In 2024 I participated in the Droniada Challenge with a team of students from the Academic Aviation Club of Wrocław University of Science and Technology. The competition was held in Katowice, Poland.

The Droniada Challenge consisted of multiple different competitions, all testing the capabilities of autonomous mission systems on UAVs. The competitions included:

  • Martian Mines - a competition where the UAV had to autonomously navigate a Martian-like environment and collect samples
  • Inspection - a competition where the UAV had to autonomously inspect a critical infrastructure site and detect any anomalies, reporting them to the organizers
  • Relay race - a competition where the UAV had to drop bright payloads on designated locations on the ground during the night

I was a programmer for the team, responsible for developing the software that controlled the UAV during the Inspection competition. I used python, rust and pytorch to develop the software. The software was responsible for processing the images from the onboard camera, detecting objects, and making decisions based on the detected objects.

I also helped the team during flight testing of the UAV, fixing bugs in the software and improving the performance of the system.

Thanks to our hard work and dedication, we managed to win the following awards:

  • 1st place in the Inspection competition
  • 1st place in the Martian Mines competition
  • 1st place for System Demonstration

Droniada Challenge 2024 Me and my team at the Droniada Challenge 2024