At the 4th Shanghai Citizen Games, the novel sport of drone soccer captured wide attention. 10 drones engaged in fierce attack and defense within an enclosed cage, with each set lasting for 3 minutes. With simple rules and lively pace, the match presented an all-new "vision + technology" experience.

This sport was presented by Shanghai Zhifei Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. (Zhifei Technology), a college student start-up fostered by Yangpu and mainly engaged in education and training, sports events and project services. The emerging sport of drone soccer was initiated by the company in conjunction with teams from South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and other countries, according to Zhu Peng, Founder and General Manager of Zhifei Technology.

After an inquiry, we discovered that drone soccer is equivalent to the F1 of the drone industry. Just as F1 promotes advances in automotive technology through high-level competitions, leading to innovations in design and manufacturing that have been applied to civilian cars, drone soccer follows the similar principles. Inside the cage, the drones must move swiftly inside, make sharp turns to dodge and endure intense collisions. This places higher demands for the power and maneuverability of the drones, as well as the strength of their structural materials.

"Our drone products fall into the consumer and professional categories. The professional category is not available for general sale but exclusive to drone soccer professionals. Drones for professionals represent the pinnacle of our research findings," said Zhu. "Inspired by drone soccer, we've remained committed to R&D over the years, striving to increase the speed, agility, crashworthiness and stability of our drones."

For example, Zhifei Technology recycles crashed drones from competitions for further analysis, and then enhances structures and materials. To date, the company has obtained 5 patents for drone soccer (stadium).

Compared with abstruse and professional technical explanations, displays through competitions are more understandable, eye-catching and conducive to science popularization, promotion and demonstration. A drone soccer open tournament in Shanghai attracted up to more than 1,000 participants; globally, this sport has been accessible in 8 countries. In May 2023, Jiang Yizhou, a young player from Yangpu, won the second place in the 1st FIDA World DroneSoccer Championship in Incheon, South Korea. Through event promotion, Yangpu also built a cooperation and exchange and display platform for companies.

Drone soccer, suitable for people of all ages, serves to cultivate interest and provide scientific education for young people, exercise the hand-eye coordination ability of the elderly, and help them embrace new things. Therefore, Yangpu is promoting the entry of the sport into communities, schools and science parks, according to a head of the Shanghai University of Sport (SUS).

Zhifei Technology is a representative case of Yangpu's cooperation with universities in the transformation of technological achievements. In recent years, sports technology companies have mushroomed in Yangpu.

Yuedong made a brilliant appearance at the Rio 2016 Olympics, staging 51 shows in various Olympic venues. The company has its roots in SUS - the founder Li Shengxi recalled that in 2009, they pooled together 100,000 yuan and started their business at the corner of a student dormitory staircase. Over the past decade, the company has dedicated itself to competition performance, sports events, R&D and venue operations. It has not only developed and designed more than 80 types of rope skipping products and applied for over 30 national patents, thereby pioneering a new era of smart rope skipping; but also has appeared at major international events like the Shanghai World Expo and the Rio Olympics.

We learned that Yangpu has signed the Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation in Building a National Pilot City for Sports Consumption with SUS to jointly create a sports health innovation belt around SUS. Relying on government-enterprise-university-institute collaborative platforms such as the Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center of Sports and Health Industry, and the Yangtze River Delta Sports Integration Research Center, Yangpu has fostered leading companies in their respective sectors, such as Yuedong, Newbody Health, Dffit and GoLinksworld, and attracted sports industry giants like Nike, Alisports and Perfect World to take root.

In addition, Yangpu has endeavored to improve the business environment to create incubators and accelerators for sports companies. On the one hand, it has carried out investment promotion, project promotion and business negotiations through branded sports events in the Yangtze River Delta, to build cooperation, exchange and display platforms for sports companies. In 2020, Xue Kan, then Head of Yangpu District, skipped a rope in Warrior shoes in a live stream to market products. He demonstrated to viewers that by connecting Yuedong's smart devices to the app, they can enjoy the fun of rope skipping at home, which generated a significant amount of traffic for the company.

On the other hand, Yangpu has introduced a package of preferential policies for the sports industry, encouraged sports technology companies to apply for high-tech company status, and provided support for applications by sports companies for the status of national and municipal sports industry demonstration units and projects. As of the end of 2023, SUS National Science & Technology Park had transformed 26 technological achievements; 56 companies were being incubated, of which 33.9% owned invention patents, 45 had substantial ties to the supporting universities, and 14 were start-ups founded by faculty and students. With 3 national, provincial and municipal sports industry demonstration units, 7 national, provincial and municipal sports industry demonstration projects, 5 municipal small and medium-sized specialized and sophisticated enterprises, as well as 11 high-tech companies, Yangpu has been selected as a national pilot city for sports consumption.