Innovative Heights: The Tech Evolution of the 2021 Drone Challenge
The 2021 iteration of the Leonardo Drone Contest will be a “drone challenge” where innovative technologies and functionalities will be integrated into a modern setting. Similar to the framework of the initial edition, the fresh competition will encompass a scientific and technological presentation symposium scheduled for late spring 2021, along with the development of the new tender, which will be hosted in autumn at Leonardo’s Aircraft headquarters in Turin.
The awards presentation for the inaugural edition of the competition took place on September 23rd, highlighting the triumph of the Politecnico di Milano, while the University of Bologna received the “Special Jury Prize.” A few months following the conclusion of the initial contest, other participating teams including the Politecnico di Milano, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Politecnico di Torino, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, “Tor Vergata” University of Rome, and University of Naples “Federico II” have been contemplating and strategizing for the upcoming challenge.
The enhanced formats of the forthcoming university competition focusing on artificial intelligence, uniquely positioned on the global stage, will present an authentic contest among the drones, which, in conjunction with ground sensors, will construct the environment around them to expedite mission completion. Advanced features and innovations such as Teaming/Swarming, Objective-based Task Assignment, Drone interactions with external agents, Visual Inertial Odometry, Autonomous Trajectory Planning, Identification and Tracking, Computer Vision, and Autonomous Decision Making will be central to the Ph.D. scholars’ endeavors.
The technological advancements to be introduced, resonating with the overarching goal of the Leonardo Drone Contest, align perfectly with the domains of Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Sensor Fusion, and Machine Learning applicable to unmanned systems, fully supporting the Be Tomorrow – Leonardo 2030 strategic initiative, particularly in fostering the development of unmanned and autonomous solutions enhanced by artificial intelligence.
The Leonardo Drone Contest, aimed at fostering synergies between development and academic research, strives to promote the evolution of technologies for applied artificial intelligence within unmanned systems and to establish an ecosystem that encompasses large corporations, universities, small and medium enterprises, spin-offs, and startups.
