As we mentioned in a previous blog post, the last couple of weeks have been full of exciting events in the US. We first began our adventure in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we attended the International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), as platinum sponsors.
We were especially thrilled to be involved because the final stage of the conference’s competition featured Crazyflies, which played a central role in the challenge.
The ICUAS UAV Competition
This year’s competition simulated a search mission in an urban environment. The goal was for teams to identify ArUco markers placed on multiple obstacles, while maintaining line-of-sight and communication among a swarm of three Crazyflies.
Each team’s UAVs launched from a designated base, navigated a known environment, and attempted to locate several targets. The drones relied on an OptiTrack system for positioning and used the AI deck as a camera for image recognition. Constant communication between the base and all UAVs was required throughout the mission.
The event, organized by the LARICS team, combined both simulation and real-world implementation. Their hard work ensured that competitors could smoothly transition their systems from digital models to actual flying drones. What followed was an intense and fun two-day hackathon.
Although the ICUAS UAV Competition drew interest from 26 teams globally, only five finalist teams made it to Charlotte to run their scenarios with real drones. In the end, it was Team Aerial Robotics from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) who took home first place—congratulations to them!
While the event went smoothly overall, some communication challenges cropped up—solved creatively by placing a radio in the center of the arena. Battery management was also key, with fully charged packs being a hot commodity to maximize flight time.
Research and Presentations
Alongside the competition, the conference featured a wide range of research presentations. We were proud to see Rik present on the AI deck during a workshop focused on embodied AI.
One of the highlights was the Best Paper Award, which—although we missed the talk, was awarded to a team from Queen’s university using the Crazyflie to simulate drone landings on ocean waves. You can read their fascinating paper here:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.21674
Final Thoughts
Overall, ICUAS 2025 was a great experience—full of innovation, collaboration, and of course, plenty of flight time. We’re grateful to the organizers, competitors, and everyone who stopped by our booth. Until next time!