The success of the Silesian University of Technology students at Droniada 2021 tech competition
Students from the High Flyers scientific association won the Droniada 2021 competition. They won two competitions and in the third one, they were the second on the podium. Our team has also achieved another historical success. The Silesian University of Technology team was awarded the Main Prize and special prizes worth a total of PLN 25,000, as well as specialist drone control equipment.
The Droniada demonstrates technological possibilities of Industry 4.0, with particular emphasis on drones, robotics, teleinformatics, geoinformation, information analysis systems, electronics and aviation. Academic and Open teams take part in the competition to present their solutions in practice in front of potential investors. The scenarios of competition tasks are based on real life situations when drones provide real support.
This year, the Droniada included three competitions: the presentation of an unmanned flying system and the identification of areas occupied by plant disease pathogens (“Three Colours”). The third category involved the detection of apple scab and powdery mildew in an orchard, followed by their precise spraying with plant protection products simulated by paintballs ("Tree of Life").
The High Flyers Student Scientific Association from the Silesian University of Technology won in the second and third categories. As a result, the team was awarded the Main Prize. It should be noted that for the first time in the history of the Droniada, a mission was successfully completed in the increasing rain. This was done by our High Flyers team, which thus fulfilled one of the conditions of the regulations related to the readiness to launch a drone in the drizzle lasting for 15 minutes. In the first category, that is for the presentation of an unmanned flying system, our students took second place.
- The Droniada competition is based on real-life situations in which unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, can provide real support. Today, flying drones itself is no longer a problem and does not surprise anyone. Current research work, which involves students from the High Flyers Student Scientific Association, focuses on the skilful and intelligent processing of information acquired by means of a drone. We often talk about autonomous flights, based on artificial intelligence, algorithmics, machine learning, big data, or calculations performed in the cloud. It is such competitions as Droniada that stimulate students' research activities in this direction - says Professor Roman Czyba PhD, DSc at the Silesian University of Technology.
- We have been preparing for Droniada 2021 since the winter. Due to the pandemic, at the beginning we only dealt with software, we met remotely once a week. As the date of the competition approached, the amount of work increased significantly. It was not without changing a few solutions and adding a code at the last moment, but we managed to build and test everything on time. This year, the competition motivated us a lot. Certainly, the team will have good memories of this trip - says Jacek Grzybowski, one of the students from the High Flyers student scientific association.
The use of drones in everyday life is becoming more and more common. Therefore, the activity of the Silesian University of Technology students in this area is very important.
- We are already observing great demand from the drone market for qualified staff in the area of design and operation of unmanned platforms. The evidence of this demand is the Central European Drone Demonstrator established in the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie Metropolis, which is a response to the growing drone market and the expected demand for unmanned services soon. The Silesian University of Technology is trying to meet the expectations of the labour market by launching a new field of study, which is "Aerospace Engineering". Here students will also be educated in the design and operation of unmanned aircrafts - says Professor Roman Czyba PhD, DSc.
- Of course, the success of our students would not be possible without the financial support of the authorities of the Silesian University of Technology. Students actively participate in numerous projects offered at our University, completing individual study programmes in the form of Project Based Learning (PBL projects) - concludes Professor Roman Czyba PhD, DSc.
There were 11 teams who entered the Droniada 2021 competition from all over Poland, including Warsaw, Łódź, Cracow and Poznań. In the general classification, the team of the Silesian University of Technology scored 78 points. The second place belonged to the team of Wrocław University of Science and Technology who scored 67 points and the AGH University of Science and Technology occupied the third position with 43 points.
Congratulations!
