University of Klagenfurt team is the only group to complete drone competition in London without accident
Explore and map an area, detect objects and find people in need and then provide them with first aid kits: These are the challenges involved in three competitions in the SAPIENCE project. Four research teams from four universities compete against each other in the competitions to learn from each other. At the first competition, which took place in London at the end of August, the Klagenfurt team was the only team to complete every task without an accident. What makes this special: The team, coordinated by doctoral student Luca Di Pierno, consisted exclusively of Bachelor’s students from the University of Klagenfurt’s Robotics & Artificial Intelligence programme, in addition to Luca and a Master’s graduate.
The four teams (each with a maximum of six participants) are from four universities: University of London (GB), University of Alabama in Huntsville (USA), Delft University of Technology (NL) and University of Klagenfurt (A). The joint research objective is to develop and test several approaches for drone search and rescue missions. The aim is for drones to be able to navigate around environments autonomously and without GPS, creating images and maps of these outdoor and indoor spaces, locating victims and ultimately treating them. The project is funded by the NATO Science for Peace and Security programme.
“A few months before the competition, the teams agreed on the framework conditions for the hardware equipment. Then, we started to work on the software with those students who had registered for the competitions. Starting in May, we worked intensively for several months. We spent many a night working into the early hours,” says Luca Di Pierno, a doctoral candidate in the Control of Networked Systems research group at the University of Klagenfurt.
What sets the team from Klagenfurt apart: Apart from Luca Di Pierno and Jonas Spieler, all team members were Bachelor’s students on the Robotics & Artificial Intelligence programme. “Tim Schumann, Jonas Spieler, Georg Steinthaler, Gilbert Tanner and Ben Wesse, together with Luca Di Pierno, have accomplished something extraordinary. This is all the more remarkable as they are all mid-way through their undergraduate studies and were first introduced to drone research six months ago,” says Stephan Weiss, who heads the Control of Networked Systems group together with Jan Steinbrener.
According to Luca Di Pierno, the students were extremely motivated throughout the entire preparation period: “Robotics is a highly interdisciplinary field. It is particularly inspiring when you can apply theoretical knowledge to robots and drones in order to master real challenges.” Di Pierno, who transferred from his position as a Visiting Researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to the University of Klagenfurt in February this year, recalls a professor who motivated him in his career: “I was told that I had to make the most of my time as a young person. When you’re young, you can test your limits. You learn more easily and can concentrate fully on what challenges you.” Luca Di Pierno completed his Master’s degree programme at ETH Zurich, where he also worked as a research assistant and where he often had to test his own limits. He recognises a major advantage in Klagenfurt due to the significantly lower number of students: “Anyone studying here who can show that they are motivated is more easily recognised and has plenty of opportunities to work on research projects such as SAPIENCE.”
The first competition, which took place on the 29th and 30th of August at the University of London, involved flying around an interior space, capturing it and delivering aid packages. At the second competition in April 2025 in Alabama, the aircraft will be flown outdoors. Finally, the third competition will involve a flight from an outdoor area into a building. All challenges have one thing in common: The drones have to complete their tasks entirely autonomously. The Klagenfurt team is highly motivated as it prepares for the upcoming challenges.
