News

Our students won the Polish edition of Red Bull Basement 2026

Opublikowano: 19/05/2026 11:29 am

Piotr Piwowarczyk and Michał Szajner, creators of the project

Students from the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology have won the Polish edition of Red Bull Basement 2026. The SwarmHub project, developed by Piotr Piwowarczyk and Michał Szajner, was recognised as the best in the country, giving its creators the opportunity to represent Poland at the world final in San Francisco.

SwarmHub is a drone‑swarm management platform based on a leader–follower model. It integrates with the popular QGroundControl application, enabling an operator to control an entire swarm using a single leader drone. The drones communicate through a FANET mesh network, eliminating single points of failure and increasing overall system reliability. The platform includes collision‑avoidance algorithms, automatic leader‑selection mechanisms, and artificial intelligence that supports the operator in analysing ongoing operations. SwarmHub is designed primarily for commercial and civilian use, with search‑and‑rescue missions serving as its flagship application.

“We are extremely proud and grateful that our platform, created with the aim of providing real support to people, has been recognised by the jury and selected as the best among 3,196 submissions. It is a great honour for us to represent Poland at the world final of Red Bull Basement 2026. This victory motivates us to work even harder so that we can present ourselves as well as possible on the international stage,” say Piotr Piwowarczyk and Michał Szajner.

To qualify for the national final, our students had to prepare a detailed project description and a 60‑second video promoting the idea and values behind SwarmHub. Before the final itself, they developed a presentation and an English‑language pitch, and also took part in workshops with experts from the start‑up community and specialists from Kozminski University.

About the competition

Red Bull Basement is an international programme aimed at students and early‑stage creators, supporting the development of innovative ideas and their transformation into real‑world solutions. Participants gain access to mentoring and to artificial‑intelligence‑based tools developed in collaboration with Microsoft and AMD. The programme also offers the opportunity to present a project during the world final in San Francisco, as well as a chance to secure funding of 100,000 dollars.