Over 100 Participants Join Drone Racing Championship at ITMO

In addition to 75 and 200 mm, contestants had the chance to pilot drones with 125 mm frames, which are not common at contests. Participants competed individually or as a team. In the final round of the championship, pilots needed to fly a drone through a set number of obstacle courses, and their fastest times and accuracy rates decided their win. 

“Drone racing is a technical sport that requires you to have flying and engineering skills but also to know how to 3D print, assemble and solder parts, and fine-tune models for each competition. Our championship is meant to help us attract and find specialists interested in drone technologies irrespective of their skill levels. For school students, this contest is an excellent introduction to engineering that will help them make their career choices, while university students can here hone their piloting skills and get dopamine rush in the air. Most students who take part in and excel at such championships opt to pursue drone-related careers afterwards” notes Ilya Popov, the organizer of the ITMO open drone racing championship and an associate professor at ITMO’s Faculty of Secure Information Technologies.

The championship drew over 100 participants from Leningrad, Kaluga, Samara, and Belgorod Oblasts, as well as Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, and other cities. The competition was open to anyone – school and university students and adults alike.

“I love how fast and maneuverable drones are. I first tried simulators last year and ever since I have been fond of them – my dad and I built about six drones together and I also participated in several contests. I had a few of them last year – but this year, I got to compete almost every weekend. Not so long ago, I took third place at a contest in the Volga Federal District,” says Teodor Kunilov, a sixth-grade student at School No. 134 in Nizhny Novgorod.

Winners and runners-up received certificates and medals, as well as prizes from the event’s partners. The results of the championship are available on its VK page.

Drone technologies have long been studied and developed at ITMO. Students of the Unmanned Systems Security Master’s program study the principles behind the design and controls of autonomous vehicles and learn to develop security software and hardware. The university’s swarm mechanics workshop invites students to practice swarm algorithms to synchronize multiple drones. In December 2023, ITMO’s KronBars sports club opened a drone piloting section for students. Additionally, ITMO and the Drone Racing Federation in Leningrad Oblast organize drone-related competitions in different cities.