many, but the key players behind the production are Mike Hartgrave and McMillen (who apparently hasn’t liked the damn page yet!)

Mike is the silent partner, he sits back and helps make decisions, helps make sure details aren’t missed, and has taken care of local details that wouldn’t be possible for me. This past week he spent a THANKLESS grueling time managing the volunteers for IO...

Jeramy on the other hand is far from silent, he’s been helping numb pilots to loud noises for three years now, and our events just keep getting better and louder! He’s my sound guy, and soon will be running the livestream for our big events!

01/23/2019

It is with a heavy heart that I make this announcement...

Midwest Drone Battle will not host an event in 2019.

Event planning takes time, doing it right takes even more. Unfortunately in 2019 I have an extremely limited amount of time, and I don't want to sully our excellent event with a half-assed attempt to hold it.

We will be spending 2019 planning the 2020 events. Our plan for 2019 was to host a pair of two day qualifier events (Nebraska & Wisconsin), and a final two day drone battle (Iowa). Additionally we planned to split the event into Pro and Am classes with appropriate level skills challenges for both groups of pilots!

Our plan is to carry this forward into 2020, when we'll have more time available to properly execute and promote the events.

06/13/2018

This reduces the course to a much smaller footprint, crash recovery is easier since all the quads end up in the same place...

05/23/2018

So over the past few years I've done my best to avoid providing pilots with a ground station solution - my thought was if I can't do it RIGHT, I shouldn't do it at all. However with the 3rd year of Midwest Drone Battle I wanted an 8 up DVR display for my judges... I went ahead and built it with pilot stations in mind...

I posted to my pilots that this would be available, that it was HIGHLY untested, and that I'd recommend people use their own gear...

In the end, my ground stations worked extremely well. I know several pilots used them through the entire event, and I wanted to share the process and parts that went into making them robust.

A special thanks goes out to Video Aerial Systems for providing the Antennas - I firmly believe good antennas are the heart and soul of any system like this... and when you stop and realize I used $16 receivers from Hobby King... I bet you'll agree!

Another huge win were the Ground Station Cables from Team BlackSheep, an constant theme was people looking at these cables and being amazed they were a thing!

I'll leave comments on each photo with details as to whats going on.

05/11/2018

05/11/2018

We are exploring running a 3-4 race series for MDB in 2019.

Thoughts?

05/07/2018

I will do my best to aggregate video's posted of the MDB to this post as comments!

05/06/2018

After the days festivities a few of us were playing chase the Drak. Will Dobbins will be spending some quality time repairing his Drak!

Photo credit to Brian Morris and Paul Nurkkala.

05/06/2018

Here's the initial 24 for the finals. Last chance qualifier tomorrow morning!

See you at 8AM!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z5acrrcpw3w8n20/Finals%20Bracket.pdf?dl=0

Shared with Dropbox

05/05/2018

Frequencies, Odds Left/Evens Right

05/04/2018

Dive towers and 50 ft tunnel. Good Luck pilots!

05/04/2018

Getting the squad ready for some damage! Good luck to all the pilots this weekend!

05/04/2018

Here is the track diagram for the race this weekend!