Our students among the world’s top autonomous drone designers
The KNR Drone team at the SUAS 2026 competition
The KNR Drone team from Warsaw University of Technology took third place in the international Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition (SUAS), held in Tulsa, USA, from 14 to 17 September 2026. A total of 57 teams from around the world took part in the competition.
SUAS is one of the world’s leading competitions dedicated to unmanned aerial systems. However, the competition is not about traditional piloting. Students must design, integrate, programme and test a complete, fully autonomous aerial system from scratch and then use it to carry out a complex mission.
This year’s competition mission consisted of three main tasks:
- Autonomous laps (Lap): Completing as many laps as possible within a specified time.
- Area mapping: Producing an accurate orthophoto map of a designated area measuring 150 × 250 m.
- Precision drop: Identifying specified objects in the field (a tent and a person) and precisely dropping payloads, an illuminated marker and a bottle of water, within their designated areas.
In addition to the practical tasks carried out at the test site, the judges assessed detailed technical documentation and formal procedures for evaluating the system’s readiness for flight (Flight Readiness Review).
Our students’ third-place finish is the result of months of work on the complete integration of the system, from its mechanical design and advanced electronics to vision and navigation systems and dedicated mission management software.
“Building an autonomous aerial vehicle requires expertise from a wide range of interdisciplinary fields,” emphasise the KNR Drone team members. “In the SUAS competition, it is not enough to build a working prototype. You must demonstrate that the entire system can perform complex tasks safely, consistently and fully autonomously under challenging conditions.”
The KNR Drone team was represented at the competition by: Igor Ząbek, Paweł Zawadzki, Franciszek Jóźwiak, Paweł Kwiatkowski, Rafał Lesiak, Przemysław Rybkiewicz, Michał Lejwoda, Konrad Tokarek, Piotr Pawlus and Krystian Wiśniewski.
The Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition (SUAS) has been held since 2002. Its aim is to foster innovation in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and educate future professionals for the aerospace sector. Since 2023, the event has been organised by the US-based organisation RoboNation, which supports education in robotics and autonomous systems.