General Rules

• Drone must not weight more than 4.4 lb.
• Each team will have a limited budget of $750, including the use of existing components in the Maker Lab Store.
  • The $750 budget limit is for the purchase of new components and ‘purchase’ of used components from the Maker Lab Store at a 50% discounted rate.
  • 3d printing parts is allowed and does not count as part of the total budget.
  • The use of components in inventory is on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, a team can only ‘take’ a component from the inventory once it’s ready to use it within a week. Hoarding components is not allowed.
  • The Maker Lab inventory can be viewed in the table here:
• Due to budget and time constraints, only 6 teams will be allowed to participate.
  • Students can apply to become team leaders and will be selected based on experience with drones and availability.
  • Team leaders can accept and select team members on their own. There’s a minimum of 3 team members, but no maximum team members. Although no more than 5 is recommended.
  • Students are encouraged to approach team leaders to join their teams.
• Five (6) workshops will take place throughout the school year.
  • Teams are required to send at least one representative to each workshop. Lack of attendance will cause a team to become disqualified.
  • Workshops will include the sharing of important information regarding the competition rules and opportunities for Q&A from the teams to the organizers.
  • Check-in dates (Tuesday co-curricular, 11:30 am) at the Maker Lab (ADC 115):
    • September 30
    • October 28
    • November 25
    • January 20
    • February 17
    • March 31
• Testing is required before the competition. Specific dates and times will be determined for testing at the competition location. Tentative testing date will be April 5.
• Tentative competition date is April 12, 2026 at the farm area on campus.

Mission 1: Race

Optimization parameter: speed

GPS Coordinates

• Follow a course set by GPS way-points autonomously.
• For safety, please fly at a minimum altitude of 50 ft.
• Take off requires a climb up to 50 ft vertically before leaving the takeoff area. Landing requires entry into the landing area at a minimum of 50 ft before descent.
• Complete the course as fast as possible, including takeoff and landing, autonomously.
• A flight plan must be created and shown to the judges before takeoff.
• Course length is projected to be about 1 mile.
• Points are based on the following:
  • Completing the course successfully (takeoff, GPS coordinates, landing).
  • Ranking of participating teams based on time to complete the course.
  • Proportion of points based on time taken to complete the course.

Mission 2: Payload Delivery

Optimization parameter: payload carry and drop-off

• Take off payload will be 5 tennis balls.