Winning IMAV2024 drone competition!

The BioMorphic Lab were at the International Micro Air Vehicle (IMAV) Conference in Bristol from September 16th to 20th. IMAV is special since it is not only a conference, but also a drone competition! This year’s theme revolved around wildlife preservation, stimulating teams to use drones in support of wildlife by observing them in varying situations. The competition was divided in an indoor and an outdoor part. We participated in the indoor competition, with support from the TU Delft Robotics Institute.

Indoor competition

In the indoor competition, the goal was to demonstrate autonomous navigation through multiple gates, landing on small and narrow targets, and sampling objects by grasping. While flying through the circuit, the drone also had to stop at key locations to observe projected animals and provide enough confidence to identify the species. It was tough — the drone bumped into plants and even knocked the lion off Pride Rock. But by completing the mission autonomously multiple times, crossing the gates, and identifying the animals, the score accumulated rapidly, leading to first place in the indoor competition!